Author and religious studies professor Bart Ehrman argued that many books of the New Testament are forgeries written by people other than the ones to whom they are explicitly attributed. This notion is widely accepted within the field of biblical scholarship, he said. As an example, Ehrman pointed to the book of 2 Peter, about which scholars agree was not authored by the apostle Peter. Literary forgery was widely practiced in ancient times but not socially approved, he explained, noting that many forgers claimed to be famous authors in order to be paid for their work.
The primary motive of Christian forgers seems to have been to espouse certain viewpoints with the authority of noteworthy religious leaders, such as Paul, he continued. Thirteen epistles in the New Testament are credited to the famous apostle, however, only seven were written by Paul, Ehrman revealed. One of the disputed letters, 1 Timothy, was not only penned by someone else, it contains teachings about the role of women that are at odds with what Paul actually taught, he said. Contemporary readers have come to unfairly view Paul as misogynistic, or anti-women, because such writings have been misattributed to him, Ehrman added.
Of the 27 books in the New Testament, Ehrman estimates that 11 are forgeries, including the six disputed Pauline epistles, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, and James. He commented on other New Testament books, including the Gospel of John and Revelation, both traditionally ascribed to John, the disciple of Jesus. Neither book was forged nor were they written by Jesus' disciple, he said. The gospel's authorship is anonymous and Revelation was likely written by someone else named John, Ehrman explained. He also spoke about non-Canonical forged literature related to the crucifixion of Jesus, such as the Gospel of Peter, which contains strong anti-Jewish sentiments.
Healing Properties of Algae
In the first hour, president of BioAge, Roland Thomas, talked about the healing properties of algae, as based on the research of Russian scientist Michael Kiriac, PhD. Thomas said Kiriac formulated a special blend of micro-algae in the 1970s that was shown to "stop existing cancer in over 20 [animal] species." Following the Chernobyl disaster, Kiriac was allowed to give his micro-algae to human victims suffering the advanced stages of radiation sickness, he continued. According to Thomas, heavy metals in the urine of these test subjects was eliminated by 50% in 20 days. Many children are alive today because of Kiriac's research, he added. Micro-Algae is thought to heal be nourishing the brain, which in turn helps regenerate the rest of the body, Thomas explained. More info on the health benefits of algae can be found in Thomas' FREE downloadable e-book, Awakening the Genius Within.