in the
southwestern part of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, in the neighborhood of
Laodicea and Hierapolis. Chap. 4:13, 16. Respecting the founding of the
church there we have no information. According to the most natural
interpretation of chap. 2:1, Paul had not visited Colosse in person when
he wrote the present epistle. The _occasion_ of his writing seems to
have been information received by him that false teachers were troubling
the Colossian church. That these men were Jews is plain from chap. 2:16,
20, 21; where the reference is to Jewish ordinances. But their doctrine
was not simple Phariseeism, like that of the false teachers among the
Galatians. They did not seek directly to substitute circumcision and the
Mosaic law for faith in Christ, as the ground of justification. They
seem rather to have been Christian Jews of an ascetic turn of mind, and
imbued with the semi-oriental philosophy of that day, which contained in
itself the seeds of the later Gnostic systems. Having no clear
apprehension of the glory of Christ's person and the fulness of the
salvation which his gospel offers to men, they sought to supplement the
Christian system by their ascetic practices and their speculations
concerning the orders of angels, whom they seem to have regarded as
mediators between God and men. To all this human philosophy the apostle
opposes directly the divine dignity and glory of Christ's person, and
the completeness of the redemption which he has provided for men.

The _Jewish_ character of these false teachers appears in their
insisting on meats and drinks, holy-days, new moons, and
Sabbaths (chap. 2:16, 20, 21); their _ascetic_ character, in
their doctrine concerning the mortification of the body (chap.
2:23); their _speculations concerning angels_, in the fact that
they are described as "delighting in humility and the worship of
angels" (chap. 2:18, 23). The apostle apparently refers to a
false humility which, under the pretence that God is too great
to be approached except through the mediation of angels, made
them instead of Christ the way of access to him, thus
disparaging the Redeemer's person and office.

23. In respect to _plan_, the epistle naturally falls into two parts of
about equal length. The _first_ is _argumentative_. Chaps. 1, 2. After
an introduction, in which the apostle thanks God that the Colossians
have been made partakers of the gospel, commends them for the
fru