Colossians, Philemon

David E. Garland

Zondervan, 2009-05-19 - 400 pages

Most Bible commentaries take us on a one-way trip from the twentieth century to the first century. But they leave us there, assuming that we can somehow make the return journey on our own. In other words, they focus on the original meaning of the passage but don't discuss its contemporary application. The information they offer is valuable -- but the job is only half done! The NIV Application Commentary Series helps us with both halves of the interpretive task. This new and unique series shows readers how to bring an ancient message into a modern context. It explains not only what the Bible meant but also how it can speak powerfully today.

 

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The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon: A Commentary on the Greek Text

 

James D. G. Dunn

William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996 - 388 pages

 

Paul's Epistle to the Colossians merits detailed study for at least two reasons. First, it provides an unexpectedly interesting window into the character of Christianity in Asia Minor in the second half of the first century. With the information it gives about the religious tensions within which emergent Christianity was caught up, not least those between Christianity and diaspora Judaism, we begin to gain more insight into the influences and factors that shaped the transition from apostolic to subapostolic Christianity in the region. Second, Colossians represents a crucial stage in the development of Pauline theology itself. Whether it was written at the end of Paul's life or soon after his death, it indicates how Pauline theology retained its own vital character and did not die with Paul.
In this volume in the celebrated New International Greek Testament Commentary, James D. G. Dunn, author of numerous well-received works on the historical origin and theological interpretation of the New Testament, provides detailed expositions of the text of Paul's letters to the Colossians and to Philemon.
Dunn examines each of these letters within the context of the Jewish and Hellenistic cultures in the first century, and discusses the place of Colossians and Philemon in the relationship between the Pauline mission and the early churches that received these letters. Particular stress is also placed on the role of faith in Jesus Christ within and over against Judaism and on the counsel of these two important letters with regard to the shaping of human relationships in the community of faith.

 

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Echoes of Scripture in the letter of Paul to the Colossians

 

Christopher A. Beetham

BRILL, 2008 - 342 pages

 

While the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament has captured the attention of biblical scholars over the years, no study has been devoted to the presence of Scripture in Colossians, largely because there are no explicit quotations in Colossians. With the introduction of literary intertextuality into the discipline, however, scholars have begun to devote more attention to the NT authors' less explicit references to Scripture, often labelled as 'allusions' and/or 'echoes.' Scholars, however, continue to debate what constitutes an allusion or echo, or how one validates a given proposal as such. This study proposes new definitions of these terms and offers a methodology on how to detect and validate them, using Colossians as a test case.

 

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The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface Between Christianity and Folk Belief at Colossae

 

Clinton E. Arnold

Baker Books, 1996-11-15 - 378 pages

Arnold argues that the problem facing the Colossian Christians was their attempt to combine Paul's teachings about Christ with local pagan and Jewish folk beliefs.

 

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The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface Between Christianity and Folk Belief at Colossae

 

Clinton E. Arnold

Baker Books, 1996-11-15 - 378 pages

Arnold argues that the problem facing the Colossian Christians was their attempt to combine Paul's teachings about Christ with local pagan and Jewish folk beliefs.

 

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