The Missing Epistles to Laodicea & the Corinthians

[researcher]

Just came across this in a commentary today.

In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he says he wrote them a letter before that one (which would mean there was 1 Cor, 2 Cor, and 3rd Cor, lol)

1Co 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:


And he apparently wrote a letter to the Laodiceans that the people at Corinth were supposed to read also.

Col 4:15 Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
Col 4:16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.

(There is one letter to the Laodicians out there, but most believe it is pseudo-graphical.)

I wonder how many books (letters) are really missing. :o Lol

 

[handy]

This is the interesting part of what constitutes God's word and what doesn't. Paul was an apostle, and as such was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write much of what constitutes the Spirit's truth for the Body.

But, Paul was a prolific writer, who wrote many letters to many people and not all of them were meant to be inspired Scripture.

Many of Paul's instructions were mainly that: instructions, things that needed to be carried out. Not everything that was written in for the early churches was meant for the Body of Christ eternal.

I trust fully and without any doubt that what the Holy Spirit meant for us to have, we have.

 

[mondar]

This is the interesting part of what constitutes God's word and what doesn't. Paul was an apostle, and as such was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write much of what constitutes the Spirit's truth for the Body.

But, Paul was a prolific writer, who wrote many letters to many people and not all of them were meant to be inspired Scripture.

Many of Paul's instructions were mainly that: instructions, things that needed to be carried out. Not everything that was written in for the early churches was meant for the Body of Christ eternal.

I trust fully and without any doubt that what the Holy Spirit meant for us to have, we have.

When the Corinthians received the letter we call 1 Corinthians i am sure they were aware of the previous epistle Paul was talking about. They obviously did not see fit to copy it and send it to other Churches. While this is somewhat speculative, I am guessing it was not written as "From the Lord." It was not recognized by the receivers as scripture.

If you read the scriptures below from 2 Peter 3 you will see that the scriptures in our canon were recognized as scripture from the beginning.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you;
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
I have highlighted in underline and red certain words above. Peter, writing in the first century already recognizes some of Pauls epistles as scripture. This is a fact. Now it is true that the text does not specificly name exactly which Epistles Peter was referring to that Paul had written. Nevertheless, Peter obviously had a Pauline corpus of scripture in mind.

If the Corinthian Church did not feel the need to copy and disseminate certain of Pauls epistles, and they did feel the need to disseminate other epistles written by Paul, could it be that some were written as from the Lord. Others may have been more personal in nature and were not about theological or ecclesiastical issues. They obviously included theological and ecclesiastical comments, but they must have been in some way different for the Corinthians and the early Church to not feel the need to copy and disseminate them.

 

[researcher]

They obviously did not see fit to copy it and send it to other Churches.

They were probably embarrassed at the charges of immorality being leveled against them, lol. Then again, maybe not, they did copy the 1st letter, lol.

 

[mondar]

They obviously did not see fit to copy it and send it to other Churches.

They were probably embarrassed at the charges of immorality being leveled against them, lol. Then again, maybe not, they did copy the 1st letter, lol.

Language is confusing. I am referring to the letter written before 1 Corinthians as "the 1st letter."

 

[researcher]

They obviously did not see fit to copy it and send it to other Churches.

They were probably embarrassed at the charges of immorality being leveled against them, lol. Then again, maybe not, they did copy the 1st letter, lol.

Language is confusing. I am referring to the letter written before 1 Corinthians as "the 1st letter."

Got it! ;)

 

[elijah23]

Paul could have written all kinds of letters that didn’t get into the Bible. If so, there probably was a good reason. The Bible is all ready quite long—that could have been one reason. The additional letters might not have contained any new information.