Chunks: Paul's Letter to the Colossians

As we’ve seen, Paul begins his letter to the Colossians with a greeting that both follows and yet meaningfully transforms the conventions of his day. Immediately after, as he begins the main body of the letter, he tells the Colossians how he prays for them (Col 1:3-12). Here, we’ll consider what Paul himself says about his prayer, and consider what we might learn from this for our own prayer lives...

What do we mean when we say, “Hi”? We say it when we greet someone; we often put it at the beginning of our emails.  But does the word itself mean anything, or is it like saying “Ouch” when we hurt ourselves? Similarly, how meaningful is it for Paul to say “Grace and peace to you” at the beginning of his letters? It’s much more than “Hi.”

Most Christians, if they hang around the church long enough, discover that we’re a pretty flawed bunch. By the grace of God, we’re capable of moments of Spirit-led fellowship. But we’re also capable of…well, all the things Paul has to deal with in his letters, the letter to the Colossians included. And yet, Paul addresses the Colossians as “saints,” or “God’s holy people.” How should we understand...

In this age of electronic communication, the art of writing out letters longhand is becoming a lost art. It may be hard for us to appreciate the subtleties of meaning involved in the way people of Paul’s time began and ended letters. In this episode, therefore, we’ll begin exploring Paul’s two opening verses, and how he pastorally reworks the letter-writing conventions of his day for gospel purpos...

If you were a fan of Alton Brown’s Good Eats , you know the danger of cross-contamination in the kitchen—of letting bacteria spread from one food or surface to another. But there can be a kind of theological cross-contamination as well. Reading between the lines, something like this was probably part of Paul’s reason for writing to the Colossians. Their newfound faith was being contaminated by wor...

The letter to the church in the city of Colossae is traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul. But where and when did he write it? It’s one of the so-called “Prison Letters,” one of four letters Paul wrote from prison. But scholars disagree as to where he was imprisoned, and the answer to when depends on the where.

Have you ever noticed? Twenty-one of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are letters,  and thirteen of the twenty-one are traditionally attributed to Paul. Letters have their own kind of style and content, and we need to read them against the background of the relationship between the writer and the recipient. In this first episode, therefore, we’ll begin exploring the who, what, when, whe...