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Epistle to the Colossians
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==Composition== During the first generation after Jesus, Paul's epistles to various churches helped establish early Christian theology. According to [[Bruce Metzger]], it was written in the 60s while Paul was in prison. Colossians is similar to Ephesians, also written at this time.<ref name = "May Metzger">May, Herbert G. and [[Bruce M. Metzger]]. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. 1977.</ref> Some critical scholars have ascribed the epistle to an early follower of Paul, writing as Paul. The epistle's description of Christ as pre-eminent over creation marks it, for some scholars, as representing an advanced [[christology]] not present during Paul's lifetime.<ref name ="Harris Colossians"/> Defenders of Pauline authorship cite the work's similarities to the [[letter to Philemon]], which is broadly accepted as authentic.<ref name="ODCC self"/><!-- A further argument in defense of his authorship is that he is the reason why in Paul's life-time it was an advanced christology-- Paul was the "advancer". Peter, in his 2nd epistle states, speaking of Paul, "His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." Paul was teaching things that were not widely accepted or understood. This also explains, then, why he is often defensive of his ministry in his letters.<ref>2 Peter 3:16</ref> --> === Authorship === {{Main|Authorship of the Pauline epistles}} The letter's authors claim to be Paul and Timothy, but authorship began to be authoritatively questioned during the 19th century.<ref>“The earliest evidence for Pauline authorship, aside from the letter itself ... is from the mid to late 2d cent. (Marcionite canon; Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.14.1; Muratorian canon). This traditional view stood [usually] unquestioned until 1838, when E. T. Mayerhoff denied the authenticity of this letter, claiming that it was full of non-Pauline ideas and dependent on the letter to the [[Ephesians]]. Thereafter others have found additional arguments against Pauline authorship." New Jerome Biblical Commentary</ref> Pauline authorship was held to by many of the early church's prominent theologians, such as [[Irenaeus]], [[Clement of Alexandria]], [[Tertullian]], [[Origen of Alexandria]] and [[Eusebius]].<ref>For a defense of Pauline authorship for Colossians see: Authenticity of [http://www.bible-apologetics.com/history/colossians.htm Colossians]</ref> However, as with several epistles attributed to Paul, critical scholarship disputes this claim.<ref>"The cumulative weight of the many differences from the undisputed Pauline epistles has persuaded most modern [also some XVI century] scholars that Paul did not write Colossians ... Those who defend the authenticity of the letter include Martin, Caird, Houlden, Cannon and Moule. Some... describe the letter as Pauline but say that it was heavily interpolated or edited. Schweizer suggests that Col was jointly written by Paul and Timothy. The position taken here is that Col is Deutero-Pauline; it was composed after Paul’s lifetime, between AD 70 (Gnilka) and AD 80 (Lohse) by someone who knew the Pauline tradition. Lohse regards Col as the product of a Pauline school tradition, probably located in Ephesus." [TNJBC 1990 p. 877]</ref> One ground is that the epistle's language doesn't seem to match Paul's, with 48 words appearing in Colossians that are found nowhere else in his writings and 33 of which occur nowhere else in the [[New Testament]].<ref name="Koester, Intro">[[Helmut Koester|Koester, Helmut]]. History and Literature of Early Christianity, Introduction to the New Testament Vol 2. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co, 1982, 1987.</ref> A second ground is that the epistle features a strong use of liturgical-hymnic style which appears nowhere else in Paul's work to the same extent.<ref name="Kummel, Intro">[[Werner Kümmel|Kümmel, Werner Georg]]. Introduction To The New Testament, Revised English Edition, Translated by Howard Kee. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1973, 1975</ref> A third is that the epistle's themes related to Christ, eschatology and the church seem to have no parallel in Paul's undisputed works.<ref>“The christology of Col is built on the traditional hymn in 1:15–20, according to which Christ is the image of the invisible God... and other christological statements that have no parallel in the undisputed Pauline writings are added: that Christ is the mystery of God... that believers have been raised with Christ ... that Christ forgives sins... that Christ is victorious over the principalities and powers..." Compared to undisputed Pauline epistles, in which Paul looks forward to an imminent Second Coming, Colossians presents a completed eschatology, in which baptism relates to the past (a completed salvation) rather than to the future: “...whereas Paul expected the parousia in the near future (I Thes 4:15; 5:23; I Cor 7:26)... The congregation has already been raised from the dead with Christ ... whereas in the undisputed letters resurrection is a future expectation... The difference in eschatological orientation between Col and the undisputed letters results in a different theology of baptism... Whereas in Rom 6:1–4 baptism looks forward to the future, in Col baptism looks back to a completed salvation. In baptism believers have not only died with Christ but also been raised with him.” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Edited by Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Union Theological Seminary, New York; NY, Maurya P. Horgan (Colossians); Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm. (emeritus) The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC, with a foreword by His Eminence Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini, S.J.; Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990 1990 p. 876</ref> Advocates of Pauline authorship defend the differences that there are between elements in this letter and those commonly considered the genuine work of Paul (e.g. [[1 Thessalonians]]). It is argued that these differences can come by human variability, such as by growth in theological knowledge over time, different occasion for writing, as well as use of different secretaries (or [[amanuensis|amanuenses]]) in composition.<ref>Richard R. Melick, vol. 32, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c. 1991), 166</ref><ref name="Richards, E. Randolph 2004"/> As it is usually pointed out by the same authors who note the differences in language and style, the number of words foreign to the New Testament and Paul is no greater in Colossians than in the undisputed Pauline letters (Galatians, of similar length, has 35 [[hapax legomena]]). In regard to the style, as Norman Perrin, who argues for pseudonymity, notes, "The letter does employ a great deal of traditional material and it can be argued that this accounts for the non-Pauline language and style. If this is the case, the non-Pauline language and style are not indications of pseudonymity."<ref name="Perrin, Intro">[[Norman Perrin|Perrin, Norman]]. The New Testament: An Introduction: Proclamation and Parenesis, Myth and History. Harcourt College Pub., 1974, p. 121</ref> Not only that, but it has been noted that Colossians has indisputably Pauline stylistic characteristics, found nowhere else in the New Testament.<ref name="Perrin, Intro"/><ref>Kümmel, W.G. Introduction to the New Testament. 1966, p. 241: 'Pleonastic "kai" after "dia touto" (Col 1:9) is found in the NT only in Paul (1 Thess. 2:13; 3:5; Rom. 13:6)..."hoi hagioi autou" Col 1:25=1 Thess. 3:13, 2 Thess. 1:10, "charixesthai"=to forgive (Col 2:13, 3:13) only in 2 Cor 2:7, 10, 12:13' etc.</ref> Advocates of Pauline authorship also argue that the differences between Colossians and the rest of the New Testament are not as great as they are purported to be.<ref>P. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon, WBC (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1982), xiv</ref> As theologian Stephen D. Morrison points out in context, "Biblical scholars are divided over the authorship of Ephesians and Colossians."<ref name="sdmorrison.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sdmorrison.org/karl-barth-authorship-ephesians-colossians/|title=Karl Barth on the Authorship of Ephesians and Colossians|first=Stephen D.|last=Morrison|date=June 8, 2016|website=Stephen D. Morrison}}</ref> He provides as an example the reflection of theologian [[Karl Barth]] on the question. While acknowledging the validity of many questions regarding Pauline authorship, Barth was inclined to defend it. Nevertheless, he concluded that it didn't much matter one way or the other to him. It was more important to focus on "Quid scriptum est" (What is written) than "Quis scripseris" (Who wrote it). "It is enough to know that someone, at any rate, wrote Ephesians (why not Paul?), 30 to 60 years after Christ’s death (hardly any later than that, since it is attested by Ignatius, Polycarp, and Justin), someone who understood Paul well and developed the apostle’s ideas with conspicuous loyalty as well as originality.”<ref name="sdmorrison.org"/> ===Date=== If the text was written by Paul, it could have been written at Rome during his first imprisonment.<ref>[[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] {{Bibleref2-nb|Acts|28:16}}, {{Bibleref2-nb|Acts|28:30}}</ref><ref name="ESV Study Bible">{{Cite book|chapter=Introduction to the Book of Colossians|title=ESV Study Bible|publisher=Crossway|date=2008|isbn=978-1433502415}}</ref> Paul would likely have composed it at roughly the same time that he wrote [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]] and [[Epistle to the Ephesians|Ephesians]], as all three letters were sent with [[Tychicus]]<ref>Ephesians 6:21</ref> and [[Onesimus]]. A date of 62 AD assumes that the imprisonment Paul speaks of is his Roman imprisonment that followed his voyage to Rome.<ref>Acts 27-28</ref><ref name="ESV Study Bible"/> Other scholars have suggested that it was written from Caesarea or Ephesus.<ref>[[N. T. Wright|Wright, N. T.]], Colossians and Philemon, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), pp. 34–39.</ref> If the letter is not considered to be an authentic part of the Pauline corpus, then it might be dated during the late 1st century, possibly as late as AD 90.<ref name="Mack, Who">[[Burton L. Mack|Mack, Burton L.]] (1996), ''Who Wrote the New Testament?'' San Francisco: Harper Collins.</ref>
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