Everything about Antilegomena totally explained
Antilegomena (from Greek ἀντιλεγομένα, contradicted or disputed, literally
spoken against), an
epithet used by the
Church Fathers to denote those books of the
New Testament which, although sometimes publicly read in the churches, were not for a considerable amount of time considered to be genuine, or received into the
canon of Scripture. They were thus contrasted with the
Homologoumena (from Greek ὁμολογουμένα), or universally acknowledged writings.
The term is sometimes applied also to certain books in the
Hebrew Bible. There are records in the
Mishna of controversy in some Jewish circles during the second century C.E. relative to the canonicity of the
Song of Solomon,
Ecclesiastes, and
Esther. Some doubts were expressed about
Proverbs during this period as well. The
Gemara notes that the book of
Ezekiel had also been questioned about its authority until objections to it were settled in 66 C.E. Also, in the first century B.C.E. the disciples of
Shammai contested the canonicity of Ecclesiastes because of its pessimism, whereas the school of
Hillel just as vigorously upheld it. At the
school of Jamnia (circa 90 C.E.) there was further discussion, see
Development of the Jewish Bible canon for details.
The first church historian,
Eusebius, circa 303-325
AD, applied the term
Antilegomena to the
Epistle of James, the
Epistle of Jude,
2 Peter,
2 and
3 John, the
Acts of Paul, the
Shepherd of Hermas, the
Apocalypse of Peter, the
Epistle of Barnabas, the
Didache, the
Apocalypse of John, and the
Gospel according to the Hebrews:
» "Among the disputed writings, [τῶνἀντιλεγομένων] which are nevertheless recognized by many, are extant the so-called epistle of James and that of Jude, also the second epistle of Peter, and those that are called the second and third of John, whether they belong to the
evangelist or to
another person of the same name. Among the rejected writings must be reckoned also the Acts of Paul, and the so-called Shepherd, and the Apocalypse of Peter, and in addition to these the extant epistle of Barnabas, and the so-called Teachings of the Apostles; and besides, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if it seem proper, which some, as I said, reject, but which others class with the accepted books. And among these some have placed also the Gospel according to the Hebrews, with which those of the Hebrews that have accepted Christ are especially delighted. And all these may be reckoned among the disputed books. [τῶνἀντιλεγομένων]"
The
Epistle to the Hebrews is also listed earlier:
» "It isn't indeed right to overlook the fact that some have rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying that it's disputed [ἀντιλέγεσθαι] by the church of Rome, on the ground that it wasn't written by Paul."
Codex Sinaiticus, a fourth century text, includes the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas.
The original
Peshitta excluded 2-3 John, 2 Peter, Jude and Revelation. Some modern editions, such as the
Lee Peshitta of 1823, include them.
During the
Reformation,
Luther brought up the issue of the
Antilegomena among the
Church Fathers Since he questioned Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation, these books are sometimes termed
Luther's Antilegomena.
F. C. Baur used the term in his classification of the
Pauline Epistles, classing Romans, 1-2 Corinthians and Galatians as
homologoumena; Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians and Philemon as
antilegomena; and the
Pastoral Epistles as
notha (spurious writings).
In current Lutheran usage
antilegomena describes those of the
New Testament books which have obtained a doubtful place in the Canon. These are the Epistles of James and Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, the Apocalypse of John, and the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Further Information
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