Table Of Contentl i b r a ry o f n e w t e s ta m e n t s t u d i e s
THE COLOSSIAN
CONTROVERSY
Wisdom in Dispute at Colossae
RICHARD E. D MARIS
E
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
96
Executive Editor
Stanley E. Porter
Editorial Board
Richard Bauckham, David Catchpole, R. Alan Culpepper,
Joanna Dewey, James D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Robert Fowler,
Robert Jewett, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Dan O. Via
JSOT Press
Sheffield
The Colossian Controversy
Wisdom in Dispute at Colossae
Richard E. DeMaris
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Supplement Series 96
Copyright © 1994 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by JSOT Press
JSOT Press is an imprint of
Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
343 Fulwood Road
Sheffield S10 3BP
England
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
EISBN 9781850754732
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 7
Abbreviations 9
Chapter 1
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE COLOSSIAN PHILOSOPHY PUZZLE 11
Rationale for Studying the Colossian Philosophy 11
The Interpretive Problems and a Proposed Solution 14
Chapter 2
A HISTORY OF SCHOLARSHIP ON THE COLOSSIAN PHILOSOPHY 18
Gnosis, Gnosticism, Jewish Gnosticism, and Gnostic Judaism 18
Departure from the Jewish-Gnostic Model 27
Ascetic, Apocalyptic, and Mystical Judaism 30
Hellenistic Syncretism in First-Century Asia Minor 33
A Philosophical Background for the Colossian Philosophy 36
Conclusion 38
Chapter 3
INTERPRETING THE POLEMICAL CORE IN COLOSSIANS 41
Isolating the Polemic: Considerations of Method 41
Translation of the Polemical Core in Colossians (2.8, 16-23) 45
Exegesis of the Polemical Core 46
Assessment of Other Interpretations of
the Colossian Philosophy 73
Chapter 4
THE HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SETTING OF THE COLOSSIAN
PHILOSOPHY 98
The Philosophical Climate in the New Testament Era 100
Demonology in the Early Roman Empire 104
Philosophical Purification 108
6 The Colossian Controversy
A Philosophy according to the World 114
The Social Location of the Colossian Philosophers 118
The Philosophers in the Colossian Congregation 126
Conclusion 131
Chapter 5
THE CONTROVERSY IN COLOSSIANS 134
The Polemical Core in its Epistolary Context 135
A Debate over Knowledge 140
Epilogue
THE COLOSSIAN PHILOSOPHY AND THE CONFLICT AT
COLOSSAE TODAY 146
Bibliography 150
Index of References 161
Index of Authors 168
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
An earlier version of this study was a dissertation completed in 1990
at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary. The idea
for it originated in a graduate seminar at Union on the Christology of
the Pauline hymns. Raymond E. Brown, J. Louis Martyn, and Thomas
Robinson encouraged me to investigate the early Christian community
at Colossae through the Colossian hymn (Col. 1.15-20) and the
polemic in that letter against the so-called 'philosophy' (2.8). With
their help I decided to make the Colossian philosophy the subject of
my doctoral dissertation. Holland Hendrix and Robin Scroggs at Union
saw the work through to completion. Their combined expertise—
Hendrix in Hellenistic philosophy and Anatolian Judaism, Scroggs in
the Pauline corpus—proved crucial. Both provided valuable comments
on my work and much encouragement, before and after the defense.
The current version of the study benefited from a significant
rewriting based on additional research, particularly in the area of
archaeology. Preparation of entries for the Anchor Bible Dictionary
on 'Philosophy' and 'Element, Elemental Spirit' forced me to refine
my thinking on these two key terms.1 Response to papers presented at
the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in 1990 and
1991 proved useful in revising this study.2 Most of all, introduction
to, and research in, the field of archaeology provided me with more
information about western Asia Minor in the early Roman Empire,
which allowed me to say more about the likely social realities in and
around Colossae in the first century CE. My thanks go to the National
1. R. DeMaris, 'Philosophy', ABD V, p. 346; 'Element, Elemental Spirit',
y
ABD II, pp. 444-45.
y
2. R. DeMaris, 'Whence Comes Wisdom? The Crux of Conflict at Colossae',
paper presented at Annual Meeting of the SBL, New Orleans, November 17 1990;
'"According to the Elements of the World" (Colossians 2.8): The Colossian
Opponents' Wisdom and the Sapiential Tradition in Hellenistic Judaism', paper
presented at Annual Meeting of the SBL, Kansas City, November 25 1991.
8 The Colossian Controversy
Endowment for the Humanities and Valparaiso University's
Committee on Creative Work and Research for making possible
summer research trips to Greece. Thanks also go to the American
School of Classical Studies at Athens, whose incomparable holdings in
Mediterranean archaeology were an ideal resource for major portions
of my revisions.
The staff of Sheffield Academic Press have been very supportive
from start to finish. Encouragement to bring more archaeological
evidence to bear on the Colossian philosophy came from Dr David
Hill, who also gave me several important bibliographical leads.
Directors David Clines and Philip Davies have been easy to work
with, and desk editor Helen Tookey has saved this book from many
errors. Those that remain, including any mistranslations from
German, French, or Greek, are my responsibility.
These acknowledgments would be incomplete without mention of
those here at Valparaiso University who have been instrumental to my
work and even my well-being. My many fine colleagues in the
Theology Department, especially Betty DeBerg, Jon Pahl, and Walt
Rast, have created an atmosphere of collegial support and intellectual
stimulation matched by few other places. My student assistant Joanne
Oestreich spent hours on the tedious task of making minor editorial
and punctuation changes, and Jamie Huston proved to be a capable
proofreader. The interlibrary loan manager at Valparaiso University's
Moellering Library, Dorothy Wodrich, met my frequent requests
without complaint. I am also deeply grateful to the Ziegler family,
whose generous contributions to Valparaiso University made the
publication of this study possible.
Finally and of greatest importance, I thank my parents and most of
all my colleague at Valparaiso and partner in life, Sarah Glenn
DeMaris, whose undying patience and love have inspired me day after
day.
R.E.D.
Feast of St Tarasius 1994
ABBREVIATIONS
ABD D.N. Freedman (ed.), Anchor Bible Dictionary
AnBib Analecta biblica
ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt
ARW Archivfiir Religionswissenschaft
ATANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen
Testaments
BAGD W. Bauer, W.F. Arndt, F.W. Gingrich and F.W. Danker,
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other
Early Christian Literature
BARev Biblical Archaeology Review
BDF F. Blass, A. Debrunner and R.W. Funk, A Greek Grammar
of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
BEvT Beitrage zur evangelischen Theologie
Bib Biblica
BJS Brown Judaic Studies
BSac Bibliotheca Sacra
CahRB Cahiers de la Revue biblique
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CII Corpus inscriptionum iudaicarum
EKKNT Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
EPRO Etudes pre*liminaires aux religions orientales dans Tempire
romain
EvT Evangelische Theologie
ExpTim Expository Times
FB Forschung zur Bibel
HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament
HTKNT Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
HTR Harvard Theological Review
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement
Series
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
LPGL G.W.H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon
LSJ Liddel-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon
