Robert M. Royalty, «Dwelling on Visions.On the Nature of the so-called ‘Colossians Heresy’», Vol. 83 (2002) 329-357
This paper argues that Revelation provides a social-historical, theological, and ideological context for the reconstruction of the Colossian opposition. The proposal is that the author of the Apocalypse arrived in Asia after the Jewish-Roman war; his "dwelling on visions" and prophetic activity challenged the emerging hierarchy within the churches, provoking a response in Paul’s name from the church leadership. Correspondences and parallels between the description of the opposition in Colossians and Revelation are developed exegetically, showing that eschatology and Christology were key issues in the dispute. This paper reexamines the heresiological rhetoric of Colossians, raising methodological questions about other scholarly reconstructions of the opposition as non-Christian.
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans19. He was the leader of a prophetic group, which probably included Christians from Palestine as well some recruited in Asia, and was known to at least the seven Asian churches addressed in Revelation and probably more20. Second, a number of formal features and theological motifs in the Apocalypse show contact with Pauline traditions21. Third, the final text of the Apocalypse as we have it today was composed in stages, beginning perhaps as early as 65–70 CE and reaching its final form at the end of the first century22. These stages are important because of the assumed date for Colossians. The author of Revelation was active as a prophet in Asia at least twenty years before the final form of the Apocalypse, perhaps edited by a disciple, circulated among Christian communities. I maintain non-Pauline authorship and a date for