Colossians 2
Alive in Christ
6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spiritsa of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authoritiesb and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.c
Let No One Disqualify You
16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,d puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
.....
Many have set forth arguments regarding the identification of the errorists at Colosse. Some believe the heretics were primarily Jewish, while others say they were Gentiles. Those arguing for a Jewish contingent usually view them as members of the Essenes or a group like the Merkabah mystics rather than the type of Judaistic legalism found at Galatia. Those who believe the opponents were Gentiles, or at least Hellenistic, think Neopythogorean or mystery religion roots were present.
Along with this group of scholars are those who believe the Colossian church was influenced by Gnostic elements. Those who reject pre-Christian Gnosticism, however, do think there were embryonic or incipient forms of thought (perhaps proto-Gnostic), which eventually solidified in the Gnosticism of the second century A.D.
No single view has arguments that can lead to its being endorsed exclusively. It is best to recognize that both Jewish and Gentile elements were present in the Colossian heresy, many of which were generally shared by the populace in the highly charged world of the first century, especially in the syncretistic and Hellenistic mood of Achaia and western Asia Minor. Many of the elements developed into the Gnosticism of the second century but with far more elaborate philosophical-religious views than are found in Colossians.
The most one can say of the error in Colossians is that it was a syncretism of Jewish, Gentile, and Christian features that diminished the all sufficiency of Christ's salvation and His personal preeminence.
Heresies in the Colossian Church
H. Wayne House
Alive in Christ
6Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spiritsa of the world, and not according to Christ. 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authoritiesb and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.c
Let No One Disqualify You
16Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,d puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
.....
Many have set forth arguments regarding the identification of the errorists at Colosse. Some believe the heretics were primarily Jewish, while others say they were Gentiles. Those arguing for a Jewish contingent usually view them as members of the Essenes or a group like the Merkabah mystics rather than the type of Judaistic legalism found at Galatia. Those who believe the opponents were Gentiles, or at least Hellenistic, think Neopythogorean or mystery religion roots were present.
Along with this group of scholars are those who believe the Colossian church was influenced by Gnostic elements. Those who reject pre-Christian Gnosticism, however, do think there were embryonic or incipient forms of thought (perhaps proto-Gnostic), which eventually solidified in the Gnosticism of the second century A.D.
No single view has arguments that can lead to its being endorsed exclusively. It is best to recognize that both Jewish and Gentile elements were present in the Colossian heresy, many of which were generally shared by the populace in the highly charged world of the first century, especially in the syncretistic and Hellenistic mood of Achaia and western Asia Minor. Many of the elements developed into the Gnosticism of the second century but with far more elaborate philosophical-religious views than are found in Colossians.
The most one can say of the error in Colossians is that it was a syncretism of Jewish, Gentile, and Christian features that diminished the all sufficiency of Christ's salvation and His personal preeminence.
Heresies in the Colossian Church
H. Wayne House
