Free Forged by Bart D. Ehrman

strenuously, of course, is that other historians did precisely what he opposed, inventing speeches and even narratives as they saw fit for their “historical” accounts. It is certainly true that people in general, not just professional historians, made up a lot of stories about historical figures. In Christian circles this can be seen for nearly every historical figure of importance we know of: Jesus, Paul, Peter, and other members of the apostolic band. In this chapter, since I’m interested in books that claim to be written by Peter, but in fact were forged in his name, let us begin by considering some of the stories invented about him, before looking at books falsely attributed to him.
    Stories About Peter
    W E HAVE A NUMBER of books from early Christianity that tell stories about Peter. These were almost entirely “made up” by one Christian storyteller or another. By my definitions these stories are not forgeries; they are not accounts that falsely claim to be written by Peter. They, instead, might be called “fabrications,” stories invented about Peter. 6
    One of the most interesting does happen to occur in a forged document. This forgery, however, is not in the name of Peter, but in the name of Titus, the companion of Paul. The New Testament contains a letter allegedly by Paul to Titus, which I argue in Chapter 3 is pseudonymous (i.e., a forgery). About four hundred years later another letter appeared, this one claiming to be written by Titus. It is an intriguing letter, because it argues vociferously that the only way to have eternal life is by living an ascetic, chaste life. Or to put it more bluntly, one can have salvation only by refraining from sex. In the context of the forger’s discussion he cites a story about Peter that serves to illustrate his point.
    A peasant brings his virgin daughter to Peter to be blessed. Peter says a prayer over the girl, asking that God do what is best for her. She drops down dead. The peasant is understandably distressed, but the author of the story calls him “distrustful,” since he doesn’t believe that what has happened is in the girl’s best interest. He begs Peter to restore the girl to life, and Peter does so. But a few days later a visitor who claims to be a Christian comes to stay with the peasant andseduces his daughter. They run off together and are never seen again. And that’s the end of the story. In its context the message is quite clear: it is far better to be dead than caught up in sexual desire.
    A similar narrative can be found in a collection of stories about Peter’s missionary activities, probably written in the second Christian century. The account, simply called the Acts of Peter, describes the great miracles Peter performed after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension, as he demonstrates the power of his risen Lord and converts innumerable persons to the faith.
    In one of the stories Peter is talking to a gathering of Christians in his home on a Sunday; they have brought a group of sick people for him to heal. But someone in the crowd asks Peter why he won’t heal his own daughter, who is lying paralyzed in the corner. Peter assures his guests that God has the power to heal the girl, should he choose to do so. To prove his point, Peter orders the girl to arise and walk naturally. And she does so. But then he orders her to return to her corner paralyzed. The crowd is both amazed and distraught.
    Peter then tells the story of his daughter. When she was young, Peter learned in a vision from God that if she remained healthy, she would lead many astray; she apparently was beautiful as a child, and as an adult she would entice men to sleep with her. When she was ten, a next-door neighbor attempted to seduce her, but before he could sleep with her, she became paralyzed, by the mercy of God. The neighbor went blind for his troubles, until healed by Peter and converted to faith in Christ. But the girl had