Gospel of Josephus

Luigi Moccia was an individual who made a notable impact in the field of history through a literary creation. In 1927, Moccia crafted a manuscript known as the Gospel of Josephus, written in Greek, with the intention of generating publicity for one of his novels. This work was a deliberate attempt to create a pseudepigraph, attributing its authorship to the renowned Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who lived in the first century CE.

The Gospel of Josephus, however, was eventually exposed as a modern forgery. Scholars scrutinized the manuscript and determined its inauthenticity based on the modern language and form it employed. Despite its short-lived deception, the Gospel of Josephus remains a significant example of a literary hoax in the realm of historical studies. Moccia's creation serves as a cautionary tale for historians and scholars, highlighting the importance of rigorous verification and authentication of historical texts to prevent the perpetuation of falsehoods.