According to the Letter to the Colossians, the fledgling Christian
community at Colossae was perceived by its writer around 70 CE (perhaps through
the report of Epaphras) as facing the threat of dangerous false teaching. This
teaching resembled aspects both of pagan religion as well as Judaism (see esp.
Col 2:6-23). The letter writer makes an eloquent case for the Christian audience
of the letter to focus their lives solely on Christ. The writer admonished these
believers not to give credence to the claims of the false teachers but to hold
firmly to Jesus alone.
It
is possible that Paul may have never visited the city, although he may have
stopped there on his way to Ephesus (Acts 18:23) or traveled there during
his lengthy stay at Ephesus. If he did not found the Christian community there,
then certainly one of his disciples did . The Colossian church might possibly
have been the fruit of the labour of Epaphras, who also ministered in Laodicea
and Hierapolis (Col 4:12-13). There are several other insights that come to
us from the Letter to the Colossians which, while attributed to Paul, was
probably written by one of his followers.
Timing of the Letter to the Colossians
Until 1838 the letter was undisputedly considered to be
authentically authored by Paul. Debate and investigation of the
style of text and use of language has now brought it to be
considered 'deutero-Pauline' (a letter written after the death of
Paul by one of his disciples) dated to around 70 CE. Mention of
the exchange of letters between Laodicea and Colossae (Col 4: 16)
points to the existence of at least one other letter probably
written by the same author or Pauline school possibly in
Ephesus.
The House Church of Colossae
The
writer of Colossians mentions the church (ekklesia - Gk) that gathers
in Nympha's house. The sentence is ambiguous as to whether Nympha's house
is in Laodicea or Colossae, 'Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters
in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church at her house' (Col 4: 15). Whether
at Nympha's house or that of another influential person/patron in Colossae
such as Philemon, the house was the place of gathering and many Jewish communities
and private Greco-Roman cults gathered in small houses. Paul himself assumes
that the house is the setting for the Christian gathering as evidenced in
his Corinthian correspondence (1 Cor: 1:16; 11: 22; 14: 35; 16: 15, 19) and
later to the Romans (Rom 16:5). Excavation at Colossae may give evidence of
such houses and enable biblical scholars to refine research on the domestic
setting for the early Christian church.
Christianity remained an unrecognized as a religion until the
conversion of Constantine and his Edict of Milan in the 4th
century so the domestic dwelling was an important feature of the
community gathering. The period of the house church covered
c50-150CE and afforded early Christians the facilities for the
meal of their gathering as well as the privacy that distinguished
them from outsiders and some security. The size of the house would
naturally determine the numbers of those who gathered in the house
for worship and it would not be uncommon to have more than one
house church in a city. Establishing the size of Colossae would
assist in determining whether there was more than one household
assembly there.
The Development of the Church in
Colossae
After this New Testament writing, little is known of the
Colossian church until 451CE when Epiphanius was bishop of
Colossae. In the Byzantine period it was known as Chonai probably
because the old city was destroyed by earthquake c700.
