The Colossian Heresy

The city of Colossae

Located on the South bank of the Lycus River in the province of Phrygia stood Colossae. Before the Christian era, Colossae was a principle city in the Lycus Valley . Part of a major trade route in Asia minor from Ephesus to Miletus, the city was most known for its production of textiles, especially its purple wool . With other large cities such as Laodicea and Hierapolis, this was a well-populated and high business area in the Lycus Valley. Yet, with changes in the road system, Laodicea became a more important trade city than Colossae. And though once a city of great prominence, by A.D. 61, Colossae had suffered a great deal. An earthquake shook the city that year, Eusebius writes, and had disappeared from the literature of its day .

However, there is much more to the story of this once prominent city. For instance, the city is written to by the Apostle Paul in the late 50’s A.D., concerning what was considered to be dangerous teachings that might be infiltrating the church in that city. What was this false teaching that Paul was concerned enough to write about? Was there truly a danger? What did this teaching consist of? These questions will attempt to be answered in the following pages. It would be wise to first begin with the church in Colossae.

The Church in Colosssae had a problem

The church in Colossae was not planted by Paul. Rather, many believe that one of his students, Epaphras, was the man who built this Gentile church . It is believed that Epaphras is the man who first sent word to Paul about the problems facing the church there. And while it is generally agreed that Paul writes to a specific problem affecting the church in Colossae, it is not agreed upon what exactly the problem was. There are as many possibilities as there are scholars who have written on the subject. For the time being, some of the more likely views will be briefly examined.

The heresy

Often referred to as the “Colossian Heresy”, many debated as to who might be the ones responsible for the false teachings and wrong influences that Paul was so concerned about. Arnold writes that though Paul had probably not visited the church in Colossae before he wrote, he believed the teaching to come from a Pagan and Jewish style of thought and law . This would imply that two different groups were responsible for the teachings. Cliff Baird goes even further to say that it is “not necessary to conclude the existence of a cohesive heresy in order to explain the facts. “ In fact, Baird goes on to question whether there was a heresy to even be considered at all ! While this might seem a reluctant view of the situation in Colossae, J.B Lightfoot offers an interesting proposal to the situation. While he does recognize the Judaizing and early Gnostic influences (which will soon be discussed), he believes there to be a single group or culprit responsible for the religious heresy that is taking place . Lightfoot goes on to defend his theory with the ideas that the epistle shows no traces of multiple opponents being faced, and that in historical criticism the multiplication of persons is needless and should be downplayed . While this theory would also seem to be solid, it would still seem that there is more than a single movement taking place in Colossae.

Inside the heresy

In an interesting synopsis, William Barclay gives a descriptive list of what the false teaching was like. He states that some of the traits were :

- A beguiling seduction

- To be considered philosophy rather than religion

- Based on human tradition

- Turned religion into human regulations

- Having a legalistic spirit

- Issued observances of holidays and festivals

And while this may not be an all inclusive list, it does lead into the next question: What did this false teaching actually consist of?

It seems that most focus that has been brought to the discussion of the actual false teaching revolves around three ideas: mysticism, asceticism, and “angel worship”. While there may be other ideas that are arguably a part of the heresy issue, the examination of these three will encompass the majority of the smaller issues.

Mysticism

In a time in which polytheism was still widely accepted, a person who was a devout monotheist might be considered odd. In a large urban area, such as Colossae, there were many people of many cultures brought together through the trade routes. These differing people may have