Colossians Essay
The Colossians Essay
By: Kenneth Bernard Ridgell
Instructor: Dr. Matthew Clifton
Essay on Colossians Topic Heresy
Date: November 7, 2011
Ridgell 2
The city of Colosse was located in the province of Phrygia; before the Christian era the city of Colosse was a principle city the Lycus Valley. Being part of a major trade route in Asia Minor from Ephesus to Miletus, the city was known for its production of textiles, especially in its purple wool. Larger cities such as Laodicea and Hierapolis, made it a well-populated and high business area in the Lycus Valley. With great changes in the road system Laodicea became a more important trade city than Colosse. Once a great city by AD 61 Colosse suffered a great deal, an earthquake shook the city that year, Euseblus writes, and had disappeared from the literature of its day. The history of this once great city is significant in that the great Apostle Paul wrote to the church which had been established in Colosse. False teaching had infiltrated the church and Paul’s connection with the minister (Epaphras), and others he was acquainted with had made known the danger of this teaching that would eventually destroy the faith of the Christians there, many say that Epaphras was the man who founded the church, but evidence and history show us that Paul visited the region and the major cities often. Paul writes to a specific problem affecting the church in Colosse, it is not agreed upon what exactly the problem was but there are many possibilities as scholars who have written on the subject. The heresy often referred to as the “Colossian Heresy” has been questioned and debated as to who may have been responsible for the false teachings. Cliff Baird goes even further to say it is not necessary to conclude the existence of cohesive heresy in order to explain the facts. J. B. Lightfoot offers an interesting comment to the situation, while he does recognize the Judaizing and early Gnostic influences, he believed there was no
By: Kenneth Bernard Ridgell
Instructor: Dr. Matthew Clifton
Essay on Colossians Topic Heresy
Date: November 7, 2011
Ridgell 2
The city of Colosse was located in the province of Phrygia; before the Christian era the city of Colosse was a principle city the Lycus Valley. Being part of a major trade route in Asia Minor from Ephesus to Miletus, the city was known for its production of textiles, especially in its purple wool. Larger cities such as Laodicea and Hierapolis, made it a well-populated and high business area in the Lycus Valley. With great changes in the road system Laodicea became a more important trade city than Colosse. Once a great city by AD 61 Colosse suffered a great deal, an earthquake shook the city that year, Euseblus writes, and had disappeared from the literature of its day. The history of this once great city is significant in that the great Apostle Paul wrote to the church which had been established in Colosse. False teaching had infiltrated the church and Paul’s connection with the minister (Epaphras), and others he was acquainted with had made known the danger of this teaching that would eventually destroy the faith of the Christians there, many say that Epaphras was the man who founded the church, but evidence and history show us that Paul visited the region and the major cities often. Paul writes to a specific problem affecting the church in Colosse, it is not agreed upon what exactly the problem was but there are many possibilities as scholars who have written on the subject. The heresy often referred to as the “Colossian Heresy” has been questioned and debated as to who may have been responsible for the false teachings. Cliff Baird goes even further to say it is not necessary to conclude the existence of cohesive heresy in order to explain the facts. J. B. Lightfoot offers an interesting comment to the situation, while he does recognize the Judaizing and early Gnostic influences, he believed there was no