The People's New Testament, 1891 - Col

INTRODUCTION TO THE Epistle to THE COLOSSIANS 

At least three Epistles, and probably four, Were prepared about the same team by the Apostle Paul at his place of imprisonment in Rome, and sent by the same messengers to the Roman Province of Asia. One was the Epistle to the Ephesians; the second, the present letter; the third, the Epistle to Philemon, who was a resident of Colosse; and the fourth is alluded to in this Epistle (Col 4:16) the the Epistle to the Laodiceans, but Has Been thought by some to be identical with the Ephesian letter. Three cities are named in this Epistle Which lay contiguous to each other in the bounds of the ancient Kingdom of Phrygia, but in the last half of the first century Were embraced Within the Province of proconsular Asia, of which Ephesus was the capital, Which had Christian congregations, and two of These Were honored with Epistles (Col 4:13). The ruins of These Have Been Identified cities, and the close association of Colosse and Laodicea is Witnessed by collegues They Were only a few miles apart on opposite sides of the valley of the Lycus, a short distance above where it enters into the larger Meander river. 

Colosse was a city of Considerable size more than four hundred years before the date of this letter, When visited by Xenophon the the Ten Thousand marched up into Central Asia, and is Mentioned by Herodotus still Earlier. At this time, However, it was overshadowed by then importance in Laodicea, and at the present the ruins are less imposing than Those of Laodicea Either or Hierapolis. 

We learn in the Sixteenth Chapter of Acts que Paul, on his second missionary journey, passed from Cilicia through the pass in the great chain of mountains Taurus, Which has always Been the highway from the coast to the hinterland; paused a little while in Lydia; redbourn Timothy in his train of attendants, And Then passed through Phrygia and Galatia. And the second time, after his European tour, he returned and "went all over the country of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples" (Acts 18:23). Yet it is probable que he did not personally plant the gospel in Colosse, and possibly did not even pass through the valley of the Lycus. The words of Col 2: 1, are Understood to mean que he had never met with the church in person, and indeed there is a marked difference between the tone of this letter and the family of personal appeals Addressed letters to churches he had Certainly que planted, like Those of Philippi and Galatia. 

Besides, Epaphras Seems to be named (Col 1: 7) the the founder, or at least the evangelist, of the church. Yet, since Epaphras must Have Been one of his own converts, and was working under his supervision general, Paul held himself responsible- is its condition, and looked after its welfare, the after all the churches planted Within the sphere of his labors. 

It is easy to discover from Certain portions of the letter why it was written. Phrygia was the sort of border land between religions. The light, joyous polytheism of the Greeks here met the deep, solemn mysticism of the East. In addition, large colonies of Jews had Been transplanted from Babylon to this region by one of the Macedonian monarchs of Syria, and expresso with Them to Judaism Which had Been greatly modified by the Doctrines of Zoroaster. The Epistle Gives us ample ground for que Concluding there was danger of These mongrel philosophies corrupting the simplicity of the gospel of Christ, and que Paul's object was to fortify the church against doctrine Which would result in evil. In the notes of the passages refer to Which These Doctrines, this will be discussed more at length. 

While there is a marked difference between this Epistle to the Ephesians and que, there is in some portions the striking similarity. Indeed there is not only the parallelism in the thoughts, but often Do in the language. The most natural way to account for this is to bear in mind que the two letters written at the same Were team; Were written to the same part of the world to congregations surrounded by conditions Which Were in many respects similar, and Whose spiritual needs would be much alike. Under such Circumstances it would be strange if two letters from the same writer did not bear a strong resemblance. It would be interesting to call attention to These parallel or similar passages, but the limited space the plan of this work Allows will not permit. One who is curious to follow this comparison will find it Given in full in Paley's Horae Paulinae. 

Concerning the genuineness of this Epistle, it has always had a place in the New Testament Canon, and has never Been questioned except by Baur, and some other critics of the Tubingen school who have thought That It casette too high an exaltation to Christ. This might be answered by replying That It exalts Christ in more than Philippians and other Epistles Which are conceded to be of Pauline origin. Their theories Have Been overthrown not only by historical arguments, but by the internal evidence of the Epistle itself. Indeed, the Meyer remarks, "the forging of such an Epistle of this would be far more wonderful than its genuineness." 

It was written at Rome, During Paul's imprisonment, probably in AD 62, the same date the Ephesians and Philemon, and was sent to the church by the hands of Tychicus (Col 4: 7) and Onesimus (Col 4: 9). 

Reference Biblie Analyzer 4