Introduction

J. K. Elliott

This form was not generally used: writers preferred narrative or an apocalypse as a vehicle for their material. Our apocryphal epistles are few and not impressive. In this category, however, comes the important Epistle of the Apostles, conventionally included among the epistles but more properly assigned to a different category, being a dialogue. The latest edition of the Hennecke collection assigns the Epistle of the Apostles and other texts to a chapter entitled ‘Dialogues of The Redeemer.’

The texts included here are:

Shorter Epistles

• 1. The Letters of Christ and Abgar.

• 2. The Letter of Lentulus.

• 3. The Epistle to the Laodiceans.

• 4. The Correspondence of Paul and Seneca.

• 5. The Epistle to the Alexandrians (description).

The Epistle of the Apostles (Epistula Apostolorum).

The Third Epistle to the Corinthians is included above, within the Acts of Paul. The so‐called Epistle of Pseudo‐Titus is dealt with in the section of Apocryphal Acts (and also see Acts of John, Acts of Peter, Acts of Andrew); although called a letter it is in fact a theological treatise in the style of a homily on the theme of celibacy.