Colossians Intro 1 - Thanksgiving
Background
Having surveyed matters of the context of the Epistle to the Colossians and the primary focal passage, Col 2:9–3:4, the situation may be related to the subject at hand. This problem appeared within a religious community. Even if incipient Gnostic elements surfaced, they were certainly secondary. The deeper problem may have been the age-old clash of the human mind versus the Spirit or human tradition versus the revelation in Christ. Similar issues may exist in the relationships between Christianity and philosophy, psychology, natural science, and the behavioral sciences. At many points, merely human ideas attempt to reformulate Christian truth, to remake it in their image. While not blatantly secular, such situations reveal the priority of reason over revelation.
On the other hand, the problem also arises when Christianity becomes only tradition. The specific practices addressed in Colossae may well have had revelational roots. They were extensions of Old Testament law. Orthodoxy without orthopraxy leads to de facto secularism. Creeds without conviction and structure without substance lead the unsuspecting away from God. If the previous concern were reason over revelation, this one was the priority of assent over action.
Having surveyed matters of the context of the Epistle to the Colossians and the primary focal passage, Col 2:9–3:4, the situation may be related to the subject at hand. This problem appeared within a religious community. Even if incipient Gnostic elements surfaced, they were certainly secondary. The deeper problem may have been the age-old clash of the human mind versus the Spirit or human tradition versus the revelation in Christ. Similar issues may exist in the relationships between Christianity and philosophy, psychology, natural science, and the behavioral sciences. At many points, merely human ideas attempt to reformulate Christian truth, to remake it in their image. While not blatantly secular, such situations reveal the priority of reason over revelation.
On the other hand, the problem also arises when Christianity becomes only tradition. The specific practices addressed in Colossae may well have had revelational roots. They were extensions of Old Testament law. Orthodoxy without orthopraxy leads to de facto secularism. Creeds without conviction and structure without substance lead the unsuspecting away from God. If the previous concern were reason over revelation, this one was the priority of assent over action.
Having surveyed matters of the context of the Epistle to the Colossians and the primary focal passage, Col 2:9–3:4, the situation may be related to the subject at hand. This problem appeared within a religious community. Even if incipient Gnostic elements surfaced, they were certainly secondary. The deeper problem may have been the age-old clash of the human mind versus the Spirit or human tradition versus the revelation in Christ. Similar issues may exist in the relationships between Christianity and philosophy, psychology, natural science, and the behavioral sciences. At many points, merely human ideas attempt to reformulate Christian truth, to remake it in their image. While not blatantly secular, such situations reveal the priority of reason over revelation.
On the other hand, the problem also arises when Christianity becomes only tradition. The specific practices addressed in Colossae may well have had revelational roots. They were extensions of Old Testament law. Orthodoxy without orthopraxy leads to de facto secularism. Creeds without conviction and structure without substance lead the unsuspecting away from God. If the previous concern were reason over revelation, this one was the priority of assent over action.
The answer lies in a positive and comprehensive commitment to Christ. Human reason and tradition do not necessarily contradict revelation. Indeed, the imago dei consists in part of a structured, organized capacity to think and act. Theological reflection provides the answers. The origin of secularism is separation from the source of spiritual life. To counter the subtle philosophy that threatened Colossae centuries ago, Christians today will find it imperative to know Christ personally and intimately, theologically and practically. They must never allow any philosophical system, whether good or bad, to replace that relationship.
Colossians divides naturally into two sections. Like many Pauline epistles, the first part consists of theological instruction (1:1–3:4); the second part, ethical (3:5–4:18), though elements of both theology and ethics are present in each part.