MATTHEW HAWKINS applauds a psychotherapist’s disection of William Blake
Who took dictation?
TOM PIERSCIONEK is fascinated by the place of slaves in the creation of Christian scripture
Jacob Jordaens, The Four Evangelists, 1625–1630.
[Musee du Louvre/Public Domain] 
New releases from Christina Alden and Alex Patterson, Odette Michell, Clementine Lovell
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America
Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet
GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today
RON JACOBS welcomes a timely homage to one of the IWW and CPUSA’s most effective orators
God’s Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible
Candida Moss, Little Brown, £25
IT HAS long been accepted by both Biblical scholars and laypersons that a small number of individuals, such as the Gospel authors (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) and the prolific letter writer St Paul, solely composed large parts of the New Testament.
Candida Moss, biblical scholar and Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, shatters this myth in her latest book as she shines a light on the origins of Christian scripture. Moss bestows long overdue credit upon the countless unnamed individuals (many enslaved) who played pivotal roles in composing parts of the New Testament as well as ensuring that Christianity spread across the known world during the precarious climate that existed in the church’s early years.
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