The Colossian Heresy

[alon]

Edit: I should have noted that this is one of the topics covered in the CW Messianic Conference. They went too fast for me to take notes, so I took what I could remember then researched and wrote this up. So it is a mix of what was said (best I can recall) and what I found. Still, I should have given credit. The speaker was Caleb Hegg of Torah Resource.

Colossae was city in Phrygia (modern southern Turkey). It was on the Lycus River, at the head of a long (>100 mi.) gorge where two rivers merge; and on a major trade route from Ephesus to the Euphrates valley. In the 1st and 2nd cen. CE it was an important center of commerce. There was a sizable Jewish community already established there by the time of Yeshua.

The book of Colossions was chiefly written to strongly oppose what theologians call “the Colossian Heresy.” However it is the same heresy Rav Shaul spent the better part of his entire ministry opposing in one form or another: Gnosticism. I won’t try to recreate the entire lecture here, but let’s look at the introduction:

Colossians 1:13-22 (ESV) 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the [ekklesia]. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

There is quite a bit just in this passage. Let’s parse it out:

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
Right there gnostics say “See, God had a son. That means Yeshua was created at some point.” The term for this kind of gnosticism by the way is “Ebionism,” and anyone claiming Yeshua is in any way less than full, eternal deity is some form of Ebionite. It is important we learn to label them, if for no other reason than it angers and flusters them and they generally (in my experience) pick up their carefully crafted literature and leave. But no, God did not create a Son, He merely presents concepts in ways we can understand. Familial relationships are the most common allegories in the Bible. So R Shaul continues:

14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Only God Himself can forgive sins, and only He can redeem us. They’ll argue God created Yeshua to live blameless and die for us. But R Shaul continues:

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
“The firstborn, Yeshua was born first, that means He was created … !” Firstborn here is about primacy of inheritance, not about being created. Also, when Paul says Yeshua is “the image of the invisible God,” he is saying Yeshua is deity. Yeshua Himself said as much when asked to show His talmedim the Father, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” (John 14:9b).

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
The gnostics have a serious problem here. To most of them (almost all), they believe the physical world was created by “the God of the Old Testament,” who was a wrathful, vengeful God. Then Yeshua came and made everything all fuzzy, allowing us to get to heaven, the spiritual realm. Gnosticism 101:
physical > bad
spiritual > good
But if it was Yeshua who created the world, “oy vavoy, this can’t be right! First He is God, then He created the physical world and the spiritual realm! Our religion is doomed!” Yes, it is.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Some gnostics believe God is busy holding everything together while Yeshua is busy representing us and saving us. But if Rav S is correct here, Yeshua is performing one of the major functions of God. Ergo, He is God.

18 And he is the head of the body, the [ekklesia]. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Another popular belief is that Yeshua was made to be/ granted the status of deity. So He wasn’t really a man. Many went so far as to say He cast no shadow. His death was therefore a myth. But now Paul is saying He did die and the resurrection was real. And “firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” clearly explains the term “firstborn” used earlier. It has to do with having the preeminent position concerning inheriting the world, this (in their eyes) evil rock; the physical world.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
Not some, but “all the fullness of God” dwells in Him. That to me sounds like He is God.

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Again, He is inheriting the physical as well as the spiritual. He died to obtain the rights to them. This does not sound as though Yeshua thinks either one is inately “evil.”

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
Read the thread on tikkun olam. Do you see now why they had to come up with this ridiculous explanation of creation, destruction, and repair? Why they had to say God was damaged? But it is not God who is broken! It is we alone! Us! You, me, and the gnostics are the ones who are broken and in need of repair.

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
“In his body of flesh.” This goes straight in the face of those who believe Yeshua was not a man. He was flesh; human flesh. A physical man. But He was also God to forgive our sins and present us “blameless and above reproach” before the Father.

There was about 2 hrs of lecture on this topic. I can’t recreate it all, but this should be enough to get you going on your own study of the book.