Concerning 1 Cor 5:9 and Paul’s
comment of “I have written you in my letter”, most commentators simply believe
that the letter referenced by Paul is lost (See Orr and Walther, 1
Corinthians, 120; Robertson and Plummer, Critical and Exegetical
Commentary, 105). There is little doubt that some correspondence from the
apostles has, indeed, been lost, and 1 Cor 5:9 holds no importance for the
issue of canonicity, despite the assertions of LDS authors. Regarding Col 4;16
and “the letter from Laodicea,” Edward Lohse admits, “There is no trace of the
Epistle to the Laodiceans” (Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 175n48).
David Pao writes that “most are convinced . . . that this letter remains lost”
(Pao, Colossians and Philemon, 321). T. K. Abbott agrees that it could
be a “lost Epistle,” although he remarks: “the Epistle referred to was one to
which some importance was attached by St. Paul himself, so that he himself
directs that it be read publicly in two distinct Churches” (Abbott, Epistles,
305, 306). Therefore, contra Lohse (“No stock can be put in considering Eph as
that letter to the Laodiceans” [Lohse, Colossians and Philemon,
175n48]), he believes it to be the “Epistle to the Ephesians, which we know to
have been written about the same time as the Epistle to the Colossians, and
conveyed by the same messenger . . . [and] regarded as a circular letter”
(Abbott, Epistles, 306). This would call into question the citation of
Col 4:16 to argue for an incomplete canon. With these examples, LDS
interpretations illustrate a neglect of the illocutionary intent of the author
of individual biblical texts. This is done, apparently, on account of modern
institutional motivation—casting doubt on the ancient canon will open the door
to modern additional to Scripture. (Jeffrey S. Krohn, Mormon Hermeneutics:
Five Approaches to the Bible by the LDS Church [Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick
Publications, 2022], 82-83)
Further Reading:
Lee Martin McDonald on the "Missing Books of the Bible" being Inspired Works
Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura
