Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 149:593 (Jan 1992)
Article: Doctrinal Issues in Colossians Part 1: Heresies in the Colossian Church
Author: H. Wayne House

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BSac 149:593 (Jan 92) p. 45

Doctrinal Issues in Colossians
Part 1:
Heresies in the Colossian Church

H. Wayne House

Vice-president for Academic Affairs
Western Baptist College, Salem, Oregon

During the middle years of the first century, the Apostle Paul addressed a letter to the church at Colosse, a city in the southwestern portion of Asia Minor. Whereas the apostle had sent a letter that came to be known as Ephesians to a group of churches of which Colosse was a part, he felt it necessary to write a letter directly to the Christians at Colosse (as well as to those in nearby Laodicea, Col 4:16) to correct some deviations from orthodox thought. These deviations, grouped together, are referred to as the Colossian heresy.1 What was this heresy and who were the heretics? Many pages have been written in response to these questions. This article surveys the many views on these opponents of Paul at Colosse and the nature of their error.

Perspectives on the Colossian Heresy

One writer says 44 opinions on the identity of these opponents have been held by 19th- and 20th-century scholars.2 Some say Paul’s opponents were pagans who were influenced by the mystery religions

BSac 149:593 (Jan 92) p. 46

of the day.3 Others think they were Judaistic in outlook, with such differing perspectives as Merkabah mysticism or apocalyptic Essenism.4 Still others believe the opponents were of a Gnostic stripe5 that was either Jewish or pre-Christian in nature. Another theory is that the foes at Colosse represented a syncretistic group who shared views from several of the above groups.6

Essenism

In 1879, J. B. Lightfoot wrote a 40-page essay on the Colossian heresy that is still referred to in discussions on this subject.7 Lightfoot began by noting the Judaistic character of the problem, citing references to the Sabbath, new moons, and other Jewish elements.8 He also recognized a type of mysticism that was not Jewish (a view discussed later in this article). He considered these Jewish elements and the mysticism as Gnostic tendencies, and his essay develops the fusion of these two elements, rather than debating one over the other. Lightfoot’s discussion is less concerned with the chronology of the problem (i.e., when Gnosticism came on the scene) than with how it developed. In this ...

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