Colossians

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Colossians is an epistle of Paul to the church at Colossae, in Phrygia, in what is modern Turkey. In a controversial passage Paul asserts that his own sufferings complete what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the benefit of the Church,[1] which has been developed by the Catholic Church into the doctrine of the Treasury of Merit. This eventually became corrupted into a practice of paying money to get loved ones' souls out of purgatory and that in turn sparked Martin Luther to nail his 95 Theses to a church door one Halloween.

Paul goes on to say the ordinances of the Mosaic code were "nailed to the cross"[2] and Christians were no longer subject to consuming only certain meats or drinks or observing holidays and new moons and sabbaths, [3] because …there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all…[4]

It is questionable whether Paul wrote it, for reasons including its language and style, although many Christians still insist it is the work of Paul.[5][6][7]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Colossians 1:24
  2. Colossians 2:14
  3. Colossians 2:16
  4. Colossians 3:11
  5. Reconsidering the Authorship of Colossians, Maria A Pascuzzi, Bulletin for Biblical Research 23.2 (2013) 223–246
  6. See the Wikipedia article on Epistle to the Colossians.
  7. The Authorship of Colossians, Tekton Apologetics