Forged: Writing in the Name of God – Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are is a book by American New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, published in 2011 by HarperCollins. Arguments and contentions It was an accepted practice in antiquity for a writer to attribute his work to a well-known figure from the past, or a teacher who has greatly influenced him (pseudoepigraphy). Forged contends that this is incorrect and the practice would have been condemned as dishonest by all authorities in antiquity. Falsely attributed writings are often referred to as "pseudepigraphs" but Ehrman maintains that the more honest term is "forgery". The book posits that eight or more books, possibly eleven, out of the 27 books of the Christian New Testament canon were written as forgeries. In his book, Ehrman points out numerous inconsistencies which he finds within the New Testament which appear to support many of his claims, such as the fact that in Acts 4:13 the statement is made that both Peter and John were illiterate, yet in later years entire books of the Bible were then alleged to have been written by them. New Testament books identified as forgeries by Ehrman First Epistle of Peter Second Epistle of Peter Second Epistle to the Thessalonians First Epistle to Timothy Second Epistle to Timothy Epistle to Titus Epistle to the Ephesians Epistle to the Colossians False attributions In addition to the books of the New Testament Ehrman identifies as forgeries, he discusses eight originally anonymous New Testament texts that had names of apostles ascribed to them later and are falsely attributed. These are not forgeries since the texts are anonymous but have had false authors ascribed to them by others: Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Mark Gospel of Luke Gospel of John The Acts of the Apostles First Epistle of John Second Epistle of John Third Epistle of John Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle of James is not technically a forgery because it does not claim to be specifically by James, the brother of Jesus. Rather, it claims to be by "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1). James, Ehrman notes, was a common name. Two of Jesus' disciples had that name, as did the brother of Jesus. It may very well have been written by someone named James. However, to the extent that the author