Pseudepigrapha writings are attributed to authors who were not the authors of these texts. For example, Acts of Thomas was not written by the apostle Thomas. Thomas is a pseudonym, an assumed name.
There are pseudepigrapha works of four main types:
- Jewish mystic probably written by a member of the Essene community and read by the Essenes
- Christian Gnostic writings on personal secret knowledge – gnosis
- Marian Sect writings
- Forerunners of Mystery Plays, Miracle Plays and Passion Plays
Essene Jewish Mystic Writings
The first type of pseudepigrapha writings are of Jewish origin written between the first century BC and the first century AD. The Jewish writings were allegedly written by prophets from the Bible, but actually written many hundreds of years later by unknown authors.
1 Enoch
In this category there is the Book of Enoch. It is an exhortation of Enoch to the priest Methuselah. It describes angels, fallen angels and demons; giants called Nephilim; astrology and astral journeys; and the punishment of the wicked.
The Biblical Enoch of Genesis chapter 5 was the great grandfather of Noah and the father of Methuselah.
The Book of Enoch and the Book of Giants were found among the scrolls of the Qumran Caves also known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Many of the scrolls appear to have been written by members of the Essene community and it may have been the Essenes who hid the scrolls in the caves when the Jews were once again sent into exile. The Essenes were a mystic Jewish sect with many members from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. The Essenes were an ascetic sect keen on the names of angels and knowledge about angels and demons.
Testament of Moses / Assumption of Moses / Ascension of Moses
Among Early Jewish Writings translated by R. H. Charles in 2000. This Jewish work was only conserved as a 6th century manuscript in Latin kept in Milan. It was found in the mid-19th century.
It is supposed to be the dialogue of the dying Moses instructing Joshua. Moses prophesies that things will go wrong in Israel, evil things will be done and they will go into captivity but a king will return them to their land.
The manuscript is incomplete. The extant text has no reference to an assumption of Moses into heaven. It is not known if this was part of the missing text.
Merry and True 