Colossians: An Introduction and Study Guide Authorship, Rhetoric, and Code

In this study guide Janice Capel Anderson introduces readers to key issues in the interpretation and reception of Colossians. Anderson first explores the issue of Pauline authorship. She challenges readers to reflect on why the question of authorship has dominated scholarship as well as why and how interpreters create “stories” about the letter’s author(s). Second, Anderson examines the letter’s rhetoric and context. She asks readers to consider how the letter constructs and seeks to persuade its addressees past and present.
Anderson also surveys several pictures of the first audience and “opponents” and the impact these pictures have on interpretation. Finally, she delves into the functions of the household code of Col. 3.18-4.1, its reception, and the ethics of interpretation. Anderson attends to recent feminist and empire-critical perspectives as well as the ancient setting of the Lycus River Valley, home to the cities of Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis.
Thought experiments and exercises set the stage for each chapter and engage readers in active thought.