GOD'S GHOSTWRITERS

A study of the forgotten writers behind the Christian scriptures.

Moss, the chair of theology at the University of Birmingham and the author of The Myth of Persecution, sets out to uncover the labor of enslaved people in the writing, editing, and copying of the New Testament. The author provides a wide-ranging overview of the role of slavery in the ancient Mediterranean world, especially the use of enslaved people as readers and writers. Using conjecture, she links the Gospel writers and Paul, especially, to literate people enslaved under Roman rule, beginning with the known fact that Paul dictated his words to scribes. However, her attempts to tie specific New Testament writings to enslaved labor are largely unconvincing. For example, Moss posits a scenario in which Paul speaks through a prison window to a scribe, who must squat on the pavement all day writing down Paul’s words, which the scribe would then have some sway over; she also searches for hidden slave language and meaning in the Gospels, inferring, for instance, that certain aspects of Jesus’ teachings were directly influenced by enslaved writers. Her arguments are thought provoking, but it is nearly impossible to know, 2,000 years later, what the exact situations were, what role in society scribes occupied, and what liberties they may have taken with texts. Nevertheless, Moss sees her goal in this study as doing the “reparative work” of rediscovering the role and agency of enslaved persons in the formation of the Christian scriptures. To a degree, she has done just that—even if she leaves readers with more questions.

An intriguing thesis, but Moss overreaches.