Colossians

Colossians is the fifty-first book of the Bible. It is traditionally attributed to Paul and is generally dated to around AD 60 to 62, written from house arrest in Rome and sent at the same time as Ephesians and Philemon. The letter is addressed to the church in Colossae, a small city in what is now western Turkey, which Paul had not personally founded but knew through his coworker Epaphras.

The letter responds to a developing problem in Colossae. False teachers were promoting some combination of Jewish ritual observance, ascetic practices, angel worship, and claims to special spiritual knowledge. The exact nature of the teaching is unclear, but Paul considers it a threat.

Paul's response is to dwell on the supremacy of Christ. The opening chapters include a soaring hymn-like passage describing Christ as the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the one in whom all things hold together, the head of the church, the firstborn from the dead. Christ alone is enough; nothing else needs to be added.

The closing chapters apply this to daily life. Paul urges the Colossians to put off the old self and put on the new, to forgive as they have been forgiven, to let the word of Christ dwell richly among them. He addresses husbands and wives, parents and children, slaves and masters, and closes with personal greetings.