3. Korintherbrief

The Third Epistle to the Corinthians is a pseudepigraphical text alleging to have been written by Paul of Tarsus. In the West it was not considered canonical in the fourth century AD, becoming part of the New Testament apocrypha. In the East Ephraem of Syria accepted it as canonical, for he wrote a commentary on it. It is still part of the Armenian Orthodox New Testament and therefore obviously they don't consider it a forgery.

The text is structured as an attempt to correct alleged misunderstandings that arose from interpretations of the earlier First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians that pseudo-Paul has become aware of due to the (similarly dubious) Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul. In particular the epistle seeks to correct the interpretation of the phrase "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" by which some taught that the resurrection of the dead could not be physical.

Gnostics were known for quoting this part of 1 Corinthians, infuriating Christians such as Irenaeus who wished to claim that the dead were physically, rather than spiritually, resurrected. Irenaeus remarked "All heretics always quote this passage". It is thought that the argument of the Gnostics won so much ground that orthodox Christians felt the need to forge 3 Corinthians to counter them (such forgery having allegedly also happened elsewhere to counter other gnostic claims, for example 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus).

Other pseudepigraphical epistles include Epistle to the Laodiceans found in some Vulgates, 2nd Epistle of Clement, additional Letters of Ignatius, the spurious letter of Jesus to King Abgarus of Edessa and many others. Grant in Journal of Theological Studies 1960 calls the 5th through 7th centuries the era of "aggressive forgeries" in Christian texts.

See also: First Epistle to the Corinthians and Second Epistle to the Corinthians