The Apocryphal Bible Hoax That Won’t Die
“The Archko Volume” still sells although proved fake more than 120 years ago
Between 1879 and 1896, the Rev. William D. Mahan, a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, issued three editions of previously unknown contemporary accounts of Jesus Christ’s life. There’s virtually unanimous agreement that his work is a fraud, and Mahan’s church suspended him for falsehood and plagiarism. Yet the last version, The Archko Volume, is sold today to readers who praise its historical documents and their importance.
Mahan’s issued the first work, a 32-page pamphlet called “A Correct Transcript of Pilate’s Court,” in 1879. Its origin story is unusual. Mahan said he met Henry Whydaman, a German, in Missouri in 1856. Whydaman told Mahan of spending five years in Rome and coming across a document called Acta Pilati (“The Acts of Pilate”) in the Vatican library. He said it was an official report from Pontius Pilate to Roman Emperor Tiberius of Christ’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion.
During a three-year exchange of letters, Whydaman told Mahan that Father Freelinhusen, “the chief guardian of the Vatican,” would copy the document for 35 “darics,” or $62.44 (equivalent to $2,002 today). Whydaman provided “a true copy, word for word,” in 1859, and Mahan paid his brother-in-law in New…
