BEMA 160: Colossians — Gnostic Heresy

Transcription Status

27 Feb 24 — Initial public release

26 Oct 23 — Transcript approved for release

Colossians — Gnostic Heresy

Brent Billings: This is the BEMA Podcast with Marty Solomon. I’m his co-host, Brent Billings. Today we examine the Letter to the Colossians, pointing out the unique context that seems to surround the people there and the false thinking that seeks to pervade their lives of worship.

Marty Solomon: Yes, right. We’ve gone through, let’s see, all of Paul’s letters, we’ve gone through Galatians. We’ve gone through Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians. We’ve done Ephesians, Philippians. Paul also wrote a letter to the church in Colossae. The small city of Colossae was off the main road that runs through Heiropolis and Laodicea.

Brent: As we speak, unexcavated, right?

Marty: Unexcavated tel. A big ol’ pile o’ dirt. The only reason we know it’s—no, that’s Lystra. I was going to say the only reason we know it’s Colossae is because we dug up a stone that said, “Welcome to Colossae.” That’s Lystra, actually. Another unexcavated tel. If you want to come see both of them, come with me to Turkey in 2022, or beyond. Come with me. You’re like, “Why would I want to go see an unexcavated mound of dirt?” It’s excellent. Come see. Come and see.

Brent: It’s surprisingly helpful.

Marty: Yes, absolutely. I’ve always found the conversation that surrounds Colossae moving because this church is the recipient of one of Paul’s letters, and yet, the entire city doesn’t survive, but a few decades after the establishment of the church. We have mentioned before some of the earthquakes that decimated cities throughout the Roman Empire. Many of these cities would be central to Roman infrastructure. Unfortunately, for the people of Colossae, their city did not make the list. They were off the main road. The earthquakes of the AD 60s leveled the city and it was never, at least, successfully rebuilt.

To this day, the town of Colossae, a small hill in the Turkish countryside sits unexcavated, if not, nearly forgotten. From a literary perspective, Colossians mirrors the structure of Ephesians point by point. Most scholars believe they are pinned together. While Paul didn’t have the ability to use the copy and paste function, he definitely uses some of the same literary technique in the two letters. Here’s what I mean. Ephesians is how many chapters long, Brent?

Brent: Six.

Marty: Six chapters long. Colossians, a little shorter at how many chapters?

Brent: Four.

Marty: Four. If you look at the first half of both letters, you will notice that Paul talks theology, or what I like to call orthodoxy, removing it from its cultural usage there. Just using it more poetically. The etymology of the term orthodoxy just means right belief, right word. The last half of each letter speaks very deliberately of orthopraxy, or behavior, right practice, or right behavior. If you compare Ephesians 4-6, with Colossians 3-4, you will see an identical pattern. Paul speaks about household behavior, as it relates to husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and servants.

It’s the first half of the letter on both accounts that differ somewhat, not a lot, actually, but they differ in content. This is because of the context of the recipients. I say that based on assumption because there’s a whole lot we don’t know about Colossae, since it lies unexcavated. What we do know comes from the few finds that were scattered through the fields of local farmers, and other things like currency. However, one of the things that seems apparent is the struggle in Colossae with the dangerous teachings of Gnosticism. The moment you start talking about Gnosticism, you have entered into some tricky waters, because the word can refer to so many things.

A student of philosophy and Greek belief has many strong opinions about the topic. I’m not an expert, but we did actually put a quote. I’m going to recommend—if you have the ability—I’m going to recommend you actually stop the podcast and watch the video that you’ll find in the show notes—there’s a link in your show notes there—and watch the YouTube video. Was it four minutes long, Brent?

Brent: Yes, three minutes. It’s called The Cave: An Adaptation of Plato’s Allegory in Clay.

Marty: Yes. Basically, Plato was known for a lot of things, but the big thing that Plato was known for philosophically is his theory of the forms. They’ve made a claymation. I think the script to the claymation is actually coming from Plato himself, a translation of actually Plato. I think that’s the words of the video, if I’m not mistaken, I could be wrong. They actually are acting out. If you watch that, you’re going to be able to get a good idea of Plato’s big idea, but there’s a couple things in that video I want to recommend people see. Hopefully, you haven’t stopped the podcast quite yet.

Two things. One is the platonic idea of the abstract versus the concrete, that there is a world of the forms, and what we see are just shadows of that world, but somewhere else in some other world, in some other place, there’s a world where the perfect horse, the perfect circle, the perfect virtue, exists. This world is not that world. This world is broken, this world is full of shadows, this world is whatever, but there’s a world with a—I want us to recognize how much that influences that very platonic—that’s not a biblical idea.

That’s a very Greek idea; that is a very Plato idea, and how much that influences our view of things like heaven, that somewhere else in some other place, there’s a world of perfection. That’s much more built on Plato than it is built on the Bible. Anything we’ve encountered up to this point, and we’re almost done with our study of the Bible. We haven’t encountered anything in the scriptures that have talked about some perfect platonic place, other dimension, that kind of thing. The other thing that I want you to notice in there is notice towards the end of the video, how it talks about the prisoner that escapes, and gets out into the real world.

He’s now enlightened. If you didn’t escape, and you’re not enlightened, you can’t understand it. There’s this understanding in Gnosticism—Gnostic thought, it goes in a million different directions—but the Gnosticism that I want to talk about, and I want to refer to is the Gnosticism that’s built off of the really basic, most primitive platonic ideas. Greek philosophy, and Plato. There’s this idea that there are people who are enlightened, there are people that get it, there are people that see, but generally, the world can’t see. What you have is these super enlightened people walking in our midst, and they’re like superheroes.

If you have a chance, pause this video. Pause this—not this video—pause this podcast and go watch that video. When you’re done, come back and join us again for the podcast. I’ll give you a second to do that. Now you’ve watched that video, we’re also going to recommend another resource you can find in your show notes. That is a book called Surprised by Hope by NT Wright.

Brent: Pause the podcast. Go buy the book. Read the entire thing. No, probably not.

Marty: Now, in the book, in the version I had, it was page 88, but NT Wright goes on to describe Gnosticism the following way. If you’ve watched the video, this is going to help. NT Wright says this:

 “For Plato, the present world of space, time, and matter is a world of illusion of flickering shadows in a cave. The most appropriate human task is to get in touch with a true reality, which is beyond space, time, and matter. For Plato, this was the reality of eternal forms. To oversimplify once more, we may say that Plato’s picture was based on a rejection of the phenomena of matter in transience. The mess and the muddle of the space-time-matter world was an offense to the tidy, clean, philosophical mind, which dwelt upon eternal realities.”

Now, tell me, Brent, does that sound like our understanding of—does that sound like what we think about heaven or what?

Brent: Almost exactly.

Marty: Yes, very much so. “The platonic strain,” I’m quoting NT Wright again. Sorry. I’m back to NT Wright. “The platonic strain entered Christian thinking early on,” we’ll actually study this in Session 5 of our study, next session. “The platonic strain entered Christian thinking early on, not least with a phenomenon known as Gnosticism. Since the Gnostics have been making something of a comeback recently, a word about them is appropriate. The Gnostics believed, like Plato, that the material world was an inferior and dark place, evil in its very existence, but that within this world could be found certain people who were meant for something else.”

“The Gnostic myth,” Wright goes on to say, “often suggests that the way out of our mess is to return to our primeval state before the creation of the world. In this view, creation itself is the fall, producing matter, which is the real evil,” kind of the anti-story of everything we’ve taught here in BEMA. Creation is not good. Creation is evil. Back to Wright, “I hope it’s clear both how closely this view parodies some aspects of Christianity, and how deeply and thoroughly it diverges from it.” End quote there by NT Wright.

We’ll go on to explain how some Bible students will go to great lengths to show how some elements of this thought are preserved in the New Testament but he will spend the rest of the chapter showing how dangerous this way of thinking is to biblical theology. Paul seems to agree, the apostle Paul seems to agree with NT, Wright and it’s kind of a funny way to word that, but nevertheless. His first half of the Letter to the Colossians talks very directly about this false idea propped up by Gnosticism. Consider the following passage from, I believe the opening chapter in chapter one here, Brent.

Brent: Yes, starting in verse nine. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.

Marty: Now notice how that sounds to the Gnostic ears. We pray that he would fill you with all the knowledge and wisdom. That’s what Gnosticism craves, but here’s Paul kind of doing it from a different perspective, and a little bit of tongue and cheek, I believe.

Brent: So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious mind so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Marty: Notice the tense of that statement. Paul says, not that God will deliver us, will deliver us, but that God has delivered us. It’s not that they have some knowledge and wisdom for the sense of escapism, but Paul talked about how they would have knowledge and wisdom so that they could engage in every good work in this world. This is the world, this one, this flesh and blood and dirt and soil and sweat, this world. That’s where the action is. The next verses continue even further into this idea. Go ahead, Brent. Notice the way that this really talks about Gnostic ideals here, go ahead.

Brent: The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him, all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things in Him all things hold together and he is the head of the body of the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all this fullness dwell in Him, and through Him, to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.

Marty: Paul, make sure to use the most inclusive language possible for the incarnation and the reconciliation of all things. He speaks of all things and makes sure to clarify that these are from heaven, and on earth, visible and invisible. He speaks of how all these things were created through Him. He speaks of how all creation is held together in Him and for good measure, adds that complete fullness of God dwelt in Christ. Paul is doing everything he can to avoid any kind of dualistic, this Gnostic dualism that divides things between the spiritual and the physical.

He’s making sure to pull it all together. Paul is going to go on to play with this idea in the second chapter of Colossians. At times, very tongue in cheek. Brent, how about we walked through chapter two and I’m just going to interrupt you as you read it and point out things within the context of Gnosticism as we read Colossians chapter two.

Brent: I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Marty: Notice there, “The wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ,” but he wants all people to have it. There is no elitism, there are no special people that have it. He’ll do anything so that everybody—there’s this tongue-in-cheek toying with Gnostic thought saying, “They think it’s like this.” We know it’s not like that and we’re doing something else. Go ahead.

Brent: I tell you this, so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

Marty: I feel like there’s some tongue-in-cheek stuff going on there with the whole— spirit—“Not there in body, but I’m with you in spirit.”

Brent: Also deception by fine-sounding arguments.

Marty: Yes, absolutely.

Brent: The Greek idea of perfecting your logic.

Marty: Absolutely. Without a doubt.

Brent: Then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy. Little more direct jab there.

Marty: Yes there you go.

Brent: Which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Marty: Yes, absolutely. The direct jabs at Greek philosophy there, go ahead.

Brent: For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ, you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In Him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision, not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Marty: Gnostic dualism reared its head in two different ways, in lots of different ways. I’m going to talk about two, I’m going to choose two to talk about. In Gnostic dualism, there was the spiritual realm, the realm of the forms, and then there was the physical realm. Now, that meant that all the perfection, all the life, all the action, what you really wanted to obtain was in what realm, Brent, spiritual or physical?

Brent: Spiritual.

Marty: Spiritual. What happened with the physical, one of two things, one school would say, what do you suppose one school would say, Brent?

Brent: There’s no point, get out of here as soon as possible.

Marty: Yes, sure but if we’re not in a suicide cult, what does that mean about what I’m going to do tomorrow with my body?

Brent: We get rid of it.

Marty: Yes, in essence, it doesn’t even matter, just treat it however you want to, because the real action is somewhere else. Want to just engage in sexual immorality? Sure, go ahead. Who cares, because my body is physical. What really matters is my spirit. I just go wherever I want, eat whatever I want, do whatever I want, engage whatever I want. Physically, you can imagine that worldview is kind of popular, but then there was another view that was popular, which was the exact opposite.

If what I’m trying to obtain is the spiritual realm, I want to deny my body everything physical. This was probably the more classy, the more astute, the more sophisticated Gnostic dualism. That said, I’m going to pursue self-denial, not let myself engage in any of the pleasures, so that I can obtain this truth, this enlightenment that exists on the other side of this Gnostic dualism. I think it’s the latter. It’s the second of the two that I just talked about, that they’re dealing with in Colossae. I think Colossae probably has this very self-denial—I want to say “hoity-toity”—like this very elevated, sophisticated, Gnosticism.

He’s talking about fine-sounding arguments, philosophical. Like, don’t let yourself be deceived by all these really educated Greek thinkers. I think they’re dealing with it because—listen to what happens next. Go ahead and keep reading, Brent.

Brent: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross and having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Marty: Here, Paul says, that whole, whatever you might try to obtain by enlightenment, Christ already took care of it. You’ve already had that part of you dealt with, the part of your sin, the part of your flesh, the sarx, Christ already dealt with that and triumphed over it at the cross. Making a public spectacle, laughing at it, Paul insinuates. That part has already been—you don’t have to deal with that by self-restraint, by trying to prove how super-spiritual you are engaging in some Gnostic escapism. Go ahead and keep reading.

Brent: Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

Marty: Some people read that and they say what Paul is saying is don’t worry about Sabbath. Don’t worry about festivals. Don’t worry if you don’t. I think what Paul’s saying is the exact opposite. You do engage in the festivals. You do engage in Sabbath, you do engage in the party, and Colossae—the world of Colossae is judging you for it. They’re saying, “Well, that’s just the flesh, how dare you engage this creation? The flesh impulses. No, you do what you’re called to do. Go ahead.

Brent: These are a shadow of the things that were to come. The reality however is found in Christ.

Marty: Little tongue-in-cheek Plato. There’s a shadow here, but there’s a reality in Jesus.

Brent: I don’t know. That might be more tongue sticking out.

Marty: Nice.

Brent: Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen. They are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.

Marty: Oh, yes, that’s definitely attacking this idea of the enlightened. Go ahead.

Brent: They have lost connection with the head from whom the whole body is supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules?

Marty: Now, listen to these rules. These have to be coming from that second, latter version of Gnosticism. Listen.

Brent: Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.

Marty: These are rules of abstinence. Like, don’t engage creation, resist it, self-denial. He says, “Don’t, don’t. Why would you live according to that way?”

Brent: These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining essential indulgence.

Marty: Yes. Closing thoughts and we’ll wrap this up. It certainly behooves the church today to consider the words of NT Wright that we heard earlier. “These Gnostic ideas deeply and thoroughly,” he said, “diverge from the teachings of the apostles. The truth is that far too much Gnosticism has crept into Christian theology.” We’re going to hit this really hard in Session 5, so just hold on. If you’re, like, “Wait, I feel like there’s more there,” there is a lot more there and we’re definitely going to talk about it.

The idea that we are spirits trapped in prisons of flesh, walking in a world— I’m going to read this sentence again. The idea that we are spirits trapped in prisons of flesh, walking in a world that is doomed to destruction, just waiting for “some glad morning when this life is o’er”—this is not the mission that God called us to. It’s not congruent with the teachings of Jesus, let alone Paul and the New Testament. It smells more of Plato than it does of the Bible. The Kingdom of God is here, now, deeply engaged with this world of flesh and blood, soil and spirit.

Here you go, Brent. Another short discussion on the Colossians.

Brent: Not too short, though, because we had listeners watch a video and read an entire book in the middle of it.

Marty: I can’t be held responsible for these things.

Brent: [chuckles] Definitely speaks very much to our default belief structure.

Marty: Absolutely. I think we just have a whole lot of bedrock built on platonic thinking rather than Jewish thought, yes, Biblical thought, yes.

Brent: If you have any questions, feel free to get a hold of us. Go to bemadiscipleship.com. Be sure to check out all the links that we mentioned. If you didn’t have a chance to watch the video because of whatever reason, hope you get a chance to catch up on that later and really dig into this. Get in touch with us, let us know what your thoughts are. Thanks for joining us on the BEMA podcast. We’ll talk to you again soon.