''Antilegomena'' (from Greek ) are written texts whose authenticity or value is disputed. Eusebius in his '' Church History'' (c. 325) used the term for those Christian scriptures that were "disputed", literally "spoken against", in

Early Christianity Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the History of Christianity, historical era of the Christianity, Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Spread of Christianity, Christian ...

before the closure of the New Testament canon. The ''antilegomena'' were widely read in the Early Church and included the

Epistle of James The Epistle of James is a Catholic epistles, general epistle and one of the 21 epistles (didactic letters) in the New Testament. It was written originally in Koine Greek. The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience. It survives in manusc ...

, the

Epistle of Jude The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the New Testament and of the Christianity, Christian Bible. The Epistle of Jude claims authorship by Jude the Apostle, Jude, identified as a servant of Jesus and brother of James (and possibly Jesu ...

, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, the Book of Revelation, the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Apocalypse of Peter, the

Acts of Paul The Acts of Paul is one of the major works and earliest pseudepigraphal series from the New Testament apocrypha also known as Acts of the Apostles (genre), Apocryphal Acts. This work is part of a body of literature either about or purporting to ...

, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas and the Didache. There was disagreement in the Early Church on whether or not the respective texts deserved canonical status.

Eusebius

The first major church historian, Eusebius, who wrote his ''Church History'' c. AD 325, applied the Greek term "antilegomena" to the disputed writings of the

Early Church Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and bey ...

: It is a matter of categorical discussion whether Eusebius divides his books into three groups—''homologoumena'' (from Greek , "accepted"), ''antilegomena'', and 'heretical'—or into four by adding a ''notha'' ("spurious") group. The Epistle to the Hebrews had earlier been listed: Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th-century text and possibly one of the Fifty Bibles of Constantine, includes the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas. The original

Peshitta The Peshitta ( ''or'' ') is the standard Syriac edition of the Bible for Syriac Christian churches and traditions that follow the liturgies of the Syriac Rites. The Peshitta is originally and traditionally written in the Classical Syriac d ...

(NT portion is c. 5th century) excluded 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation. Some modern editions, such as the ''Lee Peshitta'' of 1823, include them.

Reformation

During the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, Luther brought up the issue of the antilegomena. Though he included the Letter to the Hebrews, the letters of James and Jude, and Revelation in his Bible translation, he put them into a separate grouping and questioned their legitimacy. Hence, these books are sometimes termed "Luther's Antilegomena" – a terminology that remains in use today. Current

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

usage expands this questioning to also include 2 Peter, 2 John, and 3 John. F. C. Baur used the term in his classification of the Pauline Epistles, classing Romans, 1–2 Corinthians and Galatians as homologoumena; Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1–2 Thessalonians and Philemon as antilegomena; and the Pastoral Epistles as ''"notha"'' (spurious writings).

Hebrew Bible

The term is sometimes applied also to certain books in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

and discussions from institutions like Knox Theological Seminary have noted that certain

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Antilegomena ''Antilegomena'' (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) are written texts whose authenticity or value is disputed. Eusebius in his ''Church History (Eusebius), Church History'' (c. 325) used the term for those Christian scriptures that were "disputed", lite ...

. Books such as

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

, Esther,

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

, Ezekiel, and Proverbs were among those whose inclusion in the canon was questioned at various times. Reasons for these debates ranged from theological concerns to perceived inconsistencies. For example, Ecclesiastes was seen by some as too skeptical, while Esther was noted for not mentioning God explicitly.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * . * * {{Books of the Bible 4th-century introductions Ancient Christian controversies Christian terminology Development of the Christian biblical canon Eusebius Lutheran theology