LAODICEANS, EPISTLE TO THE. - An apocryphal writing attributed to St. Paul on the basis of *Col. 4*, 16. As a foundation for attributing a letter to the Apostle for the community of Laodicea, this passage is not probative, since the words *ex Λαοδικεία* can be variously interpreted, for example, as referring to a letter sent from Laodicea. In the Epistle to the Laodiceans, the hand of the forger is evident. The beginning has a solemn and polemical tone, indeed phrases from *Gal.* 1, 1, 3, but the style of the body is much more subdued. It is a fabric of reminiscences from various Pauline letters, especially those from captivity and the pastoral epistles, with particular regard to *Philippians*. The writer, having nothing of his own to say, borrows generic phrases poorly connected to one another.
After the greeting and initial blessing (cf. V. 1 ff.), the pseudonymous author expresses his joy for the faithful perseverance of the community, which he nonetheless warns against unidentified false doctrines (v. 3 ff). A mention of his imprisonment and sufferings endured for the progress of the Gospel precedes the exhortation to unity among the faithful, fidelity to the received doctrine, fear of God, joy in Christ, and the practice of every virtue (v. 9-17). Along with the greetings, the recommendation for the exchange of letters between the Colossians and the Laodiceans could not be missing, in analogy with *Col.* 4, 16 (v. 18 ff).
The original language is uncertain; however, it is probable that the apocryphon was composed in Latin, and it is perhaps not far from the truth to think of an African author, given certain affinities with the Latin of Tertullian and other writers of Africa. It should not be confused with the problematic Marcionite writing mentioned in the *Muratorian Fragment*, since this contains nothing in support of heresy and does not seem to date before 300 or 250 A.D. It is contained in several manuscripts of the Vulgate, including the Codex Fuldensis (6th century), and in versions dependent on the Vulgate.
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