II. DErfTlNATlD.V. — The situation of Colos-saj and the chief elements in its population have already been described (see Coldss.e). It will be enough here to notice that whatever may have been the proportion of resident Jews in the place, St. Paul treats the Church througiiout a.s specific- ally a Gentile Church (I-'). It is this fact which brings them within his sphere of influence, and explains the tone in which he addresses them. The difficult and obscure references in 2^* rh xf'pA- 7Pa0oi/ 7015 Sdyfiafftv 6 ^v vnivavrlov rj^ilv^ and in 2^ to TO. crroixfro tou kIujiwv, both of which must refer chiefly, if not excliLsively, to the law of Moses, are not really inconsistent with this. Language of fundamentally the same import occurs in Gal 3--* 4^, esp. 4^ (tttwxo. ffTotx^ta oU irdXiv dvwdev dov- XtOtrai WXere). Before the coming of Christ the only way by which a Gentile could enjoy the privileges of the covenant people was by accepting circumci.sion and submitting to all the ordinances of the law.
St. Paul's language in the Epistle leaves no doubt that the Clmrch at Colo.s.sie had not been directly founded by him, and that he was pereon- ally unknown to the bulk of its members, though individuals among them, such as Pliilemon, may have met him during his long stay at Ephesus, and have owed their conversion to him.
KAinnay'K Intt-rpretatioii of ra avujTtpiita uipit (Ac 10*) would ninku il |>r<)l>ubl<* thiit St. I'liiil liiui luil, evun on h\s Ibinl inisstormry Jonnii'y, traverse*! the vulley of the Lycu;*. But in any case there Is no lilnt of the existence of a i'hristlnn Church in that locality at the ttine of that .iourney, and still less of any evangelistic activity of St. Paul's there, anil so, by whatever road St. PanI reached Efihestis. there is notliing in Ac Incon- sistent with the obvious meanini^ of the Epistle.
III. Ob.iect and Coktents.— The object of this Ep. is to bring before the Colossians a true ideal of Christian life and practice, ba.sed on a true con- ception of the relation of Christ to the universe and to the Church. It was occasioned by the appearance in Colossaj of a form of false teaching, which, under the garb of a ' philo.sophy ' (2"), was enticing men back to the trammels of an outward asceticism. The practices to which reference is made (2"''') are in some cases, perhaps in all, di.s- tinctively .lewish. And it is probable that they Were put forward as the gateway to a higher state of I)urilication than that which w;us accessible to the ordinary believer. It is uncertain to what extent these practices were connected with any definitely
formulated metaphysical or cosraological tlieories. The term 'philosophy,' as Ilort hits shown {Jmla- islio Christianity, p. P20ff.), does not necessarily imply more than an ethical system. Yet the Colossians were in danger, actual or prospective (23- ■*), of doctrinal error respecting the Person of Christ. And some of St. Paul's language regard- ing Christ's relation to ' the principalities and powers' (l"- 21") would gain in point if we might suppose that a speculative justification of the 'woi-ship of angels' had already been put forward, involving expressly 'either a limitation of His nature to tlie human sphere, or at most a counting of Him among the angels.' On the other hand, substantially similar language occurs in Eph 1-', where there is no necessity to postulate any polemic reference. And it is hard to believe that St. Paul would have contented himself with this indirect method of attack, if the error had already taken such definite shape. In any case there seems no sufficient ground for postulating a specifically Gnostic or Oriental (non-Jewish) in- fluence on the Church at Colossi. Above all, the later Valentiiuan u.sage of nKvpuna throws back no light on the meaning of the term in llie cardinal passages in which it occurs in Col l'-' 2'-' and Eph 12a 3w 413
The key to the positive teaching of the Ep. is certainly to be found in the conception of the Person and the Work of Christ which it unfolds. Over against the false philosophy, and as the assurance of the perfect satisfaction of the genuine human need of assistance in the attainment of truth to which that philosophy appealed, St. Paul sets the thought of Christ as the Image of the Invisible God (1'^), the perfect manifestation in human form of the Eternal Truth, ' the Mystery of (Jod' (2-), in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Did men aspire after a new ideal of moral development ? Their aspira- tions were not in vain, because the fulness of the divine perfections had found a permanent embodi- ment and home in One who had taken our nature upon Him, and borne and bears a human form (2», cf. 1''). Did they quail befon' ♦•i" material forces of this world's potentates thr' were arrayed against them, or lose their holiJ ot tiie in- herent dignity that belonged to them, as men in the presence of the countless multitudes of the hosts of heaven ? There was no power in the univer.se but from Him. And He had revealed upon the Cross the impotence of all the powers that had set themselves in array to thwart His purposes (2"'). The evil from which they were longing to get free clung so clo.se that il might seem almost an integral part of their being ; and they were willing to submit to any di-scipline that would .set llieni free. In the death of Christ they could attain to the reality of that di'liverance from the corruption of their nature which had been foreshadowed by circumcision (2"), as they realized the newness of life-which was theirs by union with His resurrection.