who played an honoured part in the life of the early Church.
Colosste lay in Phrygian territory, and its popu- lation was doubtless largely Phrygian, witli a ven- eer of Greek civilization. Philemon's wife, Apphia (Philem-), bore a Phrygian name. The Jewish trader had doubtless reached Colossse, but there is no sign of any permanent settlement of Jews tliere such as was made by the Seleucid kings at Laodicea or Tarsus. That the Clmrch there was entirely or at least predominantly Gentile is shown clearly eneugh by the Epistle (pi-sv 2i3 ; cf. St. Paul's anxiety in 4^^ to show how few among his heli)ers are of Jewish race — ' who alone of the circumcision are my fellow- workers . . .'). And the Jews of Laodicea, together with any who may have dwelt at Colossce, were doubtless, like most of the Jews of the Diaspora, largely affected both by local tendencies of thought and by the wider in- fluences which centred in Alexandria.
The Church of Colossa; had been in existence only a few years when Epaphras rejoined St. Paul, then in prison for the faith (P^ 4i"- '»). He brought with him good news of the infant Church (P 2*). But yet there were grave reasons for anxiety. Both at Colossae and at Laodicea (4^^) a new and dangerous form of teaching was abroad. Wiio the teachers were we do not know. The heresy may even have been due to some one influen- tial leader (cf. Zahn's comment on 2'^"^-, where the participles are in the singular \_Introd. to NT, i. 479]). But whether the teachers were one or more, it is at least clear that it was not with a recurrence of the Galatian trouble that St. Paul had now to deal. The stress of this new ' philosophy ' lay not so much upon the Law as upon theosophical tenets and ascetic practices, whicli were supposed to con- stitute a higher Christianity (2'-- ^' ^).
For the present this teaching had not made much headway in the Church at Colossae. But St. Paul saw the need of striking while there was yet time. And he had other reasons for sending one of his agents to Asia at this time. There was Onesimus, the converted slave of Philemon, ready at St. Paul's bidding to return to his master. There was also the desirability of sending a pastoral letter to the Churches of Asia. Tychicus was at hand, ready to convey both the circular letter, now known as the Epistle to the Ephesians, and the short note to Philemon about Onesimus. By his hand, therefore, St. Paul writes to the brethren at Colossae.
There has been much discussion whether a fourth letter, to Laodicea, accompanied the other three, based on the command to the Colossians that they should read the Epistle ' from Laodicea.' The old hypothesis of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Calvin that this was a letter written from the Laodicean Church to St. Paul is rendered impossible by the context. It remains therefore to decide whether this is some lost letter by the Apostle or whether it can be identified with any of his existing letters. The suggestions of John of Damascus, who iden- tifies it with 1 Tim., and of Schneckenburger, who identifies it with Heb., can safely be passed over. In 1844 Wieseler suggested that Philemon really lived at Laodicea, and that the lost letter is our Epistle to Philemon. This would certainly make it easier to account for the apparent connexion of Archippus with Laodicea, but otherwise the theory has little point and has not met with any accept- ance. A more probable hypothesis is to be found in the identification of this letter with Ephesians. If this was a circular letter, intended for all the Asiatic churches, it would naturally come to Colossae as a letter brought by Tychicus from Laodicea (see art. Ephesians). If this identifica- tion is rejected the letter to the Laodiceans is lost
228 COLOSSIANS, EPISTLE TO THE
COLOSSIANS, EPISTLE TO THE
bej^ond recall. It is interesting that more than one attempt was made to supply this gap in the Paul- ine Canon during the early days of the Church. In several MSS the words ' written from Laodicea ' were added at the end of 1 Timothy. More curious still, an Epistle was made up out of a col- lection of Pauline phrases, possibly as early as the 2nd cent, (so Zahn) but probably later, and was given the title ad Laodicenses. Jerome (Vir. Illustr. V.) mentions this work, ' legunt quidam et ad Laodicenses, sed ab omnibus exploditui',' and, de- spite his condemnation, it was widely read through- out the Middle Ages. Traces of this Epistle have been found only in the West, and it has commonly been regarded as a Western forgery. Lightfoot, however, argues that it shows traces of being from a Greek original, despite the fact that all known MSS are in Latin. The early date of the docu- ment also points in the same direction. (This Ej^. ad Laod. is discussed at length by Lightfoot in an appendix to his Colosdans, p. 274 tf. ; cf. also West- cott, Canon of NT^, 1881, Appendix E; A. Souter, Text and Canon of NT, 1913, p. 193.)
2. Contents. — St. Paul, associating Timothy with himself in his opening greeting (l'-2), passes on in his customary manner to a thanksgiving for the good news which he has heard from Epaphras. In this thanksgiving he alludes especially to the true gospel which had been preached to his readers by Epaph- ras, and reminds them that it is this gospel and no other that has borne fruit in all the world (13-8). This is followed by a prayer which widens out, as in Eph., into a statement of doc- trine with regard to the Person of Christ (19-23). This doctrinal section is expanded with a special view to the heresies which it is St. Paul's purpose to combat. In opposition to the ' philo- sophy ' which was being preached, he prays that the Colossians may be filled with 'all spiritual wisdom and understanding ' (19). In opposition to the theosophy which recognized and trembled before ' the principalities and the powers,' he thanks God that they have been delivered from 'the power of darkness' and made members of ' the kingdom of the Son of His love ' (113). In opposition to the position accorded to angelic beings, he breaks into a paean in honour of the Son (a) as sole Redeemer (114) ; (^) as the visible Representative of the invisible God (115) ; (c) as prior to and supreme over all creation, including these very angeUc powers ; as the present stay, and ultimate consum- mation, of creation (115-17); (d) as the supreme Head of the Church in virtue of His Resurrection (I'S) ; (e)as One in whom abide completely all the perfections of the Godhead (119) ; (/) as One whose death has made atonement not only for human sin but also for all the disorder that exists in heavenly places, so that not only are the angels unable to ' make peace,' but they themselves need the mediation of the Son (120-23). gt. Paul then passes on to emphasize his own position as a minister of this, the one true gospel, a gospel which does not merely save a few elect, but which is valid for every man who wiU receive it (124-29).