1 Thessalonians, Colossians, & 1 Timothy

About half of contemporary biblical scholars believe that Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians in the early 60s AD. The other half believe this is a pseudepigraphic work, written by a follower of Paul 80 - 100 AD. There are several differences between Colossians and the 7 epistles that the consensus of biblical scholars believe were written by Paul:

• Longer, more complex sentences

• Use of the phrases "fullness of God" (1:19, 2:9) and "mystery of God (1:26 - 27, 2:2)

• More emphasis on Christ's "cosmic" qualities (e.g. divinity, exaltation) and less on Christ's earthly qualities (e.g. humanity, suffering)

• Emphasis on universal Church rather than local churches

• Emphasis on forgiveness of sins rather than on freedom from sin

• Emphasis on sharing in the resurrected life now, rather than at the second coming of Christ

These are all qualities that Colossians shares with Ephesians, which about 80% of contemporary scholars believe is pseudepigraphic. Because of the striking similarities in concepts, words, and phrases between Colossians and Ephesians, most scholars believe that the author of Ephesians was extremely familiar with Colossians.

Colossae is a city roughly 20 miles west of Ephesus. Even though Paul lived in Ephesus for several years and wrote a letter to a man named Philemon who lived in Colossae, Paul apparently never visited the city himself. The Letter to the Colossians claims to be Paul's response to an appeal from Epaphras, the founder of the Christian community in Colossae, when he ran into a dispute with other teachers about the nature of Christ. 

There are two very well-known passages from Colossians. The first is the author quoting what is apparently an ancient hymn of the early Christians in 1:15 - 20:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible, 
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

He is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross,
whether those on earth or those in heaven.

This is a remarkable statement on the identity of Jesus Christ! Colossians captures this testimony of the second or third generation of Christians identifying Jesus of Nazareth with the totality of the second person of God, with the personification of Lady Wisdom in the Jewish scriptures.

The second passage is the "household codes" (3:18 - 4:1), the instructions on how Christians should relate to one another: husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves. (Most Christians are more familiar with the similar codes in Ephesians 5:21 - 6:9.) Today, many people find the household codes to uphold values that seem out of sync with the ideas of autonomy, independence, and the dignity of every human being. In the context of the society in which Colossians was written, these codes uphold the status quo. As Margaret Y. MacDonald points out in her commentary in the Sacra Pagina series, Aristotle had written that "there are by nature various classes of the rulers and ruled. For the free rules the slave, the male the female, and the man the child." What were these codes trying to accomplish? Perhaps the author was encouraging Christians not to bring unwanted attention to themselves in a society where the vast majority of people did not understand the tenets of Christianity.