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.
appealed to tradition as a warrant (Col 1,5-7.15-18.23; 2,6-7), calling his opponents’ teaching human tradition has a particularly strong negative force. The rhetoric continues: the opponents are "puffed up with a fleshly mind" (u(po_ tou= noo_j th=j sarko_j, 2,18) while their regulations (e)nta/lmata) are "human teachings" (didaskali/aj tw=n a)nqrw/pwn, 2,23). This rhetoric would be a paradoxical reversal of the opponents’ language. They claim to have access to heavenly revelations; the author of Colossians characterizes this as earthly teaching.
No phrase in the letter has caused more difficulty or controversy than stoixei=a tou= kosmou=. Bandstra has divided the interpretations into three types: the "principial" interpretation, referring to principles of teaching or instruction in the root sense of stoi=xoj as a row, line, or series, a sense which also includes the letters of the alphabet; the "cosmological", in which the phrase is understood as referring to the elements of the material world—earth, water, air, fire; and the "personalized-cosmological", in which the phrase refers to spiritual beings59. While most commentators have staked their proposal on one particular meaning, the argument here does not depend upon any one interpretation since the apocalyptic worldview in Revelation allows for any of the three possibilities60. The "principial" interpretation fits well with the apocalyptic-mystical view of the Colossian opponents and also allows for a double-entendre on the numerological speculation based on letters found in Rev 13,16 61. The sort of "wisdom" (sofi/a, Rev 13,18) that produced the gematria for the "number of the name of the Beast" could be taken as an example of teaching according to the stoixei=a tou= kosmou=. But there are also cosmological forces at work in the Apocalypse and successions of angels between John and God in the heavenly throne room, such as the