"the epistle from Laodicea"

Is it still extant? Was it extant at the "Canonical" council?

Just a couple of questions which appear to have some bearing on theanswer to the questions.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

There is also reference to a letter supposedly before 1 Corinthians, although some theorize that it is 2 Corinthians and we have them numbered wrong.

 

The likelihood is that he was actually referring to the book of Ephesians.

There was a circuit around which Paul’s writings travelled. That circuit began in Ephesus, and worked its way through to Laodicea following the main route through the cities of Asia minor. This circuit is followed in Revelation & the letters to the seven churches - they start with Ephesus & end with Laodicea. Tychicus, who delivered the letter to the Colossians (Col 4:18), also delivered a letter to the Ephesians (Eph 6:24), which would be passed from church to church, just as the Colossian epistle was to be passed to the Laodiceans.

That being the case then, the epistle to the Ephesians, which deals with much the same subject matter as Colossians, would have been passed from Ephesus until it finally arrived at Laodicea. Paul then instructs an exchange. He is saying in effect "You give the Laodiceans Colossians and they in turn will give you Ephesians" - hence "read the epistle from Laodicea.”

 

I am of the opinion (based on the extant letters which we do have) that the Laodicean letter was an individual letter to that specific church dealing with issues that particular church was having at the time. I am also of the opinion that it got lost somehow.
Why? Because as we read Gal, Eph, Phil, Col, etc, we see a pattern of Paul's to write to individual churches who were having specific problems. It only seems reasonable to assume Paul did the same with Laodicea.
Why was it lost? Perhaps God, in His omniscience knew that everything we would ever need was already dealt with in Paul's other letters, so He allowed it to fade.

Seems reasonable to me. So, I am content to grapple with what God has given me in my Bible. There is plenty there for me to deal with without having to wonder about a "missing" letter.

Ain't no letter "missing". We have all God intended for us to have. We have all we can handle as it is. As a matter of fact, we have MORE than we can deal with. Point of illustration: witness the division amongst "scholars" with what we DO have.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

I tend to agree w/Jim. The letter to the Laodiceans may have been about mundane matters, or a repeat of another letter that DID make the canon.

In about 3.5 years, Jesus wrought many miracles & preached many sermons He did NOT cause to be preserved in writing. It's nothing for the average person to say thousands of words a day, and Jesus, who was constantly teaching, likely spoke several thousand more words every day than did the average person in His time/place. But, as Jim said, if He wanted it preserved, we have it in our languages today. Most likely, Paul wrote many more letters that didn't make the canon.

Evidently, his letter to the Laodiceans didn't have effect for long, because in the Revelation, Jesus doesn't have anything good to say to them.

 

Wow! mark it down folks! This is another day in history. Jim and Roby have agreed again.
Will wonders never cease?



In HIS service;
Jim

 

If you want to read the letter to the Laodiceans, get a copy of the Latin Vulgate. Whether or not it's a genuine translation of the actual Greek epistle that Paul wrote, that's another story. To me, it reads like any of Paul's other epistles, and I don't recall anything heretical in it.

Yours, Bluefalcon

 

http://reluctant-messenger.com/epistle-laodiceans.htm

To see a list along with links to a whole laundry list of non-canonical books click on the words "Lost forgotten texts" in the upper left hand corner of the URL above.

This reproduction and access to these books into one place is the main value of this site.

Ignore the commentary.

HankD

 

Thank you Hank. I had never seen it. I usually don't even bother with all the other "...graphs". Psuedo-, apocry-, etc.
After reading it (this epistle) it looks like a compilation. (I am no expert that's for sure)

And after reading it, it looks as if my "hunch" was correct.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

The epistle to the Laodiceans that is still around is very close to simply being a bunch quotes from other letters by Paul strung together. It was probably created in the 5th century A.D. and there apparently never was a Greek version, it was originally written in Latin.
Some scribe in the Latin church probably gave his career quite a boost by 're-discovering' that epistle.

 

Thats the apochryphal letter, written because of the mention of the letter within the NT, we probably already have the original within the Pauline corpus.

David

 

Considering the fact that the letters we have were gathered and protected so that we have them today, I find it hard to believe that anything of importance has been lost.

Imagine though a discovery in these late times of new true Christian information that opened our understanding to things previously not known...just a thought !

Take for instance, the Gospels contain 99.9% of the words of Christ and His teaching and yet He says to His disciples before His death, ressurection and subsequent departure...

" I have MUCH MORE to tell you, more than you now can bear".

All food for thought

David

 

UM, UH, HMMM.
David, did you see this?:
Joh 21:25
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

To say we have 99.9% of Christ's words is highly suspect. If the whole world could not contain the books written just to record what Christ did while here, then I suppose four short books doesn't represent 99.9% of His words. How much do you talk in a day? Do you think four short books could contain 99.9% of what you have said in three years?

Food for thought. BTW, I liked your "sandwich"!

In HIS service;
Jim

 

What I meant was 99.9% of what we know! Yes that verse quoted from John is good, would anyone like to speculate on what those other things might be Would Jesus have had a moment with the 12 and said, btw off the record...

Also, why were all these other things not recorded?


David

 

Ok. But I must still be a "stick in the mud". I believe we have 100% of what He meant for us to have.

I think there were moments "off the record". He told them not to tell others on several occasions. In the contextof those comments it was apparent that He meant for them to keep it to themselves until the resurrection. But it is not outside the realm of possibility that there were other things meant just for tham alone.

And those things were not for us to know. Bible says God reveals secrets so it is safe to assume that there are some things He won't reveal just yet.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

You misunderstand the other .1% is found in Acts, Pauls testimony and Revelation, sorry for being a bit cryptic

Yes I agree about the personal teaching.

David

 

Take for instance, the Gospels contain 99.9% of the words of Christ

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Silly me! Seems I missed the part about that 99.9% being in the gospels. Me so solly!

In HIS service;
Jim