Lost scriptures: books that did not make it into the New Testament (41 page)

The Third Letter to

the Corinthians

The letter traditionally called 3 Corinthians is a pseudonymous reply of

“Paul” to a letter from the Christians in Corinth, sent to him while he was in prison in Philippi. Both letters eventually came to be incorporated in the apocryphal Acts of Paul (see above). In some parts of the Christian church—for example, in Armenia—3 Corinthians was accepted as canonical Scripture.

The letter from the Corinthians asks for Paul’s advice about the teaching of two heretics, Simon (Magus?) and Cleobius, who maintain, among other things, that (a) God was not the creator, (b) the Jewish prophets were not from God, (c) Jesus did not come in the flesh, and (d) the flesh will not be raised. All of these are clearly Gnostic ideas.1 The pseudonymous author of 3 Corinthians replies by refuting each of them in turn. In particular, he wants to stress the proto-orthodox doctrine that the flesh was created by God and that it will be redeemed, as evident in the resurrection of Jesus himself in the flesh. The letter concludes with dire warnings of eternal torment for those who embrace the heretical teachings of Paul’s opponents.

Most scholars now think that these letters were originally composed and transmitted independently of the Acts of Paul and were then at a later time incorporated in the longer narrative. If so, they may well have been in circulation already by the middle of the second century.

1For a discussion of Christian Gnosticism, see Ehrman,
Lost
Christianities
, pp. 113–34.

Translation by Bart D. Ehrman, based on the Greek text in Michel Testuz,
Papyrus
Bodmer
X–XII;
Correspondance
apocryphe
des
Corinthiens
et
de
l’apoˆ
tre
Paul
(Cologne-Geneva: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1959).

157

158

NON-CANONICAL EPISTLES AND RELATED WRITINGS

The
Letter
of
the
Corinthians
to
Paul
come—he who is rejected by those who

have debased his sayings. For in the be

Stephanus and the Presbyters with

ginning I delivered over to you the teachhim, Daphnus, Euboulus, Theophilus, ings I received from the apostles who

and Zenon, to Paul, who is in the Lord.

were before me, who spent their entire

Greetings!

time with Jesus Christ: that our Lord

Two men, a certain Simon and Cleo

Christ Jesus was born from Mary, from

bius, have come to Corinth and upset the

the seed of David, when the Holy Spirit

faith of some by their corrupt teachings,

was sent from heaven into her by the

which you can evaluate for yourself. For

Father, that he might come into the world

we have never heard such teachings eiand set free all flesh through his flesh, ther from you or anyone else. But we

and might raise us from the dead as

have kept the things we received from

fleshly beings, just as he showed himself

you and our other teachers. And so, since

as a model; and that humans were formed

the Lord has shown us mercy, come to

by his Father. For this reason they were

us while you are in the flesh, or write

sought out by him while they were perback to us, that we may hear your teachishing, that he might make them live ings again. For we believe what was rethrough their adoption as God’s children.

vealed to Theonoe, that the Lord has

For God who is over all, the Almighty,

saved you from the hand of the Lawless

the one who made heaven and earth, sent

one.

prophets to the Jews first of all, that they

For this is what they are saying and

might be pulled away from their sins. For

teaching: that there is no need to consider

he wanted to save the house of Israel.

the [Hebrew] prophets; that God is not

And so he sent a portion of the Spirit of

the Almighty; that there is no resurrection

Christ into the prophets, who proclaimed

of the flesh; that humans are not God’s

the true worship of God for many years.

creation; that the Lord did not come (into

For the unrighteous ruler who wanted to

the world) in the flesh; that he was not

be God laid hands on them and delivered

born from Mary; and that the world did

all human flesh to the bondage of

not come from God but from angels.

pleasure.

For this reason, brother, make all haste

But since God the Almighty was righto come, that the Corinthian church may teous, and did not wish to abandon his

continue to have no cause of stumbling

own creation, he sent down the Spirit

and that the foolishness of these men may

through fire into Mary the Galilean, that

be made clear.

the evil one might be defeated through

Farewell in the Lord.

that same perishing flesh that he used in

his dealings with others. In this way he

would convincingly be shown not to be

The
Letter
of
Paul
to
the
Corinthians
God. For by his own body Christ Jesus

Concerning
the
Flesh

saved all flesh, that he might show forth

a temple of righteousness by his own

Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ and

body, by which we have been set free.

who is in the midst of many failures, to

Those others, therefore, are not children

the brothers in Corinth. Greetings!

of righteousness but children of wrath;

I am not surprised that the doctrines

they try to restrain God’s foreknowledge

of the evil one have moved forward so

by saying that heaven and earth and all

quickly; for the Lord Christ will soon

that is in them is not the work of the

THE THIRD LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

159

Father. They have the cursed faith of the

you who believe in Christ Jesus, just as

serpent. Reject such people and flee from

he himself was raised, O you of little

their teaching.

faith!

There is no resurrection for those who

And if a corpse was cast onto the bones

tell you there is no resurrection of the

of the prophet Elisha by the sons of Isflesh, who deny, in fact, the one who is rael, and was then raised up in the body—

risen. For they do not know, O men of

what about you? When the body, bones,

Corinth, about the sowing of wheat or

and spirit of Christ have been cast upon

other seed, that it is cast naked on the

you in that last day, will you not be raised

earth and after it disintegrates in the

with flesh intact?

depths it is raised by the will of God,

If anyone accepts some other teaching,

in a body and fully clothed, so that

let him not cause me trouble. For I have

not only is the body that is cast down

chains on my hands that I may gain

raised up, but it is multiplied, erect, and

Christ, and marks on my body that I may

blessed.

come to the resurrection of the dead.

And if we are not to make a parable

Anyone who remains in the rule received

out of the seed, you should know that

through the blessed prophets and the holy

Jonah, the son of Amathias, when he re

Gospel will receive a reward. Anyone

fused to preach in Nineveh, was swalwho transgresses these things is bound lowed by a huge fish. After three days

for the fire, as are those atheists who have

and nights God heard Jonah praying from

come before them—offspring of vipers,

the depths of Hades—and not a bit of

whom you should reject by the power of

him was corrupted, not even a hair or an

the Lord.

eyelash. How much more will he raise

May peace be with you.

The Correspondence Between

Paul and Seneca

The apostle Paul was without doubt one of the most important figures of early Christianity. Some scholars have gone so far as to label him the

“second founder” of Christianity, by which they mean that his theological emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus for salvation from sin marked a distinct modification of Jesus’ simple message of the need of repentance and forgiveness. In any event, Paul’s importance in the New Testament is quite clear: thirteen of its twenty-seven books claim to be written by him, another was included in the canon because early Christians thought he wrote it (the anonymous book of Hebrews), and another is largely written
about
him (the book of Acts).

Despite his importance to the early Christian movement, Paul was not well known or influential on his world at large. It is a striking fact that he is never mentioned in any of the writings of his Jewish and Roman contemporaries. In order make up for this perceived deficit, sometime in the fourth Christian century an unknown author forged a series of fourteen letters between the apostle and the most famous philosopher of his day, Seneca.

Seneca, an important statesman as well as author, had been the tutor of the young Nero; when Nero later became emperor of Rome, he appointed Seneca as a political advisor.

The pseudonymous correspondence between Seneca and Paul presupposes that historical context, as Seneca praises Paul’s brilliance and indicates that he has shown Paul’s letters to the emperor, who was himself impressed with his god-given ideas. Apart from a show of mutual admiration, there is little of substance in the correspondence, with the exception of letter eleven, which mentions the fire in Rome allegedly started by Nero but blamed on the Christians. The pseudonymous letters serve, then, principally to elevate the importance of Paul in the eyes of the world, as his theological insights are celebrated by a world-renowned philosopher of his day and the emperor of Rome himself.

Translation by J. K. Elliott,
Apocryphal
New
Testament
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993) 549–53; used with permission.

160

THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PAUL AND SENECA

161

1.
Seneca
to
Paul
greeting

critic, a philosopher, the teacher of so

great a ruler, nay even of everyone,

I believe that you have been informed,

would not say this unless you speak the

Paul, of the discussion which my friend

truth. I hope that you may long be in

Lacilius and I held yesterday concerning

good health.

the apocrypha and other matters: for

some of the followers of your teachings

were with me. We had retired to the gar

3.
Seneca
to
Paul
greeting

dens of Sallust, and it was our good fortune that these disciples whom I have I have arranged some of my works and

mentioned saw us there and joined us,

set them in order according to their

although they were on their way elseproper divisions. I also intend to read where. You may be sure that we wished

them to Caesar. If only fate is kind

that you, too, had been present, and I also

enough to cause him to show renewed

want you to know this: when we had read

interest, perhaps you will be there also;

your book, that is to say one of the many

if not, I will at some other time set a day

letters of admirable exhortation to an upon which we may examine this work right life which you have sent to some

together. I could not show him this writcity or to the capital of a province, ing without first conferring with you, if

we were completely refreshed. These

only it were possible to do so without

thoughts, I believe, were expressed not

risk, so that you may know that you are

by you, but through you; though somenot being forgotten. Farewell, dearest times they were expressed both by you

Paul.

and through you; for they are so lofty and

so brilliant with noble sentiments that in

my opinion generations of men could

4.
To
Annaeus
Seneca
Paul
greeting
hardly be enough to become established

and perfected in them. I wish you good

Whenever I hear your letters, I think that

health, brother.

you are present and I imagine nothing

else than that you are continually with

us. As soon, therefore, as you begin to

2.
To
Annaeus
Seneca
Paul
greeting
come, we shall see each other face to

face. I hope that you are in good health.

I was extremely glad to receive your letter yesterday, and I could have answered it immediately if I had had with me the