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The Ascension of Authorship traces the history of
the idea of the author in the ancient world, beginning with the attribution
practices of Second Temple and rabbinic Judaism.
Wyrick explores the testimony of Josephus on the succession of prophetic
scribes and their superiority to Greek historiographers, and interprets the
formation of the biblical canon in this light. The Ascension of
Authorship also examines the Greek scholarly methodology that
questioned traditional connections between names and texts, a methodology
perfected by Hellenistic grammarians and inherited by early Christian
scholars. Wyrick argues that the fusion of Jewish and Hellenistic approaches
toward attribution helped lead to St. Augustine's reinvention of the writer
of scripture as an author whose texts were governed by both divine and human
intent.
Jed Wyrick is Assistant Professor
of Religious Studies at California State University, Chico.
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