26 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 26 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 20 pagesAbout this book
What can a letter whose words are lost reveal about the making of the New Testament?
The Epistle to the Alexandrians survives only as a name in the Muratorian fragment, an early Christian list of books. No copy of the letter is known. This exploration begins with that single witness and asks what it tells us about a text that circulates under the name of the apostle Paul.
At the heart of the dispute stands Marcion of Sinope, whose beliefs draw a sharp divide between the God of the Old Testament and the Father revealed by Jesus. The account explores his place in debates over Paul, considers scholars' cautious guesses about the missing letter, and follows the arguments over which books churches should trust.
What you’ll discover
- One surviving witness Examine what the damaged Muratorian fragment says, and where its evidence stops.
- Paul's disputed authority Explore why a letter bearing Paul's name matters in struggles over Christian teaching.
- Marcion's dividing line Understand the distinction Marcion draws between the Old Testament God and Jesus' Father.
- Questions without a text Weigh scholarly suggestions, including a possible connection with the Letter to the Hebrews.
- A canon taking shape Follow churches debating which books belong in worship, rather than accepting one settled list.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love early church history, lost manuscripts, Egyptian papyri and Gnostic texts, and anyone who enjoys a bold historical argument set beside a real document.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A verse in Colossians points to a missing letter
- Alexandria was a city of many Christianities
- Writing in another person's name was common
- Paul became the prize in a fight over orthodoxy
- Silences and gaps can be read as evidence
- A lost letter might have spoken on women and authority
- Constantine's letter shows how Alexandria was addressed
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Epistle to the Alexandrians
by Anonymous
A lost letter to Alexandria's Christians sits at the centre of a bold case about who decides what scripture is.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to readDeutsch
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In short
What if a letter from the apostle Paul once went to the Christians of Alexandria and then vanished on purpose? That question drives this book, whose author gives no name.
Keep listening. The whole audiobook, 26 min, and 200,000+ more, free to start. Renews every year; cancel anytime.
Listen freeFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A verse in Colossians points to a missing letter
The author starts from a single verse. In Colossians, chapter four, verse sixteen, the writer tells readers to swap letters with the church at Laodicea and to read the letter from Laodicea. That letter is not in the New Testament. So the Bible itself admits that a letter once travelled between early churches and did not reach the final collection.
A text claiming to be the Laodicean letter does survive. Most scholars see it as a later forgery, and the author does not dispute that. The point is that an apostolic letter could circulate, be named in scripture and then fall outside the canon.
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A lost letter to Alexandria's Christians sits at the centre of a bold case about who decides what scripture is.
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Details
- Language
- Deutsch
- Listening time
- 26 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 20 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 28 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
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Cite this edition
Epistle to the Alexandrians. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-epistle-to-the-alexandrians.
Epistle to the Alexandrians. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-epistle-to-the-alexandrians
Epistle to the Alexandrians. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-epistle-to-the-alexandrians.
@book{anonymous2026epistle,
title = {Epistle to the Alexandrians},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-epistle-to-the-alexandrians}
}
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What is the Epistle to the Alexandrians about?
It is an investigation into whether a letter from Paul to the Christians of Alexandria once existed and was dropped from the New Testament. It also includes a letter from Constantine to the Alexandrians after the Council of Nicaea.
Is there a real letter of Paul to the Alexandrians?
No such letter survives, and scholars have not shown that one existed. The book argues for it from hints in old sources, and it says openly that much of its reconstruction is informed speculation.
Why does the book mention Laodicea?
Colossians, chapter four, verse sixteen, tells readers to read the letter from Laodicea. That letter is not in the Bible, so the author uses it as proof that apostolic letters could circulate and then fall outside the canon.
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