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.
of a Christian opponent who presents a theological, moral, and ideological challenge to the author. The wealth imagery in both Colossians and the message to Laodicea points to eschatology as a major point of controversy between the author of Colossians and his apocalyptic opponents. The shared literary and theological motifs in Revelation and Colossians call for a more careful comparison of the two texts.
II.
The next task is to show correspondences between the Colossian opponents and the apocalyptic Christianity presented in Revelation. In examining the "polemical core" (Col 2,8-23), we find that there is not as much detail about what the opponents propose as about what the author disagrees with40. While Col 2,8 has traditionally been the exegetical crux of the description of the opponents for scholars, interpretation of this verse has often run to atomistic analysis that ignores the rhetoric of the letter41. Col 2,9-15, falling between the two main polemical passages (2,8 and 2,16-23), is central to the debate between the author and his opponents. Furthermore, Col 1,24–2,7 sets the context for the full-scale attack in 2,8. While we should not look for the opponents behind every line, ignoring the rhetorical arrangement of the letter runs the risk of missing both the subtlety and force of the author’s polemic.
The author begins his argument against the opponents with an indirect reference in 2,4 that anticipates two major points of debate, Christology and eschatology42. Col 2,4-5 wraps up the "autobiographical" section in Col 1,24–2,5, in which the implied author takes on the persona of Paul 43. He writes of his suffering and struggle "for your sake" (u(pe_r u(mw=n, 1,24; 2,1); this "you" includes not only the Colossians but the Laodiceans and "all who have not seen me face-to-face" (Col 2,1), in other words the post-Pauline church in