Colossae: The Colossian Culture

Colossae was a town settled in western Asia Minor or central Anatolia in the Lycus Valley. It was situated south of Hierapolis and southeast of Laodicea in the Phrygia region. It was a commerce and trading town, known for its red or purple dyed wool and rich lands. The town was situated on the main highway traveling from Ephesus to Sardis (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013, pp. 134-135, 330-334) (Brand, et al., 2015, p. 317) (Metzger & Coogan, The Oxford Guide To People & Places of The Bible, 2001). Due to the spread of Hellenistic and Roman culture via military campaigns and Colossae’s location on a major highway and trading route, the local population was rather diverse. The presence of Romans, Greeks, Jews and the native Phrygians in the region would probably mean that the Colossian congregation was largely Gentiles and nonbelievers (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013, pp. 330-334). A variety of social classes would have engaged in trade, from wealthy landowners, artisans and textile merchants, to

slaves.

These varying classes and cultures would have put a strain on the growth of the churches of the Lycus Valley, because of the various interpretations and viewpoints of the developing Christian faith (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013, pp. 335-337) (Packer & Tenney, 1980).

The Colossian church was founded around 52-55 CE as result of Paul’s second and third missionary journeys through Asia Minor. Epaphras/Ephesus, a Gentile convert, founded

the church in his hometown of Colossae. He may have also started churches in the neighboring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis. As a spiritual leader of the new Christian faith, Epaphras/Ephesus would face the debates over the doctrine and theology of the new faith among the Gentiles and Jewish converts. In addition to the natural inclination to rely on natural understanding, there were false doctrines and viewpoints present in the new church which could lead to spiritual bondage and hinder the spread of Christianity (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013, pp. 330-334). While the book of Colossians does not explicitly name the false doctrines, based on the mentioning of enhanced worship with visions of angels and the keeping of dietary regulations and holy days, there were both Judaizers and Gnostics present in the church (Colossians 2, KJV). The group that would subsequently be referred to as Judaizers believed that the Gentile Christians should become Jewish and follow Jewish customs and beliefs as the prerequisite of Christianity. Gnostics, a rather diverse group, were united by the belief that the spirit was good, while the flesh and material matter were evil and that a special insight or knowledge was needed to achieve true salvation or enlightenment. (Packer & Tenney, 1980, pp. 536-537) (Brand, et al., 2015) (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013). Some Gnostics also rejected that Jesus was the son of God, because he was a man, and believed that the creator of the world was not God, but a lesser, imperfect or evil being. Epaphras must have journeyed to Rome to let Paul know about the issues concerning the churches in the Lycus Valley (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013, pp. 330-334). Paul was imprisoned when he composed the letter to the Church at Colossae in 60-61 CE. (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013, pp. 330-334). Paul’s first direct contact with the churches of the Lycus Valley was through the letters he would give to Tychius and Onesimus to deliver. This may be due in part that Epaphras, himself was unable to deliver the letters and/or was also imprisoned (Metzger & Coogan, 2001, pp. 42-43) (Longman III, Enns, & Strauss, 2013, p. 331).

The diverse ethnicities of the inhabitants, cultural views brought to the city due to trade, and influence of the Roman Empire would have been factors that would have created challenges to the new believers of the Christian faith. Much of the confusion that the church at Colossae faced is replicated today due to globalization, the internet, and the information age, and the impact of social and modern media.