Book of Jasher – the name of a lost book mentioned several times in the Bible, which was subject to at least two high-profile forgeries in the 18th and 19th century.[2][3]
Gospel of Josephus – 1927 forgery attributed to Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, actually created by Italian writer Luigi Moccia to raise publicity for one of his novels.[4][5]
Letter of Benan – an alleged translation of a 5th-century Coptic papyrus containing a description by an Egyptian physician of his encounters with Jesus and the apostles. Created by Ernst Edler von der Planitz in 1910.[6]
Letter of Lentulus – document that appeared in 15th century Florence and purported to be a letter written by one Publius Lentulus, governor of Judea, in which a physical description of Jesus Christ is given. The document greatly influenced depictions of Christ in contemporary art.[7]
Monita Secreta – alleged Jesuit instructions to use unethical methods to increase the order's wealth and influence. Most likely an anti-Jesuit forgery created in 1615 by Jerome Zahorowski, a Polish friar who was expelled from the order a few years before.[9][10]
Prophecy of the Popes – 112 short, cryptic phrases which are supposed to predict the Catholic Popes from Celestine II (1143–1144) onward. First published by Benedictine monk Arnold Wion in 1595 and most probably created around that time. The phrases correctly apply to popes up to 1590, while falling short of clear predictions from then on. Some adherents still try to find links between the phrases and subsequent popes, claiming that Pope Francis is the 112th and final pope of the prophecy.[14][15]
The Shroud of Turin – claimed to be the burial shroud of Jesus. Later shown by radiocarbon dating tests to have been manufactured in the Middle Ages, at the same time as it first appeared in the historical record.[18][19][20]
The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven – 2010 book describing Alex Malarkey's experiences in heaven after a traffic accident in 2004. Malarkey, who was 6 years old when the accident happened, later disavowed the account, calling it "one of the most deceptive books ever".[22][23]
Kinderhook plates – engraved metal plates that were allegedly discovered in Kinderhook, Illinois in 1843, but were actually created by three men attempting to test Mormon leader Joseph Smith into "translating" the engravings. One of the men later admitted to the ruse and modern dating confirmed they are 19th-century forgeries.[25][26]
Salamander letter – document alleging certain visions of Mormon leader Joseph Smith that were at odds with the Church's views which proved to have been created by Mark Hofmann in the 1980s. Part of a larger trove of fake documents that led to Hofmann being referred to as "unquestionably the most skilled forger this country has ever seen". When threatened with exposure, he used pipe bombs to kill two people in his attempt to keep the forgery a secret and is currently serving life in prison.[27]
Surah of Wilaya and Nurayn – two surahs that are seen as forgeries by both Sunni and Shi'aMuslims. While the source of these texts is not clear, they have been used to accuse Shi'ites of corrupting the Qur'an by adding them to the official text, an accusation that is widely rejected by the Shi'a community.[30][31]
Book of Veles – text engraved on wooden planks alleged to date from the 9th and 10th century which document ancient Slavic religion and history. The claim states that the planks were found in 1919, transcribed and then lost in 1941. Largely considered to be a forgery created around the middle of the 20th century, it is nonetheless seen as a sacred text by some Slavic neopagans.[33][34]
^Goodspeed, Edgar J. (2011). New Chapters in New Testament Study. Literary Licensing. p. 196. ISBN978-1-258-13926-1.
^Burke, Tony (2017). Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha: Proceedings from the 2015 York Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 12. ISBN978-1-5326-0373-0.
^Lutz, Cora E. (1975). "The Letter of Lentulus Describing Christ". The Yale University Library Gazette. 50 (2): 91–97. JSTOR40858588.
^Corrigan, Kevin; Harrington, L. Michael (2018), "Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2019-02-01
^Peters, Jason Frederick (Summer 2003). "The Kinderhook Plates: Examining a Nineteenth-Century Hoax". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 96 (2): 130–145. JSTOR40193471.
^Marcinkowski, Muhammad Ismail (March 2001). "Some Reflections On Alleged Twelver Sh?'ite Attitudes Toward the Integrity of the Qur'ān*". The Muslim World. 91 (1–2): 137–154. doi:10.1111/j.1478-1913.2001.tb03711.x.
