Colossians: Jewish, Greek, Roman Cultural Context

Review

Letters in Context:

The Gospel is for all Nations

2. NT Letters are continuing this promise

3. Focus on Issues

Letters in context:

The Gospel is for all Nations: The Bible gives a clear vision for God using the family of Israel to bring blessing to all nations through a promised descendant.

NT Letters are continuing this promise: The apostles saw themselves as the continuation of these promises to restore God’s blessing to all nations through the good news about Jesus.

Focus on issues: The New Testament authors focused on many of the cultural and social issues of their day because they wanted their audiences to see themselves as members of the same family of God.

Form of First Century Letters:

The Opening Address: Sender, receiver, greeting

The Thanksgiving

The Body of the Letter

The Closing: Greetings to people; travel arrangements, prayer/praise to God, final note

Most letters in ancient antiquity fit into this formula. Have specific and important meaning.

Situation Context

Do you remember our two main skills for discerning situation context?

Read letter as a whole

Mirror Reading

Reading as a whole to find repetitions and look for patterns

Type of statement

tone

frequency

consistency (same problem throughout the letter)

Historical plausibility

Context is everything:

Where do these letters fit in the broader storyline of the Bible?

What is the original Jewish, Greek, or Roman cultural context?

What is the situational context that prompted this letter?

What is the unified message of the letter as a whole?

Today we are talking specifically about #2. Getting closer to the book of Colossians. People have described this class as teaching verse by verse through the book....we are doing much more than that, right. Today we get to look at some of the back drop of the Colossians, and any of the letters, so that we might pick up on some themes.

Ok Questions?

Sources

The Bible Project

Michael Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord

David deSilva, Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity

Jewish, Greek, Roman Cultural Context

We could spend hours and lecture after lecture going through some of this, but we just do not have the time, I want to give you a few that I think are important.

The Roman Empire

The NT letters were all written to house churches spread throughout the Eastern end of the Mediterranean, the heartland of the Roman empire in the mid-1st century A.D. So what do we need to know about the Roman empire?

The Roman empire had been ruling over the Mediterranean world for nearly 80 years by 50 A.D. At the top was the emperor who viewed himself a divine-human whose rule brought good news and salvation to the world. Roman law, values, gods, roads, and coins spread the ‘good news’ of Augustus through the empire.

‘The emperor cult’ spreading throughout the first century was cultic and religious devotion to the Roman emperor as an incarnation of the divine power of Rome. The emperor was not only the king, but the “high priest” (pontifex maximus). Temples spread through the empire where people would offer sacrifices and offerings to the “god-Augustus” (divi Augusti). Statues of the emperor were placed everywhere, prayers were said for him and in his name at public events and festivals. The emperor was given titles such as “savior” (Grk. soter), whose rule brought “good news” (Grk. euangelion) and “peace” (Grk. eirene).

The Greek and Roman empires relate to each other in a similar way that England and America do today. Greece/England was the reigning world empire of a previous generation, and Rome/ America inherited the imperial territory, ruling ideology, and economic dominance from their forebears but also gave it all their own unique cultural stamp.

“But there was a dark side to Rome’s ‘peace’ that cannot be forgotten… The Romans established and maintained their empire through conquest, subjugation, and intimidation. It was, in other words, peace through war, and security via domination. The Romans invaded and enslaved; they moved the conquered in and out; they formed new colonies and refounded old cities as their own colonies. They imposed taxes and tributes to maintain the empire...and its peace among the subjugated. And they had a deterrent to make sure that those who might threaten the peace understood the consequences: crucifixion.”

Michael Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord, 19

Honor and Shame in the Greco-Roman World

First, I want to talk about the difference in a social construct of the biblical world versus ours. The Bible is largely set in a world that is built around Honor and Shame ethical construct.

“The culture of the first-century world was built on the foundational social values of honor and dishonor. Seneca, first-century Roman statesman and philosopher, wrote: “The one firm conviction from which we move to the proof of other points is this: that which is honorable is held dear for no other reason than because it is honorable.” Seneca claims that his peers regard honor as desirable in and of itself, and dishonor as undesirable in and of itself. Moreover, he understands that the concept of “honor” is fundamental and foundational to his contemporaries’ thinking. That is, he expects them to choose one course of action over another, or to approve one kind of person over another, and, in short, to organize their system of values, all on the basis of what is “honorable.””

What do we mean by honor and shame?

Show Chart

Honor: Individual honor, confidence in one’s gifts and talents....that would be like self-respect in our time. That is largely an oxy-moron to the ancients. All honor comes from social standing. They would not know what to do with our self-help sections of book stores. This is also important because the presentation of the gospel is through this lense.

Shame: If honor is respect for the kind of being of a person, shame signifies being less than valuable because one behaves in a contrary way to the public norm or good. or the values of the group.

Vocabulary for honor:

glory

reputation

honor

praise

(antonyms) dishonor

reproach

scorn

slander

Colossians 1:3–8 NIV

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

This imbedded in honor culture means more than we can quite get our heads around. Let’s look at another example.....and this should be familiar language.

Colossians 1:10 NIV

so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

One more:

Colossians 3:4 NIV

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

To be with Christ is to be in Christ’s glory. God’s own household and honor is put upon the followers.

Ok so why is this important?

more responsible reading of the text. one that deepens our understanding and response

responsible critique on our hyper-individualism of everything.

Patronage & Reciprocity: The Social Context of Grace

From deSilva:

“People in the United States and northern Europe may be culturally conditioned to find the concept of patronage distasteful at first and not at all a suitable metaphor for talking about God’s relationship to us. When we say “it’s not what you know but who you know,” it is usually because we sense someone has had an unfair advantage over us or over the friend who we console with these words. It violates our conviction that everyone should have equal access to employment opportunities (being evaluated on the basis of pertinent skills rather than personal connection) or to services offered by private businesses or civic agencies. Where patronage occurs (often deridingly called nepotism: channeling opportunities to relations or personal friends), it is often done “under the table” and kept as quiet as possible.”

Patronage exists in our world and we hate it. Favors, and political climb the ladder kind of thing. Some worlds are worse than others. This was the context of the Greco-Roman world and it is a framework for the NT presentation of Jesus.

Patronage, though, was something different. It was an everyday institution. From agreements between equals, to helping the poor, to even public sporting events or entertainment provided for the people from a person of means.

Not always but the patron was to give freely, the benefactor receive with gratitude and loyalty. This is the background for the word grace:

“For the actual writers and readers of the New Testament, however, grace was not primarily a religious, as opposed to a secular, word. Rather, it was used to speak of reciprocity among human beings and between mortals and God (or, in pagan literature, the gods). …” deSilva, 104

[1] First, grace was used to refer to the willingness of a patron to grant some benefit to another person or to a group. In this sense, it means “favor,” in the sense of “favorable disposition.” …

[2] The same word carries a second sense, often being used to denote the gift itself, that is, the result of the giver’s beneficent feelings. …

[3] Finally, grace can be used to speak of the response to a benefactor and his or her gifts, namely, “gratitude.” (104) … Receiving a favor or kindness meant incurring very directly a debt or obligation to respond gratefully, a debt on which one could not default. (109)

Two distinctions from cultural grace for the Christians in the NT:

God’s grace given to the unworthy

God initiates the gift

God’s grace is given to the unworthy. Normally a patron would give to someone with a reputation for a grateful heart, someone who would reciprocate appropriately. God gives to his enemies, sinners who are in rebellion against him.

In many instances the client will imitate the relationship with the patron by requesting a favour. In the NT God reverses this trend. He is the one who demonstrates the initiative. Exercising priority and giving to unworthy sinners.

In Colossians:

Colossians 1:21–23 NIV

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

You were alienated, undeserving and really not able to do anything

He has given grace by rescuing you and that gift has given you holiness and inheritance

loyalty, trust, praise.

Ok, why is this important for us to know?

deepens our faith

helps us to grasp the weight of NT understanding of grace and our response

It changes how we see Jesus and people he interacts with in the bible

it helps us to consider our response to him. Not just praise but in gratuitous loyalty

Hierarchy and Patriarchy

The honor-status hierarchy is an alpha-male centered social structure. From the Roman emperor on down to the family household, Greco-Roman culture was vertically structured around a lone male freedman who gained honor as a benefactor to those underneath him. Visualize below.

Figure: The hierarchical structure of societies such as that of Paul’s time

Gerhard E. Lenski, Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification, 284

“In the [Roman] hierarchical arrangement, power was concentrated at the top… At the pinnacle was the emperor. Beneath him were the senators, then the equestrians, a class of high-ranking military and political figures, then the decurions, aristocrats with land and other forms of wealth but only local political power. Supporting this governing class was a network of ‘retainers,’ that is, political and religious officials (priests, government functionaries) who kept the machinery of power running and attended to the needs of the elite… This entire group comprised about 3 percent of the population. Further down the ‘tower’ were those of some means but little or no political power, like merchants and successful artisans. They were not like what Westerners call “middle-class,” though they did exist in the middle. They constituted anywhere from 5-15 percent of the populace… The remaining 85 percent consisted of working lower class slaves and free persons including artisans, craftsmen, merchants, and below them the working poor and day laborers. At the very bottom were the impure and the expendables, essentially those without any status, wealth, or skills to contribute value to those above them: widows, orphans, prisoners, beggars, or those with disabilities. You can see from this that for the vast majority of the population, the main priority was simply survival.”

MICHAEL GORMAN, APOSTLE OF THE CRUCIFIED LORD:

A THEOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION TO PAUL AND HIS LETTERS, 13-14.

Why is this important?

background of oppression that is taking place

To consider a new citizen ship that crosses these classes in Jesus is radical and dangerous

Lastly, I want to shift a little and just give a few words about geographical region:

Where is Colossae?

Show the map:

The recipients of the letter were the members of a reasonably young church in Colosse, a town on the banks of the river Lycus in south-east Asia Minor (modern Turkey): see the map on page 18. It was neither a large nor an important town, though it had formerly been both; it had been upstaged by its near neighbours Laodicea, ten miles away, and Hierapolis, six miles beyond that. The letter indicates that Paul, who seems to have concentrated on major centres of population, had not visited the town himself: the Christian community there owed its origin under God to his fellow-worker Epaphras, who had brought news of Christ from Paul to Colosse and then news of a new church from Colosse to Paul (1:7–8).1

1 Wright, N. T. (1986). Colossians and Philemon: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 12, pp. 23–24). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Colosse still has not been excavated…it is so difficult to get permission and access to do this work, though there is one planned. As one scholar writes, this is exciting because it will probably require the necessary rewriting of all our commentaries....we will know more specifically and more surely about the context.

Like other cities in the region: Colossae probably had a substantial Jewish population (possibly between one and two thousand persons) and at least one synagogue or prayer house.1

Paul never goes there but he is all over the place:

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Why is this important....

Questions? Concerns?

ok next time… we will finally be looking at overview of the book of Colossians. Read the letter. Look for themes. Read it a couple of times. Read it fast. Write down some thoughts.