Peter Davids, Our Lady of Gaudalupe Priory, Georgetown, USA

Pseudepigrapha, Anonymity, and the Authority of the Catholic Epistles: An Evangelical-Catholic Perspective While, in a sense, all four gospels and Acts are anonymous and several Pauline letters disputed, the issues of pseudepigraphy and anonymity come together in the Catholic Epistles, which may explain the lack of authority that they seem to have in some areas of the church and in particular their ethical authority. This paper explores those issues in the light of (1) the issue of definitions, (2) first century letter writing, and (3) especially Dei Verbum of Vatican II and the relevant passages of Pope Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger, taken in context. It reveals that (1) “pseudepigraphy” is multivalent, (2) anxiety over such questions is rooted in an objectification of historical critical study, i.e. attempting to find through historical study a level of certainty that it cannot give, and (3) authority is founded upon reading the works as part of the ongoing developing revelation of God to the People of God, which was recognized by the Church. The Church in turn included these works in the list of those works whose evident authority meant that they should be read in gatherings of the People of God. A Lecture at the Lanier Theological Library, May 21, 2022