Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul

The Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul is a work from the New Testament apocrypha, and originally formed part of the Acts of Paul, although it was later detached and circulated separately.

This writing claims to describe the teachings of Simon Magus, including the ideas that God was not almighty, that the resurrection was false, that Christ was not truly bodily incarnated God (i.e. Docetism), that angels made the world (see Demiurge), and that the prophets were inaccurate. A response to this letter from Paul also appears in the Acts of Paul and is known as the Third Epistle to the Corinthians.

Such an appeal to combat heresy is likely the work of an orthodox forger, attempting to create a biblical basis for their counter-arguments to their docetic and gnostic enemies. Despite having been widely recognised as forgeries in ancient times, for a period this Epistle and its response appeared in the Armenian Bible.