I believe that Paul wrote at least four letters to the Corinthians. He mentions a previous letter in 1st Corinthians 5:9, in which he states that he previously wrote to them not to associate with immoral people (“9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—[1]”. No manuscripts have been found of this first letter, and many refer to it as 0 Corinthians.
The Church in Corinth was a troubled church facing Gnostics and heretical doctrines. Based on what the Church was experiencing and their reaction to Paul’s writings, they were spiritually immature.
3rd Corinthians was well known in the Armenian Church and included in their New Testament canon, but was left out since the 19th century. Although it was included in the Zohrabian Bible of 1805 AD. It was written in a fashion that was inconsistent in the New Testament or by Paul himself. But it could have been written much later, or the language could have been modernized in its translation.
3rd Corinthians contains two Chapters: a letter from Corinth to Paul and then his response.
The first Chapter tells of Simon and Cleobius coming to Corinth preaching what the Church thought to be false teachings:
- The Lord was not born of Mary.
- Jesus was not of the lineage of King David.
- We must not study the Old Testament prophets.
- God is not Almighty.
- There is no resurrection of the flesh, only of the spirit.
- Creation is not God’s work.
- The Lord did not come in the flesh.
- The world was created by angels and not God
- Jesus Christ was not crucified, but someone who looked like Jesus was crucified in his place.[2]
The fact that they needed confirmation of these Heresies shows their immaturity. Oddly, these are the same false teachings that we still hear about today from other faiths. Any mature Christian would quickly see the errors in these teachings:
Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, to the brothers in Corinth, greetings! 2 Since I am in prison, I am not surprised that the teachings of the evil one are quickly gaining ground. 3 My Lord Jesus Christ will quickly come, since He is rejected by those who falsify His words. 4 I delivered to you from the beginning what I received from the apostles who were before me, who were at all times together with the Lord Jesus Christ.
5 Our Lord Jesus Christ was born of Mary of the seed of David. The Holy Spirit was sent from heaven by the Father into her,
6 that He might come into this world to redeem all flesh through His own flesh, and that He might raise us up in the flesh from the dead, just as He has shown Himself as our example. 7 Since that man was molded by his Father, 8 he was sought for when he was lost, that he might be made alive by adoption into sonship.
9 The Almighty God, who made heaven and earth, first sent the prophets to the Jews, that they might turn from their sins; 10 for He had determined how to save the house of Israel, therefore He sent a portion of the spirit of Christ into the prophets, who proclaimed the faultless worship of God many times.
11 Since the unrighteous prince wished to be God, he laid hands on the prophets and killed them, so all the flesh of men might continue to be bound to passions. 12 But God, the Almighty, being righteous and unwilling to abandon His own creation, 13 sent the Holy Spirit to Mary the Galilean, 14 who believed with all her heart, and she received the Holy Spirit into her womb that Jesus might enter the world, 15 and even though the evil one believed by the destruction of Jesus’ flesh he would continue to rule, by it he was actually conquered and put to shame and shown to the world once and for all that he was not God!
16 For by his own body Jesus Christ saved all flesh and brought it to eternal life through faith, 17 that He might present a temple of righteousness in His own body, 18 through whom we are redeemed. 19 These are not children of righteousness but of wrath, who reject the providence of God, saying that heaven and earth and all that is in them are not the works of the Father. 20 They are themselves therefore children of wrath, for they have the accursed faith of the serpent. 21 Turn away from them, and flee from their teaching! 22 For you are not sons of disobedience but of the most beloved church.
23 This is why the time of the resurrection is proclaimed to all. 24 As for those who tell you there is no resurrection of the flesh, for them there is no resurrection, 25 who do not believe in Him who has risen. 26 You men of Corinth must understand that they don’t know about the sowing of wheat or other seeds. That they are cast naked to the ground and when they have perished below and are raised again by the will of God in a body and clothed, 27 the body is not only raised up, but abundantly blessed. 28 And consider not only the seeds, but nobler bodies.
29 You know how Jonah the son of Amathios, when he would not preach in Nineveh but fled, was swallowed by a whale 30 and after three days and three nights God heard Jonah’s prayer out of the deepest hell, and no part of him was corrupted, not even an eyelid. 31 How much more, you of so little faith, will He raise up you who have believed in Christ Jesus, as He himself rose up?
32 And if, when a corpse was thrown by the children of Israel on the bones of the prophet Elisha, the man’s body rose up, so you also who have been cast upon the body and bones and spirit of the Lord will raise up on that day with your flesh whole.
34 But if you receive anything else, do not cause me trouble; 35 for I have these fetters on my hands that I may gain Christ, and His marks on my body that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 36 And whoever abides by the rule which he received by the prophets and the holy Gospel, he shall receive a reward and when he has risen from the dead shall obtain eternal life. 37 But to him that turns aside from them – there is fire with him and those who go before him in that way, since they are men without God, 38 a generation of vipers; 39 from these turn away in the power of the Lord.
40 May peace, grace and love be with you. Amen.[3]
3rd Corinthians did not teach us anything new, so the absence of this letter does nothing to the completeness of the Holy Bible.
For a more in-depth study, see Third Corinthians by Ken Johnson. Ken goes into much greater detail and provides a wonderful overview of the theology, the beliefs, and the apostasy of that time.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 1 Co 5:9.
[2] Johnson, Ken. Third Corinthians (pp. 19-20). Biblefacts.org. Kindle Edition.
[3] Johnson, Ken. Third Corinthians (p. 13 -16). Biblefacts.org. Kindle Edition