In September 1906, Earl Willard was on a sea voyage from San Francisco to Bellingham, Washington. He wrote a note, place it into a bottle, and tossed it into the Pacific Ocean. That bottle and note contained therein floated in the Pacific Ocean for more than 100 years. This year, in September, Steve Thurber was walking the beach in Canada, on the Pacific coast and found the bottle.
It would be interesting to know to whom Earl Willard wrote the note. It would be interesting to know what he wrote about. Why did he put it into the bottle? Where did he think the note would land? Who is Earl Willard? Mr. Thurber does not want to open the bottle to answer these questions for fear of damaging the letter.
The apostle Paul wrote a letter that is lost as well. In Colossians 4:16, Paul makes reference to a letter written to the church of Christ in Laodicea: “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you lso read the letter from Laodicea.”
Why did Paul write that letter? What problems, if any, were the Christians in Laodicea facing? Was it a strong, strict letter, like Galatians? Was it a letter full of hope and encouragement, like Philippians? Was it full of doctrinal teaching, making corrections in every chapter, like 1 Corinthians? Was it a long letter, short letter? We do not know anything about that letter.
If we were to locate such a letter, a letter that affirmed itself to be Paul’s letter to the Laodiceans, how would we respond to it? We would need to verify that it was what it claimed to be. We would examine external evidences to see if it measured up to the question of authenticity. Does the parchment or papyrus itself date to the time of the other letters? Do the writing materials date to that period? Is the writing style – capital letters, lower case letters, etc. correlate with what we know of that period of time?
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These are just some of the questions that would need to be answered if we found such a letter. If, after much examination, these questions were answered in the affirmative, then we could accept the teaching of that letter with the same authority as the letters we have already found.
Now, having said all that, as far as I know, even the early, patristic writers make no reference to such a letter. That suggests that this letter was lost very early. God did not see fit to preserve it as we know the faith has been “once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). We do not need that letter to know what to do to please God.
But, if we were to find it and it were to pass the test(s) of authenticity, it’s truth would be just as valid today as it was when Paul wrote it.
–Paul Holland
