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"This work has been said to have been written partly at least by Jeremy Bentham's friend Frank Place, that is however a mistake. It was entirely written by Jeremy Bentham himself but Mr Place agreed to see it through the press - nominally at least - for my uncle supposed that he would thus not be so readily known to be the author. Neither Mr Place nor any other of his friends could write in his peculiar style. At the time it was published I had been for some months staying at my Uncle's and he made no secret as to his being the author nor as to the expectations he formed of the effects the publication would produce. George Bentham" One of three important religious works published by Bentham between 1818 and 1823, his criticism of the New Testament was published anonymously by the radical publisher John Hunt, who was one of few prepared to risk prosecution. Bentham examined the role of Saint Paul in shaping Christian theology and attempts to explain the many contradictions within Paul's writings. Bentham asserted that the prospect of fame and prosperity as leader of a new movement was the principal reason for Paul's conversion, a view which inevitably provoked much controversy.