The following analysis may help to bring out the setiuence of thought, and to show how this central conception is interwoven with the whole of the Epistle.
.1. The opening section, ofler tlie salutation (vv. ■. '), Is de- voted to an elaborately exiianded thanksjrivin^ (•''-*<). St. I'aul sint'les out for speeiai mention the ft-ultfniness Of the Ivnowied^'e of tlie truth aiuonk' tlie Cidosstans as witnessed by their evan- irellst Epaphras (•''-^l. and prays f*ir a further development, s|ulni,'lnu' mini the siune source, to lake riraetleal ell'ect In waik- Int: worthily of the Lord, as they (five thanks to the Eatlier fur their deliverance from the power of darkness Into tlie kln^rdotn of the Son of His love ("-'»). This reference to tlie Son leads to a full, thouirh condensed, statement of tiie iillice of tlie Son —
(lO In relation to the universe ns the source and Koal. and thu present principle of coherence for all creation (I'-t?)^ anil
(>j) In relation to the Church as being, now in Ills risen state
•156
COLOSSIANS
COLOURS
not only tbo permanent home of all the divine perfections, but also the source of an all-eaibracinff reconciliation by His death (is-iO)^_a reconciliation the power of which the Colossians had already experienced, and which woul<l not fail of its final con- lunirn'ation if thev continued as they had benun, faithful adher- ents of the world-wide gospel, of which St. Paul was in a special sense the minister.
B. This personal reference forms the startinp-point of the second section of the Ep. (l"*-'-'^), in which St. Paul introduces hiniseif to his correspondents, e.xplainintr his nniiiue position in relation to the con.suninuition of the divine revelation, and his etforts to brine the hearts of all men under the full power of its influence (!=*-»). This will help them to understand the interest that he takes in them and in their neifjhbours, even thoutrh thev had never mot in the flesh, and also the ground i'or his praVer for their enliuhtonment ('i'-*). This section closes with a brief warning against some plausible deceiver, coupled with a renewed assurance of his close sympathy with them, and his joy in their constanc.v (*-^).
C Ho passes now to a series of special exhortations and warnings, which occupy two chapters (•2''-4»), and fall Into Ave subdivisions.
(((1 The lirst of these (S"-"* is in its main purpose an exhorta- tion to retain their hold on and to develop Into all its practical consequences the personal relation to Christ which the gospel hiid made known to them. As this was the point on which the Colossians liad most to fear from false teachers, the exhortation (". ") is accompanied by an explicit warning t»), and a careful statement of the grounds on which the Christian who grasps the true conception of the Person of Christ is assured of a complete moral development, and receives, by union in baptism with the death and resurrection of Christ, the reality of that separation fro[n his evil nature which had been foreshadowed by circum- cision (i^"). In the light of this thought, the attractiveness of outward observances for the attainment of purity and the necessitv for angelic mediation disapi)ear ('»-'»).
(6) lit the second subdivision (i»-S«) union with the death of Christ is shown to be a deliverance from formal and material restrictions, and union with His resurrection determines the true sphere of Christian thought and life.
(c) The third subdivision develops the same thought in its present practical application to moral etfort, with relation (1) to the appetites and passions (the members on the earth) which need to be done to death, and the evil habits which must be stri[>ped off (3^*1) ; and (2) to the new graces which the Chris- tian must seek to acquire i*^"), and the new principles by which he should regulate his practice i}P-^'') .
(d) The fourth subdivision (8i»-4') applies the new principle to the fundamental relations of family life, husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants.
(«) The last ^ubrtivision (i"-*) contains an exhortation to per- severance in prayer, and to discretion in their relations with the heathen world.
D. The letter closes with a commendation of the messengers, Tychicus and Onesimus, by whose hands it was sent (-l^-*), and a "group of personal salutations O**-^"^).
IV. Integrity. — Now, if this be a true account of the connexion between the different parts of tlie letter, there is little room left for questioning the substantial intejjrity of the document as it has come down to us, — least of all for any .such theory as that of Holtzmann, even in the modified form "proposed by von Soden, which requires us to believe that its most characteristic christological ])assages have been added by an interpolator. The letter must clearly be accepted or rejected a.s a whole. Holtzmann's theory no doubt deserves all the respect which is due to honest and scholarly workmanship. But it has failed to find support even in the land in which it was produced. And after Sanday's criticism of it in Smith's DB- no useful end would be served by a detailed examina- tion of it here.
There remains, however, the subordinate ques- tion of the intesrity of the text. And here it is by no means so easy to speak with confidence. In one or two cases, notably in 2'* and ^, it is difficult, if not impossible, to accept any of the attested readings. We are therefore forced to accept Hort's conclusion (App. p. 127), that 'this Epistle, and more especially its second chapter, appears to have been ill preserved in ancient times.' And it may well be, as Sanday ha.s sug- gested, that some of the harshnesses which have led to suspicion of interpolation may be due to primitive corruptions in the transmitted text.