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I've heard it said that Paul wrote other letters that didn't make it into the Bible, including at least one more letter to the church at Corinth, and a letter to the church at Laodicea. What is the source for these claims, and what might have happened to these letters?

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There were many written works by the apostles and other early church leaders that did not "make the cut" when the Bible was canonized a few centuries after Christ's death. However, since I am a poor historian and cannot cite the source for this general claim nor the specific ones you mention, I leave this as a comment and not an answer. – Daniel Standage Sep 1 '11 at 5:05

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Paul certainly wrote other letters, but they were either lost or were not theological. For example, 1 Corinthians 16:3:

Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.

Regarding one more letter to Corinth, that is the implication in 1 Corinthians 5:9 when he refers to an earlier letter:

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

Finally, it is worth noting that all genuine letters by Paul could be identified by people at the time as he ended them in his own writing (rather than dictating). 2 Thessalonians 3:17 says:

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

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We have no extant letters of Paul that are not part of the canon (regardless of theological content) - that could be more explicit in your answer. – gmoothart Sep 1 '11 at 17:59
@gmoothart: I don't know what you mean. Is that not covered by my first sentence? – Wikis Dec 9 '11 at 20:23
The "or" in your first sentence implies that some of Paul's letters which were not lost were nevertheless excluded from the canon because they were "not theological". This is not the case. – gmoothart Dec 10 '11 at 18:45
@gmoothart: ah, I understand now, thanks. How about, "...they were lost and were therefore probably not theological."? BTW, apologies for the delay in responding, I just missed your original comment. – Wikis Dec 10 '11 at 19:26
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If he did, it would probably have been listed on newadvent's Patristic writing's page alongside:

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That's assuming the document is still extant. – Affable Geek Mar 9 '12 at 13:55

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