Date Advocates of Pauline authorship generally date the letter between A.D. 60 and 62, when Paul spent two years under house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:16, 30). This judgment puts Colossians alongside his other "Captivity Epistles" (Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon), which are traditionally dated within this same time frame. Some, however, think that Colossians was written during the mid-50s, while Paul was in Ephesus. Scholars who read Colossians as a non-Pauline letter tend to date it much later, usually in the 80s.

Destination  The city of Colossae was built along the Lycus River in the Roman province of Asia (western Turkey). It was once a thriving industrial center positioned on a major trade route that stretched across Asia Minor from the western city of Ephesus to the eastern city of Tarsus. By NT times, Colossae had considerably declined in importance. More prominent in this region were the cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis, both located within 15 miles of Colossae (4:13). Interestingly, Paul had neither founded nor visited the Church he addresses in this letter (2:1). A native Colossian named Epaphras was the first to bring the gospel to the city years earlier (1:7). He was likely converted while Paul was preaching in Ephesus and gaining a wide hearing from Jews and Greeks all over Asia Minor (Acts 19:10). Despite an established Jewish population in the region, the Colossian Church was comprised mainly of uncircumcised Gentiles (Col 2:13).

Purpose The same Epaphras who founded the Colossian Church (1:7) also traveled to Rome to update Paul on their recent successes and struggles (4:12). Among other things, he informed Paul that certain agitators were planting doubts in the minds of the Colossians about their new faith. Paul wrote to address this danger and to reassure these believing Gentiles of their Christian inheritance (1:12, 21-22). Unfortunately, commentators have reached no clear consensus on the precise identity of these Colossian troublemakers. Some view them as proponents of pagan religion, while others contend they were teachers of an early form of Gnosticism that combined religious and philosophical elements from Jewish and Hellenistic thought. More probably, Paul is addressing the growing friction between Jewish and Christian communities in Colossae. This would explain why Paul gives focused attention to controversies over Jewish legal rites like circumcision, dietary restrictions, and adherence to the liturgical feast days of the Old Covenant (2:11-13, 16-18). Apparently the local Colossian Jews were outspoken critics of the new Christian movement and dismissed the claim that Gentiles could enjoy full membership in God's covenant family apart from the legal observances handed down through Moses.

Themes and Characteristics In many ways Colossians is unique among Paul's letters. Its closest parallel is the Letter to the Ephesians, with which it shares several common themes and expressions and sometimes even identical teachings. Both letters were written to young believers unknown to Paul personally, and both were probably composed during Paul's imprisonment in Rome in the early 60s. Nevertheless, while Ephesians has a calm and contemplative tone, Paul's stance in Colossians is more aggressive, as he confronts false notions that are making inroads into the local Church and muddling the thinking of many young Christians.

Since Paul does not address his opponents directly, we are left to infer from his comments the basic thrust of their teaching. It may be said, along these lines, that Paul in Colossians is engaged in constructive apologetics, as he spends most of his energy clarifying the truth of Christian doctrine rather than attacking in detail the errors he deems so dangerous. Two motifs stand out in Paul's preaching. (1) The Supremacy of Christ. Towering above every theme in Colossians is the doctrine of Jesus Christ's preeminence over all things (1:18). Paul stresses this point by sketching for his readers a map of the cosmos, positioning Christ at its very summit. Every person, every nation, every angel—indeed, every created thing—is subject to the Lord Jesus and is compelled to acknowledge him as King. No corner of the universe lies outside his dominion because Jesus is the Creator who brought it into being and the Redeemer who renews it with the grace he pours out through the Church. Paul soars to these heights especially in the hymn of 1:15-20, but elsewhere too he proclaims the divinity of Christ (2:9) and reminds us that the crucified Christ has triumphed over the entire army of demonic spirits (2:15). We can assume from Paul's emphasis on these matters that his Jewish opponents tried to depreciate the person and position of Jesus Christ in the minds of the Colossian Christians. (2) The Completeness of Christians in Christ. The practical side of Christ's supremacy is, for Paul, Christ's sufficiency. This is something he needs to stress to the Colossian Gentiles, who are bending under the pressure of local Jews to adopt the Jewish way of life. Paul warns them against this in 2:8-23, where he drives home the point that Christians have no future in their Jewish past and that Judaism has nothing to offer them that they do not already possess in greater abundance in Jesus Christ. In a word, the baptized Colossians are already complete in Christ (2:12); they have no need for the shadows of the Old Covenant when they already possess the "substance" of the New (2:17). Fully furnished, then, with God's rich blessings, the Colossians are challenged to conform their lives to the gospel (3:5-17) and to allow Christ to transform their homes into places of love, forgiveness, and harmony (3:18-4:1). «

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