Preface to the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians.
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PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE
APOSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
COLOSSE, or rather Colassa, (see on Colossians 1:1,) was a city of Phrygia Pacatiana, now a part of Natolia, in Asia Minor, seated on an eminence on the south side of the river Maeander, now Meinder, near to the place where the river Lycas enters the earth, and begins to run under ground, which course it continues for about three-quarters of a mile, before it emerges and falls into the Maeander. Of this ancient city not much is known: it was situated between Laodicea and Hierapolis, and at an equal distance from either; and to this place Xerxes came in his expedition against Greece.
The government of this city is said to have been democratic, and its first magistrate bore the title of archon and prætor. The Macedonians transferred Colosse to the Persians; and it afterwards passed under the government of the Seleucidæ. After the defeat of Antiochus III., at the battle of Magnesia, it became subject to Eumenes, king of Pergamus: and when Attalus, the last of his successors, bequeathed his dominions to the Romans, this city, with the whole of Phrygia, formed a part of the proconsular province of Asia; which division subsisted till the time of Constantine the Great. After the time of this emperor, Phrygia was divided into Phrygia Pacatiana, and Phrygia Salutaris: and Colosse was the sixth city of the first division.
The ancient city of Colosse has been extinct for nearly eighteen hundred years; for about the tenth year of the Emperor Nero, about a year after the writing of this epistle, not only Colosse, but Laodicea and Hierapolis, were destroyed by an earthquake, according to Eusebius; and the city which was raised in the place of the former was called Chonos or Konos, which name it now bears. See New Encyclopedia. On modern maps Konos is situated about twenty miles NE. of Degnizlu, in lat. about 38º north, and in long. 29º 40’ east of London.
The epistle to this city appears to have been written about the same time with that to the Philippians, viz. towards the end of the year 62, and in the ninth of the Emperor Nero.
That the two epistles were written about the same time is rendered probable by the following circumstance: In the Epistle to the Philippians, Philippians 2:19, St. Paul purposes to send Timothy to Philippi, who was then with him at Rome, that he might know their state. As Timothy joins with the apostle in the salutation at the beginning of this epistle, it is evident that he was still at Rome, and had not yet been sent to Philippi; and as St. Paul wrote the former epistle nearly at the close of his first imprisonment at Rome, the two epistles must have been written within a short space of each other. See the preface to the Epistle to the Philippians. When, or by whom, Christianity was first preached at Colosse, and a Church founded there, we cannot tell; but it is most likely that it was by St. Paul himself, and during the three years in which he dwelt at Ephesus; for he had then employed himself with such zeal and diligence that we are told, Acts 19:10: “That all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” And that Paul preached in Phrygia, the district in which this city was situated, we learn from Acts 16:6: “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia;” and at another time we find that “he went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples;” Acts 18:23. It has, however, been argued, from Colossians 2:1, of this epistle, that Paul had never been at Colosse; for he there says: I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. But the consequence drawn from these words does not absolutely follow. Dr. Lardner alleges a variety of considerations which induced him to believe that the Churches of Colosse and Laodicea were founded by St. Paul, viz.
1. That the apostle was twice in Phrygia, in which were Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. See the places above quoted from the Acts of the Apostles.
2. That he does in effect, or even expressly, say that he had dispensed the Gospel to the Colossians, Colossians 1:21-25. See particularly the 23d, 24th, and 25th verses.
3. From several passages in the epistle it appears that the apostle does not speak as to strangers, but to acquaintances, disciples, and converts. Some think that Epaphras, who is called their apostle, Colossians 1:7, was the first who planted Christianity among the Colossians.
But the arguments drawn from Acts 16:6; 18:23, referred to above, are quite invalidated, if we allow the opinion of some learned men, among whom are Suidas, Calepine, Munster, and others, that the Colossus, a gigantic statue at Rhodes, gave its own name to the people among whom it stood; for the ancient poets call the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, Colossians; and hence they thought that the Colossians, to whom St. Paul directs this epistle, were the inhabitants of Rhodes. This opinion, however, is not generally adopted.
From a great similarity in the doctrine and phraseology of this epistle to that written to the Ephesians, this to the Colossians has been considered an epitome of the former, as the Epistle to the Galatians has been considered an abstract of that to the Romans. See the concluding observations on the Epistle to the Galatians; and the notes on Colossians 1:4, of this epistle, and elsewhere.
Whether the Colossians to whom the apostle addresses this epistle were Jews or Gentiles, cannot be absolutely determined. It is most probable that they were a mixture of both; but that the principal part were converted Jews is most likely. This, indeed, appears to have been the case in most of the Asiatic and Grecian Churches; for there were Jews, at this time, sojourning in almost every part of the Roman empire, which then comprehended the greatest portion of the known world.
The language of this epistle is bold and energetic, the sentiments are grand, and the conceptions vigorous and majestic. The phraseology is in many places Jewish; and the reason is obvious: the apostle had to explain subjects which never had a name in any other language. The mythology of the Gentiles could not furnish terms to explain the theology of the Jews; much less, the more refined and spiritual system of Christianity. THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.
-Usherian year of the world, 4066.
-Alexandrian era of the world, 5564.
-Antiochian era of the world, 5554.
-Constantinopolitan era of the world, 5570.
-Year of the Eusebian epocha of the Creation, 4290.
-Year of the Julian period, 4772.
-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, 3822.
-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4421.
-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2410.
-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3164. -Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1002.
-Year of the Nabonassarean era, 809.
-Year of the era of the Seleucidæ, 374.
-Year of the Spanish era, 100.
-Year of the Actiac or Actian era, 93.
-Year from the birth of Christ, 66.
-Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 62.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, 814. -Year of the CCXth Olympiad, 2.
-Jesus, high priest of the Jews.
-Common Golden Number, 6.
-Jewish Golden Number, 3.
-Year of the Solar Cycle, 15.
-Dominical Letter, C.
-Jewish Passover, April 10th.
-Easter Sunday, April 11th.
-Epact, or the moon’s age on the 22d of March, or the Xth of the Calends of April, 25.
-Year of the reign of Nero. Cæsar, the sixth emperor of the Romans, 9. -In the first year of Albinus, governor of the Jews.
-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 12.
-Year of Domitius Corbulo, governor of Syria, 3.
-Roman Consuls, P. Marius Celsus, and L. Asinius Gallus, from Jan. 1st to July 1st; and L. Annæus Seneca, the philosopher, and Trebellius Maximus, for the remainder of the year.
Joseph Benson
Preface
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THE EPISTLE TO THE
COLOSSIANS.
PREFACE
Colosse was an ancient and populous city of the Greater Phrygia, an inland country in the Lesser Asia. It was situated near the place where the river Lycus begins to run under ground, before it falls into the river Meander, now called Meinder. Laodicea and Hierapolis, mentioned Colossians 4:13 of this epistle, were also cities in the same country, situated not far from Colosse, and in them also there were Christian churches at the time this epistle was written. Of these cities, Laodicea was the greatest, being the metropolis of Phrygia; but Colosse, though inferior in rank to Laodicea, was, however, a large and wealthy city, in which the Christian church was probably more considerable than those in Laodicea and Hierapolis, on account of the number and quality of its members; and therefore it merited the peculiar attention which the apostle paid to it in writing this excellent epistle to its members. It is remarkable that, according to Eusebius, these three cities were buried in ruins by an earthquake, about A.D. 66, a year or two after the writing of this epistle.
It has generally been supposed, though St. Paul resided at Ephesus no less than three years, and preached in divers parts of the Lesser Asia, and even in many parts of Phrygia, yet that he had never been in Colosse, but that the Colossians received the gospel by the preaching of Epaphras, who was with St. Paul when he wrote this epistle. This opinion, however, has been much controverted of late, and Dr. Lardner and Dr. Macknight in particular have endeavoured to prove that the churches of Christ, both at Colosse and Laodicea, were founded by Paul. The reader will not expect the arguments which they urge in favour of that opinion to be stated, or a controversy of so little importance to be introduced here. Those who wish for information on the subject, must be referred to the works of those divines; which, when they have consulted, they will probably be of Mr. Scott’s mind, “that the evidence against the apostle’s having been at Colosse is far stronger than any which has been adduced on the affirmative side of the question.”
It has been observed in the preface to the epistle to the Ephesians, that there is a great similarity between that epistle and this, both with respect to their subject matter, and the very form of the expression; and that there is great reason to suppose they were both written at the same time, and sent together by Tychicus, who, however, was attended by Onesimus when he delivered this to the Colossians, Colossians 4:9. Upon maturely considering the contents of this epistle, we shall see reason to conclude that, at the time when the apostle wrote it, the Colossian believers were in danger of being seduced from the simple and genuine doctrine of Christ, by persons who strove to blend Judaism, and even heathen superstitions, with Christianity, pretending that God, because of his great majesty, was not to be approached except by the mediation of angels, and that there were certain rites and ceremonies, chiefly borrowed from the law, whereby these angels may be made our friends.
The apostle, therefore, in this epistle, with great propriety, warns the Colossians against vain philosophy and Jewish ceremonies, and demonstrates the excellence of Christ, the knowledge of whom he shows to be more important than all other knowledge, and so entire and perfect, that no other was necessary for a Christian. He proves also that Christ is above all angels, who are only his servants; and that, being reconciled to God through him, we have free access to him in all our necessities. It is justly observed by Professor Franck, that the controversy treated of in this epistle was the principal one in the apostolic age, and therefore engaged the special attention of this apostle of the Gentiles: and his discussion of it has proved a considerable blessing to posterity, setting in a clear light the mode of obtaining salvation; so that if we weigh the apostle’s scope and design, and attend to the process of his reasoning as he advances to a conclusion, we must necessarily set a high value upon this epistle, as being one that embraces the order, structure, and harmony of the Christian system with such peculiar propriety, that not only the young convert cannot desire a more excellent confirmation of the doctrines he has espoused, but even the more established believers may revert with delight to the first principles here maintained, and find that satisfaction and repose which, in an hour of temptation, they had vainly sought elsewhere. The contents of this epistle may be set forth in order more particularly as follows: We have, I. The inscription, Colossians 1:1, 2. II. The doctrine, wherein the apostle pathetically explains the mystery of Christ, by thanksgiving for the Colossians, verses 3-8; by prayers for them, verses 9- 23; with a declaration of his affection, verses 24-29; Colossians 2:1-3. III. The exhortation: 1. General, wherein he excites them to perseverance, and warns them not to be deceived, verses 4-8. Describes again the mystery of Christ in order, verses 9-15; and in the same order draws his admonitions from Christ the Head, verses 16-19; from his death, verses 20- 23; from his exaltation, Colossians 3:1-4: 2. Particular, to avoid several vices, verses 5-9; to practise several virtues, verses 10, 11; especially to love one another, verses 12-15; and study the Scriptures, verses 16, 17; to the relative duties of wives and husbands, verses 18, 19; children and parents, servants and masters, verses 20, 21-25; Colossians 4:1. 3. Final, to prayer, verses 2-4; to spiritual wisdom, verses 5, 6. IV. The conclusion, verses 7-16.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction
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COLOSSIANS
INTRODUCTION
THE authorship of the Epistle to the Colossians was in the early Church universally ascribed to St. Paul, and only at a very recent day has it been questioned. It is directly quoted, with the use of his name as the author, by Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, and Origen, and it is found in the Canon of Muratori, which dates about A.D. 160. Besides this external evidence, the internal is ample. The name of Paul occurs in it three times, Colossians 1:1, 28, and 4:18; it refers to his imprisonment in Colossians 4:3, 10, 18; and it freely mentions persons, known to be his friends, as with him, who are named in the same relation in the Epistle to Philemon, written at the same time. Notwithstanding, Schrader, followed by Meyerhoff and Baur, have doubted his authorship, the latter, indeed, wholly rejecting it. They think they find in it ideas and expressions belonging to the Gnosticism and Montanism of later times, and, therefore, infer that it belongs to an age subsequent to that of Paul, and that it was written by another hand. Meyerhoff lays great stress on its poverty of thought, differing in this respect from the early Church, and also thinks its doctrinal part exceedingly confused in its logic, which only shows his inability or failure to comprehend its method. The truth is, the heresies named were in their incipiency at the date of this epistle; and while they had not taken the definite form which they afterward assumed, the system attacked, so far as it had become a system, presented enough of the elements which they afterward developed to account for the language of Paul. Bishop Ellicott well remarks: “To class such an epistle, so marked not only by distinctive peculiarities of style, but by the nerve, force, and originality of its argument, with the vague productions of later Gnosticism, is to bewray such a complete want of critical perception, that we can scarcely wonder that such views have been both very generally and summarily rejected.”
The Colossian Church was composed mainly of Gentiles, as the mode of address in Colossians 2:18, shows. Whether it was founded by St. Paul is a disputed question. His third missionary journey carried him through Phrygia to Ephesus, but, probably, far to the north of Colosse. There is no direct evidence of a visit to that city. The epistle itself not only makes no mention of a former acquaintance with the Church, which is unaccountable if he were its founder, but in Colossians 2:1, he plainly classes the Colossians with the Laodiceans and others who, he says, “have not seen my face in the flesh.” In Colossians 1:3-7, moreover, it is plainly implied that his knowledge of them was gained by report. That he intended, after his release, to visit them, is seen in his request to Philemon (verse 22) to prepare him a “lodging.” The acquaintance with Epaphras and Philemon may be explained by supposing them to have visited Ephesus for purposes of their own during the apostle’s three years’ ministry there, listened to his preaching, and embraced the Gospel, which would at once bring them all into a common fellowship. From Ephesus as a centre went forth, in the persons of new converts, an evangelizing power to Colosse, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and other places, resulting in Christian Churches. We thus suppose Epaphras to have been the founder of the Colossian Church. The terms in which he is spoken of in Colossians 1:7, show that they had “learned” the Gospel from him, whose authority, and correctness in teaching, the apostle most emphatically confirms. As they were mostly Gentiles, they stood in a peculiar relation to St. Paul as their apostle, which accounts for the affectionate freedom of his address.
The occasion of the epistle is to be ascertained from the epistle itself. Moved by love for his revered friend, Epaphras had joined the apostle at Rome, to minister to his comfort and share in his imprisonment. From Epaphras’s report of the spiritual condition of the Church, Paul learned the existence of attempts to introduce a system of erroneous doctrine which threatened its integrity and very life. Its features, as may be gathered from the text, were threefold. First, the reference to “circumcision,” “new moon,” etc., (Colossians 2:11, 16,) shows a Jewish, legalizing element, though not the Judaizing of the Epistle to the Galatians. Second, a theosophy and angelology, which reckoned Christ as one of a host of spiritual intelligences, proposed to place them as mediators on a level with him, as equally worthy of worship and trust. It thus degraded him from his Headship of the Church and his glory as the Son of God, Creator, and only Redeemer. Third, it cultivated a severe asceticism of life, affecting contempt of the body, and enjoining mortification of the flesh in a way of ritualistic observance. These incongruous elements, thus brought together, were dignified with the lofty and pretentious title of “THE PHILOSOPHY.” The attempts thus far made to trace it to a single source have proved abortive. Phrygia, noted for the fanatical worship of Cybele, and a wild reverence for great spiritual powers, was a border-land where Orientalism and Hellenism, Judaism and Christianity, met. The very atmosphere was charged with speculation, and out of the thoughts floating therein a party, or, more likely, a single individual, undertook the framing of a system. Meyer rightly calls it “Judaistico Oriental.” It was nascent Gnosticism with, perhaps, an element local as yet at Colosse. Note on 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Out of what we here find in incipiency and crudeness, afterward grew grave heresies which fill a large space in the history of the Church. To meet and refute these errors at an early stage is the apostle’s design in writing. He accomplishes his purpose by a rigidly logical argument in establishment of the Christian doctrine, and then by it sharply tests the new philosophy. The epistle then becomes, in antagonism to this philosophy, a profound treatise on the Person and Work of Christ, as the supreme Lord of heaven and earth, and the perfect Redeemer of the world.
This epistle was written about the same time with that to the Ephesians, and forwarded by the same hands. As to priority of writing, commentators are greatly divided in opinion, the same grounds leading different writers to opposite conclusions. It appears to us more natural that the special and controversial should precede the peculiarly dogmatic. As to their marked resemblance, however, there is entire agreement. The subject in both is Christ, but in different aspects and relations: in Ephesians it is Christ ascended, glorified, and as related to the Church; in Colossians, Christ prehistoric, glorified, and as related to redemption. As might be expected, the parallels, often identical in words, are numerous, the same truth not unfrequently appearing in new and equally beautiful relations. Yet no allusion to the peculiar errors rebuked in the one is found in the other. In style and diction they widely differ. In the Epistle to the Colossians no less than thirty-five words occur which are not found elsewhere in the New Testament, twenty of which are in the second chapter. They are to be explained partly by the subject, and partly by the labored effort after the full and exact accuracy of expression which would at once set forth the entire truth and overwhelm the opposing error.
The proper date of the epistle is in A.D. 62, in the earlier part of the imprisonment, during the enjoyment of the comparative freedom of which he was deprived after the death of Burrus. As to the place of writing, we
Plan of the Epistle.
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fix it at Rome, adhering to the common view as alone agreeing with the circumstances of the case.
1. The pursuit of heavenly things based on union with the risen Christ Colossians 3:1-4
2. General Christian duties thence resulting 5-17 a. Avoidance of evil conduct and sinful tempers 5-11 b. Duty in culture and exercise of Christian graces 12-14 c. Unity and mutual helpfulness 15-17
3. Special social duties Colossians 3:18-4:1 a. Wives and husbands 18, 19
5. Intercourse with persons outside the Church 5, 6 IV. CONCLUSION
7-18
1. Personal communications 7-14
2. Salutations and closing words 15-18
Joseph Agar Beet
Preface, Introduction and Dissertations
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Beet's Preface, Introduction and Dissertations for Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians (one volume) are given once, under Ephesians.
Review of the Epistle to the Colossians
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REVIEW OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS
The occasion and purpose of the Epistle were somewhat as follows. Epaphras, a member of the Church at Colossæ, came to Rome. That he remained at Rome after this letter was sent to Colossæ, suggests that he had other business there besides the conveyance of news to Paul. He tells the imprisoned Apostle the story of the success of the Gospel in the valley of the Lycus. That Gospel had been first preached at Colossæ by Epaphras himself. This implies that he had heard and embraced it elsewhere. Success had followed the preached word: and in the heart of Asia Minor a new Church had sprung into life. There was then probably no Church at Laodicea or Hierapolis. For, had there been such, one man would hardly have been the channel through which the Gospel would reach a place so near as Colossæ. And the great interest of Epaphras in the Churches of those two cities suggests that he had had a share in founding them. This good news filled Paul with delight.
Other information was less pleasant. In the valley of the Lycus were Jewish Christians who not only asserted the abiding obligation of the many prescriptions of the Law but added to them prohibitions of merely human origin which branded as evil things which God has created for man’s nourishment and pleasure. As a basis of these prohibitions, the same teachers propounded a philosophy professing to explain the origin of the universe, claiming to be derived from revelations of the unseen world, and accompanied by a worship invented by man and directed to the honour of the supposed angelic authors of the vaunted revelations. They promised that this more recondite teaching and stricter rule of life and extra ritual would lead their disciples to a higher development of the Christian life. The chief features of this false teaching were familiar to Paul. Already in his own nation a very conspicuous place in the creation of the world had been given to angels. And a well-known Jewish brotherhood had claimed fuller knowledge about the angelic powers, and had sought, by strict regimen of life, for nearer approach to God. But he saw in it at once incipient and great peril. The angelic powers to whom these would-be teachers ascribed the creation of the universe obscured the unique dignity of the Son of God as Himself the Creator and Ruler of whatever exists. And, by prescribing abstinence from good things made by God, as a means of attaining a richer spiritual life, they were misrepresenting the nature and aim of material good and were leading men away from the full salvation proclaimed by Christ for all who believe. Such teaching would rob those who accepted it of the prize offered to them in the Gospel. Epaphras was, for reasons unknown to us, remaining at Rome. But one of his companions, Tychicus, was going to the province of Asia and to Colossæ. And Paul resolves to write a letter to the young converts whose early Christian history was in some respects so hopeful and yet so full of danger.
The first words from the prisoner at Rome were gratitude for the faith and love of the Christians at Colossæ, revealing as these did a blessed future awaiting them. He reminds them that similar results had followed the Gospel wherever preached throughout the world; thus raising their thoughts above their own narrow surroundings to the universal Church. He prays that they may obtain, in abundant measure, the highest knowledge, a knowledge bearing fruit in their whole life. In view of false teaching derogatory to the honour of Christ as the one Creator and Saviour, Paul writes his greatest exposition of the dignity of the Son of God, of His relation to God, to the universe, to the Church universal, and finally to the Church at Colossæ. This leads him to speak of his own relation to the Church and of his deep interest in the Churches of the Lycus. This doctrinal exposition he concludes by again pointing to Christ as Himself the treasure-house of all wisdom.
After erecting the best possible bulwark against error by plain statement of opposite truth, Paul comes in DIV. III. to the specific danger at Colossæ. He first says generally-that such danger exists, and begs his readers to make Christ whom they have received the pervading element of their whole life. He then describes somewhat more definitely the errors he fears, and shows them to be inconsistent with their Christian profession and with the aim of the death of Christ. Lastly, he states in plain words the specific outward forms in which these errors assail his readers, and concludes his reference to them by pointing them to the Risen Saviour, and to the new life flowing from spiritual contact with Him.
Having thus dealt with the specific occasion of the letter, Paul uses his reference to the Risen Lord as a starting point for moral teaching, first in general terms negative and positive, and then in special reference to the various classes of his readers.
News about himself; he leaves to Tychicus and his companion Onesimus. He then adds greetings from friends at Rome, including Epaphras; and concludes his letter with the usual Apostolic autograph.
The statement in Colossians 1:16 that all things were created by the agency of the Son, conspicuous for its emphatic repetition and as being the only place in the Epistles of Paul where this statement is made, has a remarkable counterpart in the emphatic and repeated assertion of John 1:3, the only passage in the Gospels where similar teaching is found. It is thus a link between the two great theologians of the New Testament. Moreover, the prominent place in the Gnostic systems held by the creation of the world, this being attributed to angels or to a subordinate deity, and the evidence that this teaching was prevalent before the death of John, suggests strongly that John 1:3 was prompted by incipient Gnosticism. And it is worthy of note that a unanimous tradition connects the last years of the Apostle John with Ephesus, in the same Roman province as Colossæ. Similar teaching is found in Hebrews 1:2, in an Epistle bearing abundant traces of the theological and theosophic speculation so prevalent among the Jews of Alexandria. That the language of Paul resembles so closely language prompted either by Gnostic error or by the modes of thought from which it sprang, somewhat confirms our inference that similar teaching at Colossæ suggested parts of the Epistle before us. As we now close the Epistle, we are conscious that, in spite of much we cannot understand, it has, even as compared with the earlier Epistles of Paul, greatly widened our vision of things Divine. At the beginning of it, he reminded his readers that the Gospel which saved them had saved others throughout the world, thus suggesting that it must be looked upon in its relation, not to one city, but to the whole human race. Lower down he brought into our view successive ranks of intelligent beings beyond the range of the human eye. Reviewing these and the entire universe seen and unseen, he took us back to the time when it had not yet begun to be; and linked together the whole as created by, and for, the Son of God. The Creator of the universe is also the Head of the Church. And the blood shed on His cross is designed to produce results as wide as the universe. Throughout DIV. I. and DIV. II. this wider view is kept before us. And the clearer light thus derived is focused on the Son of God, to whom Paul points as Himself the mystery in which lies hid, or rather lies open to the eyes of those who believe in Him, all that which is best worth knowing. Thus within the narrow limits of the damp walls of the dungeon at Rome there opened to the prisoner’s eye a vision of the eternal and infinite realities and of the Son of God, Himself the centre and circumference of all reality, wider and deeper and more glorious than had been possible in the years of his unfettered activity. The Epistle we now close is a mirror in which this glorious vision is reflected to the ends of the world that in all ages it may be a light and joy to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the things which happened to Paul have come to be for the advance of the Gospel.
Adam Clarke
Preface to the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians.
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PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE
APOSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
COLOSSE, or rather Colassa, (see on Colossians 1:1,) was a city of Phrygia Pacatiana, now a part of Natolia, in Asia Minor, seated on an eminence on the south side of the river Maeander, now Meinder, near to the place where the river Lycas enters the earth, and begins to run under ground, which course it continues for about three-quarters of a mile, before it emerges and falls into the Maeander. Of this ancient city not much is known: it was situated between Laodicea and Hierapolis, and at an equal distance from either; and to this place Xerxes came in his expedition against Greece.
The government of this city is said to have been democratic, and its first magistrate bore the title of archon and prætor. The Macedonians transferred Colosse to the Persians; and it afterwards passed under the government of the Seleucidæ. After the defeat of Antiochus III., at the battle of Magnesia, it became subject to Eumenes, king of Pergamus: and when Attalus, the last of his successors, bequeathed his dominions to the Romans, this city, with the whole of Phrygia, formed a part of the proconsular province of Asia; which division subsisted till the time of Constantine the Great. After the time of this emperor, Phrygia was divided into Phrygia Pacatiana, and Phrygia Salutaris: and Colosse was the sixth city of the first division.
The ancient city of Colosse has been extinct for nearly eighteen hundred years; for about the tenth year of the Emperor Nero, about a year after the writing of this epistle, not only Colosse, but Laodicea and Hierapolis, were destroyed by an earthquake, according to Eusebius; and the city which was raised in the place of the former was called Chonos or Konos, which name it now bears. See New Encyclopedia. On modern maps Konos is situated about twenty miles NE. of Degnizlu, in lat. about 38º north, and in long. 29º 40’ east of London.
The epistle to this city appears to have been written about the same time with that to the Philippians, viz. towards the end of the year 62, and in the ninth of the Emperor Nero.
That the two epistles were written about the same time is rendered probable by the following circumstance: In the Epistle to the Philippians, Philippians 2:19, St. Paul purposes to send Timothy to Philippi, who was then with him at Rome, that he might know their state. As Timothy joins with the apostle in the salutation at the beginning of this epistle, it is evident that he was still at Rome, and had not yet been sent to Philippi; and as St. Paul wrote the former epistle nearly at the close of his first imprisonment at Rome, the two epistles must have been written within a short space of each other. See the preface to the Epistle to the Philippians. When, or by whom, Christianity was first preached at Colosse, and a Church founded there, we cannot tell; but it is most likely that it was by St. Paul himself, and during the three years in which he dwelt at Ephesus; for he had then employed himself with such zeal and diligence that we are told, Acts 19:10: “That all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” And that Paul preached in Phrygia, the district in which this city was situated, we learn from Acts 16:6: “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia;” and at another time we find that “he went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples;” Acts 18:23. It has, however, been argued, from Colossians 2:1, of this epistle, that Paul had never been at Colosse; for he there says: I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. But the consequence drawn from these words does not absolutely follow. Dr. Lardner alleges a variety of considerations which induced him to believe that the Churches of Colosse and Laodicea were founded by St. Paul, viz.
1. That the apostle was twice in Phrygia, in which were Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. See the places above quoted from the Acts of the Apostles.
2. That he does in effect, or even expressly, say that he had dispensed the Gospel to the Colossians, Colossians 1:21-25. See particularly the 23d, 24th, and 25th verses.
3. From several passages in the epistle it appears that the apostle does not speak as to strangers, but to acquaintances, disciples, and converts. Some think that Epaphras, who is called their apostle, Colossians 1:7, was the first who planted Christianity among the Colossians.
But the arguments drawn from Acts 16:6; 18:23, referred to above, are quite invalidated, if we allow the opinion of some learned men, among whom are Suidas, Calepine, Munster, and others, that the Colossus, a gigantic statue at Rhodes, gave its own name to the people among whom it stood; for the ancient poets call the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, Colossians; and hence they thought that the Colossians, to whom St. Paul directs this epistle, were the inhabitants of Rhodes. This opinion, however, is not generally adopted.
From a great similarity in the doctrine and phraseology of this epistle to that written to the Ephesians, this to the Colossians has been considered an epitome of the former, as the Epistle to the Galatians has been considered an abstract of that to the Romans. See the concluding observations on the Epistle to the Galatians; and the notes on Colossians 1:4, of this epistle, and elsewhere.
Whether the Colossians to whom the apostle addresses this epistle were Jews or Gentiles, cannot be absolutely determined. It is most probable that they were a mixture of both; but that the principal part were converted Jews is most likely. This, indeed, appears to have been the case in most of the Asiatic and Grecian Churches; for there were Jews, at this time, sojourning in almost every part of the Roman empire, which then comprehended the greatest portion of the known world.
The language of this epistle is bold and energetic, the sentiments are grand, and the conceptions vigorous and majestic. The phraseology is in many places Jewish; and the reason is obvious: the apostle had to explain subjects which never had a name in any other language. The mythology of the Gentiles could not furnish terms to explain the theology of the Jews; much less, the more refined and spiritual system of Christianity. THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.
-Usherian year of the world, 4066.
-Alexandrian era of the world, 5564.
-Antiochian era of the world, 5554.
-Constantinopolitan era of the world, 5570.
-Year of the Eusebian epocha of the Creation, 4290.
-Year of the Julian period, 4772.
-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, 3822.
-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4421.
-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2410.
-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3164. -Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1002.
-Year of the Nabonassarean era, 809.
-Year of the era of the Seleucidæ, 374.
-Year of the Spanish era, 100.
-Year of the Actiac or Actian era, 93.
-Year from the birth of Christ, 66.
-Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 62.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, 814. -Year of the CCXth Olympiad, 2.
-Jesus, high priest of the Jews.
-Common Golden Number, 6.
-Jewish Golden Number, 3.
-Year of the Solar Cycle, 15.
-Dominical Letter, C.
-Jewish Passover, April 10th.
-Easter Sunday, April 11th.
-Epact, or the moon’s age on the 22d of March, or the Xth of the Calends of April, 25.
-Year of the reign of Nero. Cæsar, the sixth emperor of the Romans, 9. -In the first year of Albinus, governor of the Jews.
-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 12.
-Year of Domitius Corbulo, governor of Syria, 3.
-Roman Consuls, P. Marius Celsus, and L. Asinius Gallus, from Jan. 1st to July 1st; and L. Annæus Seneca, the philosopher, and Trebellius Maximus, for the remainder of the year.
Joseph Benson
Preface
BEN_VOL8.PDF, source PDF p. 275
THE EPISTLE TO THE
COLOSSIANS.
PREFACE
Colosse was an ancient and populous city of the Greater Phrygia, an inland country in the Lesser Asia. It was situated near the place where the river Lycus begins to run under ground, before it falls into the river Meander, now called Meinder. Laodicea and Hierapolis, mentioned Colossians 4:13 of this epistle, were also cities in the same country, situated not far from Colosse, and in them also there were Christian churches at the time this epistle was written. Of these cities, Laodicea was the greatest, being the metropolis of Phrygia; but Colosse, though inferior in rank to Laodicea, was, however, a large and wealthy city, in which the Christian church was probably more considerable than those in Laodicea and Hierapolis, on account of the number and quality of its members; and therefore it merited the peculiar attention which the apostle paid to it in writing this excellent epistle to its members. It is remarkable that, according to Eusebius, these three cities were buried in ruins by an earthquake, about A.D. 66, a year or two after the writing of this epistle.
It has generally been supposed, though St. Paul resided at Ephesus no less than three years, and preached in divers parts of the Lesser Asia, and even in many parts of Phrygia, yet that he had never been in Colosse, but that the Colossians received the gospel by the preaching of Epaphras, who was with St. Paul when he wrote this epistle. This opinion, however, has been much controverted of late, and Dr. Lardner and Dr. Macknight in particular have endeavoured to prove that the churches of Christ, both at Colosse and Laodicea, were founded by Paul. The reader will not expect the arguments which they urge in favour of that opinion to be stated, or a controversy of so little importance to be introduced here. Those who wish for information on the subject, must be referred to the works of those divines; which, when they have consulted, they will probably be of Mr. Scott’s mind, “that the evidence against the apostle’s having been at Colosse is far stronger than any which has been adduced on the affirmative side of the question.”
It has been observed in the preface to the epistle to the Ephesians, that there is a great similarity between that epistle and this, both with respect to their subject matter, and the very form of the expression; and that there is great reason to suppose they were both written at the same time, and sent together by Tychicus, who, however, was attended by Onesimus when he delivered this to the Colossians, Colossians 4:9. Upon maturely considering the contents of this epistle, we shall see reason to conclude that, at the time when the apostle wrote it, the Colossian believers were in danger of being seduced from the simple and genuine doctrine of Christ, by persons who strove to blend Judaism, and even heathen superstitions, with Christianity, pretending that God, because of his great majesty, was not to be approached except by the mediation of angels, and that there were certain rites and ceremonies, chiefly borrowed from the law, whereby these angels may be made our friends.
The apostle, therefore, in this epistle, with great propriety, warns the Colossians against vain philosophy and Jewish ceremonies, and demonstrates the excellence of Christ, the knowledge of whom he shows to be more important than all other knowledge, and so entire and perfect, that no other was necessary for a Christian. He proves also that Christ is above all angels, who are only his servants; and that, being reconciled to God through him, we have free access to him in all our necessities. It is justly observed by Professor Franck, that the controversy treated of in this epistle was the principal one in the apostolic age, and therefore engaged the special attention of this apostle of the Gentiles: and his discussion of it has proved a considerable blessing to posterity, setting in a clear light the mode of obtaining salvation; so that if we weigh the apostle’s scope and design, and attend to the process of his reasoning as he advances to a conclusion, we must necessarily set a high value upon this epistle, as being one that embraces the order, structure, and harmony of the Christian system with such peculiar propriety, that not only the young convert cannot desire a more excellent confirmation of the doctrines he has espoused, but even the more established believers may revert with delight to the first principles here maintained, and find that satisfaction and repose which, in an hour of temptation, they had vainly sought elsewhere. The contents of this epistle may be set forth in order more particularly as follows: We have, I. The inscription, Colossians 1:1, 2. II. The doctrine, wherein the apostle pathetically explains the mystery of Christ, by thanksgiving for the Colossians, verses 3-8; by prayers for them, verses 9- 23; with a declaration of his affection, verses 24-29; Colossians 2:1-3. III. The exhortation: 1. General, wherein he excites them to perseverance, and warns them not to be deceived, verses 4-8. Describes again the mystery of Christ in order, verses 9-15; and in the same order draws his admonitions from Christ the Head, verses 16-19; from his death, verses 20- 23; from his exaltation, Colossians 3:1-4: 2. Particular, to avoid several vices, verses 5-9; to practise several virtues, verses 10, 11; especially to love one another, verses 12-15; and study the Scriptures, verses 16, 17; to the relative duties of wives and husbands, verses 18, 19; children and parents, servants and masters, verses 20, 21-25; Colossians 4:1. 3. Final, to prayer, verses 2-4; to spiritual wisdom, verses 5, 6. IV. The conclusion, verses 7-16.
Daniel Whedon
Introduction
WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 471
COLOSSIANS
INTRODUCTION
THE authorship of the Epistle to the Colossians was in the early Church universally ascribed to St. Paul, and only at a very recent day has it been questioned. It is directly quoted, with the use of his name as the author, by Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, and Origen, and it is found in the Canon of Muratori, which dates about A.D. 160. Besides this external evidence, the internal is ample. The name of Paul occurs in it three times, Colossians 1:1, 28, and 4:18; it refers to his imprisonment in Colossians 4:3, 10, 18; and it freely mentions persons, known to be his friends, as with him, who are named in the same relation in the Epistle to Philemon, written at the same time. Notwithstanding, Schrader, followed by Meyerhoff and Baur, have doubted his authorship, the latter, indeed, wholly rejecting it. They think they find in it ideas and expressions belonging to the Gnosticism and Montanism of later times, and, therefore, infer that it belongs to an age subsequent to that of Paul, and that it was written by another hand. Meyerhoff lays great stress on its poverty of thought, differing in this respect from the early Church, and also thinks its doctrinal part exceedingly confused in its logic, which only shows his inability or failure to comprehend its method. The truth is, the heresies named were in their incipiency at the date of this epistle; and while they had not taken the definite form which they afterward assumed, the system attacked, so far as it had become a system, presented enough of the elements which they afterward developed to account for the language of Paul. Bishop Ellicott well remarks: “To class such an epistle, so marked not only by distinctive peculiarities of style, but by the nerve, force, and originality of its argument, with the vague productions of later Gnosticism, is to bewray such a complete want of critical perception, that we can scarcely wonder that such views have been both very generally and summarily rejected.”
The Colossian Church was composed mainly of Gentiles, as the mode of address in Colossians 2:18, shows. Whether it was founded by St. Paul is a disputed question. His third missionary journey carried him through Phrygia to Ephesus, but, probably, far to the north of Colosse. There is no direct evidence of a visit to that city. The epistle itself not only makes no mention of a former acquaintance with the Church, which is unaccountable if he were its founder, but in Colossians 2:1, he plainly classes the Colossians with the Laodiceans and others who, he says, “have not seen my face in the flesh.” In Colossians 1:3-7, moreover, it is plainly implied that his knowledge of them was gained by report. That he intended, after his release, to visit them, is seen in his request to Philemon (verse 22) to prepare him a “lodging.” The acquaintance with Epaphras and Philemon may be explained by supposing them to have visited Ephesus for purposes of their own during the apostle’s three years’ ministry there, listened to his preaching, and embraced the Gospel, which would at once bring them all into a common fellowship. From Ephesus as a centre went forth, in the persons of new converts, an evangelizing power to Colosse, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and other places, resulting in Christian Churches. We thus suppose Epaphras to have been the founder of the Colossian Church. The terms in which he is spoken of in Colossians 1:7, show that they had “learned” the Gospel from him, whose authority, and correctness in teaching, the apostle most emphatically confirms. As they were mostly Gentiles, they stood in a peculiar relation to St. Paul as their apostle, which accounts for the affectionate freedom of his address.
The occasion of the epistle is to be ascertained from the epistle itself. Moved by love for his revered friend, Epaphras had joined the apostle at Rome, to minister to his comfort and share in his imprisonment. From Epaphras’s report of the spiritual condition of the Church, Paul learned the existence of attempts to introduce a system of erroneous doctrine which threatened its integrity and very life. Its features, as may be gathered from the text, were threefold. First, the reference to “circumcision,” “new moon,” etc., (Colossians 2:11, 16,) shows a Jewish, legalizing element, though not the Judaizing of the Epistle to the Galatians. Second, a theosophy and angelology, which reckoned Christ as one of a host of spiritual intelligences, proposed to place them as mediators on a level with him, as equally worthy of worship and trust. It thus degraded him from his Headship of the Church and his glory as the Son of God, Creator, and only Redeemer. Third, it cultivated a severe asceticism of life, affecting contempt of the body, and enjoining mortification of the flesh in a way of ritualistic observance. These incongruous elements, thus brought together, were dignified with the lofty and pretentious title of “THE PHILOSOPHY.” The attempts thus far made to trace it to a single source have proved abortive. Phrygia, noted for the fanatical worship of Cybele, and a wild reverence for great spiritual powers, was a border-land where Orientalism and Hellenism, Judaism and Christianity, met. The very atmosphere was charged with speculation, and out of the thoughts floating therein a party, or, more likely, a single individual, undertook the framing of a system. Meyer rightly calls it “Judaistico Oriental.” It was nascent Gnosticism with, perhaps, an element local as yet at Colosse. Note on 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Out of what we here find in incipiency and crudeness, afterward grew grave heresies which fill a large space in the history of the Church. To meet and refute these errors at an early stage is the apostle’s design in writing. He accomplishes his purpose by a rigidly logical argument in establishment of the Christian doctrine, and then by it sharply tests the new philosophy. The epistle then becomes, in antagonism to this philosophy, a profound treatise on the Person and Work of Christ, as the supreme Lord of heaven and earth, and the perfect Redeemer of the world.
This epistle was written about the same time with that to the Ephesians, and forwarded by the same hands. As to priority of writing, commentators are greatly divided in opinion, the same grounds leading different writers to opposite conclusions. It appears to us more natural that the special and controversial should precede the peculiarly dogmatic. As to their marked resemblance, however, there is entire agreement. The subject in both is Christ, but in different aspects and relations: in Ephesians it is Christ ascended, glorified, and as related to the Church; in Colossians, Christ prehistoric, glorified, and as related to redemption. As might be expected, the parallels, often identical in words, are numerous, the same truth not unfrequently appearing in new and equally beautiful relations. Yet no allusion to the peculiar errors rebuked in the one is found in the other. In style and diction they widely differ. In the Epistle to the Colossians no less than thirty-five words occur which are not found elsewhere in the New Testament, twenty of which are in the second chapter. They are to be explained partly by the subject, and partly by the labored effort after the full and exact accuracy of expression which would at once set forth the entire truth and overwhelm the opposing error.
The proper date of the epistle is in A.D. 62, in the earlier part of the imprisonment, during the enjoyment of the comparative freedom of which he was deprived after the death of Burrus. As to the place of writing, we
Plan of the Epistle.
WHD_CO13.PDF, source PDF p. 474
fix it at Rome, adhering to the common view as alone agreeing with the circumstances of the case.
PLAN OF THE EPISTLE.
INTRODUCTION Colossians 1:1-14
I. THE
GLORIOUS
PERSON AND
REDEMPTIVE
WORK OF
CHRIST
Colossians 1:15-2:7
1. His exalted dignity Colossians 1:15-18 a. His relation to God 15
b. His relation to the universe 16, 17
c. His relation to the Church 18
2. Divine plan of universal reconciliation through Christ 19, 20
3. Its realization in the experience of the Colossians 21-23
4. Paul’s commission, sufferings, and labors 24-29
5. His solicitude for their unity and stability Colossians 2:1-5 a. Conclusion based upon their experience 6, 7 II. THE
PROPOSED
“PHILOSOPHY
” CONSIDERED
Colossians 2:8-23
1. Its characteristics 8
2. Transcended by Christ 9, 10
3. The advantage offered already obtained in him 11-13
4. The legalism sought to be imposed abolished 14
5. The angels themselves subjected to Christ 15
6. Deductions from the foregoing Colossians 2:16-23 a. Caution against legal observances 16, 17 b. Caution against angel-worship 18, 19
c. Caution against asceticism 20-23
III. ETHICAL
COUNSELS
Colossians 3:1-4:6
1. The pursuit of heavenly things based on union with the risen Christ Colossians 3:1-4
2. General Christian duties thence resulting 5-17 a. Avoidance of evil conduct and sinful tempers 5-11 b. Duty in culture and exercise of Christian graces 12-14 c. Unity and mutual helpfulness 15-17
3. Special social duties Colossians 3:18-4:1 a. Wives and husbands 18, 19
b. Children and parents 20, 21
c. Servants and masters Colossians 3:22-4:1
4. Duty of prayer Colossians 4:2-4
5. Intercourse with persons outside the Church 5, 6 IV. CONCLUSION
7-18
1. Personal communications 7-14
2. Salutations and closing words 15-18
Joseph Agar Beet
Preface, Introduction and Dissertations
BEET_COL.PDF, source PDF p. 3
Beet's Preface, Introduction and Dissertations for Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians (one volume) are given once, under Ephesians.
Review of the Epistle to the Colossians
BEET_COL.PDF, source PDF p. 189
REVIEW OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS
The occasion and purpose of the Epistle were somewhat as follows. Epaphras, a member of the Church at Colossæ, came to Rome. That he remained at Rome after this letter was sent to Colossæ, suggests that he had other business there besides the conveyance of news to Paul. He tells the imprisoned Apostle the story of the success of the Gospel in the valley of the Lycus. That Gospel had been first preached at Colossæ by Epaphras himself. This implies that he had heard and embraced it elsewhere. Success had followed the preached word: and in the heart of Asia Minor a new Church had sprung into life. There was then probably no Church at Laodicea or Hierapolis. For, had there been such, one man would hardly have been the channel through which the Gospel would reach a place so near as Colossæ. And the great interest of Epaphras in the Churches of those two cities suggests that he had had a share in founding them. This good news filled Paul with delight.
Other information was less pleasant. In the valley of the Lycus were Jewish Christians who not only asserted the abiding obligation of the many prescriptions of the Law but added to them prohibitions of merely human origin which branded as evil things which God has created for man’s nourishment and pleasure. As a basis of these prohibitions, the same teachers propounded a philosophy professing to explain the origin of the universe, claiming to be derived from revelations of the unseen world, and accompanied by a worship invented by man and directed to the honour of the supposed angelic authors of the vaunted revelations. They promised that this more recondite teaching and stricter rule of life and extra ritual would lead their disciples to a higher development of the Christian life. The chief features of this false teaching were familiar to Paul. Already in his own nation a very conspicuous place in the creation of the world had been given to angels. And a well-known Jewish brotherhood had claimed fuller knowledge about the angelic powers, and had sought, by strict regimen of life, for nearer approach to God. But he saw in it at once incipient and great peril. The angelic powers to whom these would-be teachers ascribed the creation of the universe obscured the unique dignity of the Son of God as Himself the Creator and Ruler of whatever exists. And, by prescribing abstinence from good things made by God, as a means of attaining a richer spiritual life, they were misrepresenting the nature and aim of material good and were leading men away from the full salvation proclaimed by Christ for all who believe. Such teaching would rob those who accepted it of the prize offered to them in the Gospel. Epaphras was, for reasons unknown to us, remaining at Rome. But one of his companions, Tychicus, was going to the province of Asia and to Colossæ. And Paul resolves to write a letter to the young converts whose early Christian history was in some respects so hopeful and yet so full of danger.
The first words from the prisoner at Rome were gratitude for the faith and love of the Christians at Colossæ, revealing as these did a blessed future awaiting them. He reminds them that similar results had followed the Gospel wherever preached throughout the world; thus raising their thoughts above their own narrow surroundings to the universal Church. He prays that they may obtain, in abundant measure, the highest knowledge, a knowledge bearing fruit in their whole life. In view of false teaching derogatory to the honour of Christ as the one Creator and Saviour, Paul writes his greatest exposition of the dignity of the Son of God, of His relation to God, to the universe, to the Church universal, and finally to the Church at Colossæ. This leads him to speak of his own relation to the Church and of his deep interest in the Churches of the Lycus. This doctrinal exposition he concludes by again pointing to Christ as Himself the treasure-house of all wisdom.
After erecting the best possible bulwark against error by plain statement of opposite truth, Paul comes in DIV. III. to the specific danger at Colossæ. He first says generally-that such danger exists, and begs his readers to make Christ whom they have received the pervading element of their whole life. He then describes somewhat more definitely the errors he fears, and shows them to be inconsistent with their Christian profession and with the aim of the death of Christ. Lastly, he states in plain words the specific outward forms in which these errors assail his readers, and concludes his reference to them by pointing them to the Risen Saviour, and to the new life flowing from spiritual contact with Him.
Having thus dealt with the specific occasion of the letter, Paul uses his reference to the Risen Lord as a starting point for moral teaching, first in general terms negative and positive, and then in special reference to the various classes of his readers.
News about himself; he leaves to Tychicus and his companion Onesimus. He then adds greetings from friends at Rome, including Epaphras; and concludes his letter with the usual Apostolic autograph.
The statement in Colossians 1:16 that all things were created by the agency of the Son, conspicuous for its emphatic repetition and as being the only place in the Epistles of Paul where this statement is made, has a remarkable counterpart in the emphatic and repeated assertion of John 1:3, the only passage in the Gospels where similar teaching is found. It is thus a link between the two great theologians of the New Testament. Moreover, the prominent place in the Gnostic systems held by the creation of the world, this being attributed to angels or to a subordinate deity, and the evidence that this teaching was prevalent before the death of John, suggests strongly that John 1:3 was prompted by incipient Gnosticism. And it is worthy of note that a unanimous tradition connects the last years of the Apostle John with Ephesus, in the same Roman province as Colossæ. Similar teaching is found in Hebrews 1:2, in an Epistle bearing abundant traces of the theological and theosophic speculation so prevalent among the Jews of Alexandria. That the language of Paul resembles so closely language prompted either by Gnostic error or by the modes of thought from which it sprang, somewhat confirms our inference that similar teaching at Colossæ suggested parts of the Epistle before us. As we now close the Epistle, we are conscious that, in spite of much we cannot understand, it has, even as compared with the earlier Epistles of Paul, greatly widened our vision of things Divine. At the beginning of it, he reminded his readers that the Gospel which saved them had saved others throughout the world, thus suggesting that it must be looked upon in its relation, not to one city, but to the whole human race. Lower down he brought into our view successive ranks of intelligent beings beyond the range of the human eye. Reviewing these and the entire universe seen and unseen, he took us back to the time when it had not yet begun to be; and linked together the whole as created by, and for, the Son of God. The Creator of the universe is also the Head of the Church. And the blood shed on His cross is designed to produce results as wide as the universe. Throughout DIV. I. and DIV. II. this wider view is kept before us. And the clearer light thus derived is focused on the Son of God, to whom Paul points as Himself the mystery in which lies hid, or rather lies open to the eyes of those who believe in Him, all that which is best worth knowing. Thus within the narrow limits of the damp walls of the dungeon at Rome there opened to the prisoner’s eye a vision of the eternal and infinite realities and of the Son of God, Himself the centre and circumference of all reality, wider and deeper and more glorious than had been possible in the years of his unfettered activity. The Epistle we now close is a mirror in which this glorious vision is reflected to the ends of the world that in all ages it may be a light and joy to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the things which happened to Paul have come to be for the advance of the Gospel.