to God for having made the Philippians partakers of the blessings of the Gospel, and prays for their farther improvement in knowledge and righteousness; he informs them that his confinement had contributed to the furtherance of the Gospel, and declares his readiness to die in its cause, or live for its promotion; he exhorts them with great warmth and earnestness to live as it becometh the Gospel of Christ, being in nothing terrified by their adversaries; to live in harmony with each other, and to practise the virtue of humility after the example of Christ; he encourages them to work out their salvation, and expresses his intention of sending Timothy to them soon, and some hope of visiting them himself; in the mean time he tells them that he had sent back Epaphroditus their messenger, who had been detained at Rome by a dangerous illness"; he cautions them against false teachers, with particular reference to Judaizers, and gives some account of himself and of his zeal for the Gospel, which he advises the Philippians to imitate. In the last chapter he adds farther exhortations, expresses his satisfaction and thankfulness for their repeated liberality, and concludes with salutations, and his usual benediction.

с

"It is a strong proof," says Chrysostom, "of the virtuous conduct of the Philippians, that they did not afford the Apostle a single subject of complaint; for in the whole Epistle which he wrote to them, there is nothing but exhortation and encouragement, without the mixture of any censure whatever."

a

i.

b ii.

c iii.

d Preface to this Epistle.

d

PART II.

CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

I. THE OCCASION OF THIS EPISTLE BEING WRITTEN, AND ITS DATE. -II. WHETHER ST. PAUL, WHEN HE WROTE IT, HAD BEEN AT COLOSSE. - III. BY WHOM

THE CHURCH AT COLOSSE WAS FOUNDED.-IV. THE SUBSTANCE OF THIS EPISTLE.

I. THE Christians of Colosse, a city of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, having heard of St. Paul's imprisonment at Rome, sent Epaphras thither to inform him of the state of their affairs, and to inquire after his welfare. In return for that mark of attention, St. Paul, while he was still in confinement, and probably in the year 62, wrote this Epistle to the Colossians, and sent it to them by Tychicus and Onesimus. Epaphras was cast into prison after his arrival at Rome; and it is generally supposed that he had provoked the displeasure of the Roman government by his zeal in preaching the Gospel.

II. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles, that St. Paul was in Phrygia, both in his second and third apostolical journeys, in the years 51 and 53; but it is thought by many persons, that this Epistle contains internal marks of his never having been at Colosse when he wrote it. This opinion rests

a

principally upon the following passage: "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh." I must own, that these words are not, in my judgment, conclusive; if they prove any thing upon this question, they prove that St. Paul had never been either at Laodicea or Colosse; but surely it is very improbable that he should have travelled twice into Phrygia for the purpose of preaching the Gospel, and not have gone either to Laodicea or Colosse, which were the two principal cities of that country; especially as in the second journey into those parts it is said, "that he went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples;" and, moreover, we know that it was the Apostle's practice to preach at the most considerable places of every district into which he went. However, I confess there is no direct proof either in this Epistle or in the Acts, that St. Paul ever was at Colosse; and therefore, after all, it is a point which must be left in some degree doubtful.

a Col. ii. 1.

Lardner says, "It has been of late a prevailing opinion, that the Christians at Colosse and Laodicea were not converted by St. Paul; but to me it seems that there is no good ground for it." And he quotes a very powerful passage from Theodoretus in justification of these doubts.

Re

marks, indeed, occur in the Epistle which it is difficult to understand,

if the Apostle had employed no immediate and personal labour in the conversion of the Galatians. 'I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.' Such words could never, we imagine, have been uttered by a man like St. Paul, if he had done nothing more than persuade them, from a distance, to repent and believe. - EDITOR.

III. Nor can we ascertain by whom the church at Colosse was founded: for it is possible that St. Paul might have gone thither, after some other apostle or teacher had founded a church there. Some have concluded from the two following passages in this Epistle, that the Colossians were first converted by Epaphras: "As ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ.” a "Epaphras, who

b

is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." These passages do not appear to prove that Epaphras originally converted the Colossians to the Gospel, although they show that he had been an active minister among them; and indeed the expression, "Epaphras, who is one of you," places Epaphras and the other Colossians upon the same footing, and is scarcely consistent with the idea, that Epaphras was the person through whom the inhabitants of Colosse had embraced Christianity. Upon the whole, I am inclined to think that St. Paul founded the church at Colosse, and my opinion rests principally upon those terms, both of affection and of authority, in which this Epistle is written. Dr. Lardner, after quoting and arguing upon several passages of this kind, says, "From all these considerations, it appears to me very probable that the church at Colosse had been planted by the

apostle Paul, and that the Christians there were his friends, disciples, and converts.'

IV. This Epistle greatly resembles that of the Ephesians, both in sentiment and expression. After saluting the Colossian Christians in his own name, and that of Timothy, St. Paul assures them, that since he had heard of their faith, in Christ Jesus, and of their love to all Christians, he had not ceased to return thanks to God for them, and to pray that they might increase in spiritual knowledge, and abound in every good work; he describes the dignity of Christ, and declares the universality of the Gospel dispensation, which was a mystery formerly hidden, but now made manifest; and he mentions his own appointment, through the grace of God, to be the Apostle of the Gentiles; he expresses a tender concern for the Colossians and other Christians of Phrygia, and cautions them against being seduced from the simplicity of the Gospel, by the subtlety of Pagan philosophers, or the superstition of Judaizing Christians'; he directs them to set their affections on things above, and forbids every species of licentiousness; he exhorts to a variety of Christian virtues, to meekness, veracity, humility, charity, and devotion; he enforces the duties of wives, husbands, children, fathers, servants, and masters; he inculcates the duty of prayer, and of prudent behaviour towards

a Vol. vi. p. 464.

bi. ii.

c iii.