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HOUSMAIL HM075 8 May 2001 PSEUDEPIGRAHA="REVERSE
PLAGIARISM" Whilst researching for a short paper on the Book of
Enoch, I encountered the term "Pseudepigrapha" - and it seemed both
logical and important, to define the term itself, before writing the paper! FIRST
- WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? Plagiarism
is copying someone else's words or ideas and claiming them as your own
original work. It is sometimes practised in the academic and scientific
world, by those who seek "status" amongst their peers, and
recognition by the world as "experts"! It is commonly found amongst
students in schools and universities when they run short of ideas for their
assignments! Amongst
academics and teachers, it is widely and variously described as STEALING,
LYING, DISHONESTY, AND CHEATING. It is regarded as a serious offence.
Students are routinely "failed" when detected committing this SIN! Amongst
Christians it needs to be recognised for what it is. Since it involves
DECEPTION, those who practise it, walk in the Devil's territory! WHAT
IS PSEUDEPIGRAPHA? Pseudepigrapha
is one of those BIG theological words that most Christians seldom encounter.
It is the term used to describe a very great number of old Jewish writings,
falsely ascribed by their writers, to the authorship of various well known OT
personalities. It
has been described as "REVERSE PLAGIARISM". i.e. Instead of
stealing the WORDS, the author steals the NAME of some famous person, and
signs it to his own work. If it was a painting, we would call it a FORGERY! The
motivation often seems to be to give a false appearance of
"authority" and "authenticity" to the work, in order to
gain acceptance amongst readers, for the theories presented. Writings in this
category are often quite "fanciful", and like the original
"Serpent's Lie", they can contain a VERY deceptive mixture of truth
and error. However, for those familiar with the Scriptures, they are fairly
easily recognised as UNBIBLICAL fabrications. The
main point to be kept in mind, is that since they start with a LIE about their
true source, the subject matter is also suspect! They cannot be trusted AT
ALL, unsupported, as a source of important truth! Those who too easily
believe one LIE, are also easily deluded when it comes to loving and
believing important truth about other things. (2
Thessalonians 2:9-12) TO BELIEVE AND PROPAGATE A LIE, IS TO WALK IN THE DEVIL'S
TERRITORY! THE
BOOK OF 1 ENOCH This
brings us back to where we started. The book of 1 Enoch is classified as
PSEUDEPIGRAHIC! It
contains much that is easily identified as NOT BIBLICAL. It is to be
approached with GREAT CAUTION! Why
then do 2 Peter and Jude seem to quote from it as though it were authentic?
And why do some accept it as though that New Testament
use makes it virtually, or at least partly, "inspired"? God
willing that will be the subject of another short paper in the near future. Allon |