Apocryphal Epistles

The apocryphal epistles are writings in letter form falsely attributed to apostles or other NT figures, circulating in early Christianity outside the canonical NT. They include: the Epistle to the Laodiceans (a short, unremarkable Latin letter falsely attributed to Paul, long suspected as a forgery), the Correspondence of Paul and Seneca (14 letters, a 4th-century Latin fabrication), the Third Epistle to the Corinthians (preserved within the Acts of Paul), the Epistle of the Apostles (Epistula Apostolorum, an early 2nd-century anti-Gnostic work in the form of a letter from the apostles), and various Gnostic epistles. Colossians 4:16 mentions a letter to Laodicea from Paul, which has fueled speculation about the apocryphal Laodiceans, but Jerome and most ancient critics dismissed it as inauthentic. The apocryphal epistles were produced to fill in gaps in the apostolic record, support particular doctrinal positions, or satisfy curiosity about figures mentioned in the NT. None achieved canonical status; their lack of apostolic authorship and their often doctrinal peculiarities ruled them out.