Colossians, Epistle to the

COLOSSIANS, Epistle to the. - One of the "captivity epistles," addressed by St. Paul to the faithful of Colossae (v.).

I. THE CONTENT

The prologue (1:1-14), in the customary greeting, introduces, with the expression "faithful brethren in Christ," a fundamental note of the letter: life in Christ, head of the mystical body (1:1 ff.). There follows a thanksgiving to God, which is also a eulogy of the community, which walks according to the teachings of Epaphras, "most beloved fellow servant" and "minister of Christ" (1:3-8); a wish for constant progress in the knowledge of God, in the fruitful holiness of life and in gratitude toward the Father, who has willed us to be partakers of wonderful gifts through the work of "His beloved Son" (1:9-14).

The body of the letter can be divided into three parts: doctrinal exposition (1:15-2:5); refutation of the errors that creep through the community (2:6-3:4); moral application to the life of the Christian, as a member of the mystical body and of society (3:5-4:6).

1) The closing lines of the prologue introduce the doctrinal part (1:15-2:5), which illustrates the person and work of the Son, head of all creation and, in particular, of redeemed humanity. The exposition of these points is followed by a practical application, which gives St. Paul occasion to touch upon the mission entrusted to him: to proclaim the "mystery" revealed in Christ (1:21-2:5).

The excellence of the Son (1:15-19) is considered, first, insofar as He is the perfect image of God and head of creation (v. 15 ff.), then insofar as He is head of the Church and in Him dwells the fullness (πλήρωμα) of divine gifts (18 f.).

The work of the Son is universal reconciliation, accomplished by virtue of the Cross (1:20). The recipients, who once were strangers to the divine economy, are now fully partakers of it, called by that Gospel message of which Paul is the bearer (1:21 ff.). He, who to the fulfillment of God's salvific plan brings a contribution of personal sufferings (1:24-27), has shown every solicitude also for the faithful of Colossae, of Laodicea and for all those who, generally, have not benefited from his direct apostolic activity, aimed at making known to all the divine treasures hidden in Christ (1:28-2:3).

2) Passing to the second, polemical part (2:6-3:4), Paul admonishes them to be on guard against deceivers. He recommends, in general, that they adhere scrupulously to the doctrine received, without letting themselves be led astray by those who preach human traditions instead of the genuine teaching of Christ (2:6 ff.). In Him dwells the fullness of divinity, of which we have become partakers; not through useless carnal circumcision, but through Baptism, which is a mystical dying and rising with Christ; by virtue of the Cross, to which has been nailed the bond that accused us as debtors (2:9-15).

In particular, the readers must not let themselves be misled by those who inculcate empty Jewish observances (the "shadow" of things that were to come) or superstitious cults of angels, forgetting the head, from which the whole body draws life and growth (2:16-19).

The Christian must regulate his conduct on the fact that he has died, with Christ, to the "elements of the world" (2:20-23), and, with Christ, has risen to a new life: hidden now, but destined to be manifested, one day, in glory with Him (3:1-4).

3) Of the moral applications (3:5-4:6), derived from the doctrine of Christ as head and of our life in the mystical body, the first nucleus (3:5-11) sets before the eyes the vices that the Christian must avoid as a commitment of his vocation. From the metaphor "to put off the old man" and "to put on the new," St. Paul passes (3:9b, 10) to recommendations of a positive character, preceded by the solemn declaration that in the life in Christ every distinction of race, nationality and culture is abolished (3:11). Above all else is recommended charity, the soul of the Christian life. This is to be lived joyfully, with one's gaze fixed on Christ, in thanksgiving to the Father (3:12-17).

There follow teachings relating to the social conditions of the Christian (3:18-4:1): duties of wives toward husbands and of husbands toward wives (3:18 f.), of children toward parents and vice versa (3:20 f.). To slaves is recommended a dignified obedience, as servants of God, not of men; to masters it is recalled that they too have a master in heaven (3:22-4:1).

Last is inculcated persevering prayer (also as cooperation in Paul's apostolate) and exemplary wisdom, especially of speech (4:2-6).

In 4:7-18 there are personal notices and greetings. More detailed information will be given to the readers by Tychicus and Onesimus (4:7 ff.). After the greetings of Paul's co-workers and those addressed to the most prominent among the recipients (4:10-15), there follows the injunction of an exchange of letters between the Colossians and the Laodiceans, the admonition to Archippus, the personal greeting and the final recommendations (4:16 ff.).

II. THE ERRORS COMBATED

The whole letter has the evident purpose of combating erroneous opinions that were spreading among the faithful of Colossae. It, however — being the most authoritative source, not to say the only one — does not offer us sufficient elements for a rigorous determination.

Besides insisting on the prerogatives of Christ as head, by which we would seem oriented toward errors and questions of a Christological nature, the letter speaks to us of the danger of allowing oneself to be seduced by a false wisdom, founded on human traditions, which takes account of the "elements of the world," and is not according to Christ, in whom dwells the fullness of the divinity (2:8). To "carnal circumcision" is opposed the "circumcision of Christ" (2:11). Through his own Cross, Christ has triumphed over the "principalities" and the "powers" (2:15). Those are condemned who would impose on the faithful useless observances regarding foods, drinks and sacred days, which had, at one time, a function of foreshadowing the future (2:16); those who, neglecting the head, from which the whole body draws life and growth, attempt to impose a superstitious worship of angels; those, finally, who accept arbitrary prescriptions of bodily abstinences, they who are already dead, with Christ, to the "elements of the world" (2:18-23).

Among the errors spread at Colossae there were, then, a misunderstood worship of angels and ascetic practices such as abstaining from certain foods and certain drinks, which suggest a Jewish influence. This is clear in the opposition between "carnal circumcision" and the "spiritual" or "of Christ" one. But the Jewish influence does not appear sufficient to explain the errors combated here. Nor does it seem that at Colossae a substantial value was attached to circumcision, unlike the Judaizers of the Letter to the Galatians, for otherwise the rather mild tone used by Paul would not be understandable.

It has been asserted, with little probability, that in this epistle there are traces of Phrygian cults and of Gnosticism properly so called. The worship of angels was, in the thought of the new preachers, not so much part of a philosophical-theological system as a complementary and harmless addition to the worship of Christ, in defense, perhaps, against the cosmic forces, over which angels were thought to be placed. It was a matter of an attempt at crude syncretism.

J. B. Lightfoot (St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, 3rd ed., London 1879, pp. 82-98) has highlighted hypothetical analogies between the errors disseminated at Colossae and the doctrines of the Essenes, who, according to Flavius, gave a place of honor to the angels. But Lightfoot himself acknowledged that the analogies are not sufficient to conclude to a dependence. Nor is the hypothesis of an influence of Eastern religions and philosophies plausible, or of Stoicism (on account of the importance the latter attributed to the four elements of the cosmos and to the stars), or of Neoplatonic and Pythagorean theories on beings intermediate between God and the world. Cf. E. Jacquier, Histoire des livres du Nouveau Testament, I, 10th ed., Paris 1924, p. 316 ff.

III. THE OCCASION, PLACE AND DATE OF COMPOSITION

The occasion of the letter was a visit by Epaphras to Paul in prison. It is not improbable that Epaphras himself, given the threats to the purity of the faith, urged Paul to intervene with clarification.

The bearer of the letter was Tychicus (4:7 f.), who also had the task of delivering the letter to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:21 ff.); and Tychicus was accompanied by Onesimus, the bearer of the note to Philemon.

But during which imprisonment was it written? To answer this question, one must keep in mind all the letters of the imprisonment, and start from that to the Philippians, written (it seems certain) in Rome during the first imprisonment. For the others, the ancients thought no differently. Now, however, the great majority of Protestants and a few Catholics distinguish between the letter to the Philippians and the other three, holding that these were written from Caesarea, in the two years spent under the procurators Felix and Festus.

Only for some fifty years has a third opinion been put forward, first by A. Deissmann (in Licht vom Osten, 4th ed., Tübingen 1923, p. 201, n. 4, he claims to have put forward the idea in 1898), then by H. Lisco (Vincula sanctorum, Berlin 1900), with the assent of a few, which would trace the letter to the Colossians and the other three letters back to a supposed imprisonment of Paul at Ephesus, during the third missionary journey. The foundations are very fragile. The text most insisted upon is 1 Cor. 15:32, which, if it were not a metaphor (cf. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Rom. 5:1), would presuppose a trial and a condemnation, and consequently an imprisonment. But, apart from the fact that the condemnation could have been the consequence of a popular uprising, without trial and without imprisonment, if he had really been condemned to the beasts, Paul would have lost that title of Roman citizenship, on which he would rely and which would be recognized in him even after his stay at Ephesus (Acts 22:25-29; 25:10 ff., 21). On the other hand, the Acts and 2 Cor. 11:23-29 are completely silent on the matter, whereas in the series of trials endured by the Apostle, so grave a fact should have been mentioned. Moreover, Mark and Luke would not have been with Paul (contrary to Col. 4:10, 14; Philem. 24) in the case of an Ephesian imprisonment, because the former was then probably working with Peter at Rome, and the latter does not narrate in the first person the events of the stay at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-20:1), as he usually does when he is present.

The choice remains between Caesarea and Rome. The main argument in favor of Caesarea is of a negative nature: the distance between Colossae and Caesarea was less than that between Colossae and Rome, so that the fugitive Onesimus could reach Paul more easily at Caesarea than at Rome. It is observed, to the contrary, that the capital of the empire was the meeting place of all fugitives and outlaws, offering them greater possibilities of remaining there unnoticed.

Another text adduced in favor of Caesarea is Col. 4:3, in which Paul asks for prayers that a greater freedom of apostolate be granted him. But even the relative freedom of the custodia militaris at Rome was a very small thing for Paul's apostolic ardor!

Paul's silence about the earthquake that, in 60-61, struck Laodicea and the surrounding region is not decisive in favor of Caesarea and of a date prior to the beginning of the Roman imprisonment, since it is not certain that Colossae was seriously struck. Besides, the Apostle is habitually very sparing with news concerning contemporary profane history.

Positively, it should be noted that the group of friends and guests surrounding Paul, according to the information of the letter to the Colossians and of the other letters written in the same period, accords much better with the type of Roman imprisonment and with the house rented at Rome (Acts 28:30 f.), than with the prison of Caesarea.

As has already been mentioned, granting the Roman origin of the letter, the approximate date of composition is also fixed, because of the interdependence of the two questions, at 61-62, although nothing certain can be determined as to whether or not it precedes the other letters of the imprisonment. Cf. E. Percy, op. cit. in bibl., chap. 9.

IV. AUTHENTICITY

Having already overcome the sharp denials of the Tübingen school, the Pauline authorship of the epistle is accepted not only by Catholic critics but also by many Protestants and rationalists. We shall limit ourselves to citing the most up-to-date among the latter, E. Percy, who defends the authenticity of the epistle to the Colossians and of that to the Ephesians, albeit with some reservations that do not touch its substance.

The favorable testimony of tradition (implicit citations by the Apostolic Fathers; explicit attributions by St. Irenaeus, the Muratorian Fragment, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Eusebius; by heretics such as Marcion, Valentinus and the Docetists, who abused the letter to defend their own errors) is confirmed by good arguments of internal criticism or, at least, by the possibility of giving a satisfactory answer to the objections of opponents. Thus, if the language and style of this letter differ from the language and style of the other Pauline letters, in certain respects they nevertheless also offer notable similarities, not only with that to the Philippians (more generally held to be Pauline), but also with the vocabulary and style of the great letters. The peculiarities are explained, not infrequently, by the diversity of the subjects treated, by the novelty of the concepts, some of which are barely hinted at in the other letters of St. Paul.

Nor should one object with the doctrinal development of this epistle and that the errors combated in it spread only around the middle of the 2nd century; because, besides everything else, it is not easy to establish with exactness the nature of the errors that provoked this writing.

On the introductory questions: A. Steinmann, Gegen welchen Irrtlehrer richtet sich der Kolosserbrief?, Strasbourg 1906; J. Schmid, Zeit und Ort der paulinischen Gefangenschaftsbriefe, Freiburg im Br. 1931; E. Percy, Die Probleme der Kolosserund Epheserbriefe (Acta Reg. Soc. Human. Litt. Lundensis, 39), Lund 1946.

Teodorico da Castel S. Pietro