Date of composition

• Late 100s or early 200s.
• This writing is found in the Acts of Paul; see the list of the apocrypha. Some scholars believe it was an independent writing created in the mid-100s that was later added to the Acts of Paul.

Type of Apocrypha (heretical or in error (made up))

• No heresy or error in it.

Letter from the Corinthians to Paul

• 1 double-spaced page. Two men are spreading false teachings among the churches: Do not use "the prophets" (apparently a reference to the Old Testament), God is not all-powerful, there is no resurrection of the flesh, God did not create humanity, and Christ did not come in the flesh. The short letter ends by asking Paul to come to them.

Letter from Paul to the Corinthians

• (It mentions that Paul is in prison in Philippi; this is an attempt to connect it to Acts 16:16-36.) 2 double-spaced pages. In approximately half of the letter, Paul defended the ideas under attack. In the other half of the letter, Paul attacked not only the people who taught these ideas but those who accepted their ideas. Author's note: The last half sounds similar to Paul's description of the false teachers in Galatians 1:6-12.

Noteworthy from the book

1. Some early church leaders did consider this work canonical, with Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373) writing a short commentary on it.