The evidence is unambiguous. In his first canonical letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to a previous communication: “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people” (1 Cor 5:9). This letter—which scholars call the “Previous Letter” or “Corinthians A”—has not survived. (Arthur A. Tiger, The Last Epistles of Paul: What Was Left Outside the New Testament [2d ed.; His Story for Us Publishers, 2025], 9)
The reference in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 allows us to establish certain facts about the Previous Letter while leaving much uncertain. What we can know with reasonable confidence includes several key points. The letter addressed the topic of sexual immortality (πορνεια). This was evidently, as the extended treatment in 1 Corinthians 5-7 demonstrates. The Previous Letter initiated Paul’s engagement with this issue. The letter instructed the Corinthians to avoid close association with sexually immoral persons. The specific verb (συναναμιγνυσθαι) and the noun (πορνοις) are preserved in Paul’s summary. The letter was received and read by the Corinthian community before 1 Corinthians was written. This establishes a relative chronology: Previous Letter, then misunderstanding, then 1 Corinthians with its clarification. The letter was sufficiently ambiguous, at least on this point, to permit a misreading. Paul does not accuse the Corinthians of willful distraction; he simply clarifies what he meant. (Arthur A. Tiger, The Last Epistles of Paul: What Was Left Outside the New Testament [2d ed.; His Story for Us Publishers, 2025], 29)
On the proposal that 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 preserves fragments of
this missing epistle:
. . . there are significant arguments
against identifying 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 as a fragment of the Previous Letter. The
content does not match. Paul summarizes the Previous Letter as instructing
Corinthains not to associate with sexually immoral persons (πορνοις). But 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 focuses on
separation from unbelievers in general, with no specific mention of sexual
immorality. The passage addresses a different situation. The Previous Letter’s
instruction was misunderstood to mean separation from the sexually immoral “of
this world.” But 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 actually does seem to call for separation from
outsiders, which is precisely the misunderstanding Paul corrects in 1 Cor
5:10-11. Interpolation is a simpler explanation. If 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 is out of
place in its current context, it may be a later scribal addition rather than a
Pauline fragment. The manuscript tradition shows no evidence of the passage’s
absence, but interpolations could have occurred very early.
The scholarly consensus, while
not unanimous, tends to reject the identification of 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 with the Previous
Letter. The passage may be an interpolation, or it may be an originally Pauline
digression that fits awkwardly in its current location. Either way, it does not
clearly correspond to what Paul describes in 1 Cor 5:9. (Arthur A. Tiger, The
Last Epistles of Paul: What Was Left Outside the New Testament [2d ed.; His Story for Us Publishers, 2025], 33-34)
