Colossians - Concordia Commentary

In this Volume

Despite its brevity, Colossians has much to say. Paul faces proto-Gnostic deviations in the Colossian church, choosing to emphasize incarnational Christology and build from there. Based on the person of Christ, Paul develops an ordered doctrine of creation and maintains an eschatological lens that keeps the focus on the Heavenly gifts to come. Dr. Deterding approaches the letter with equal parts academic and pastoral concerns, tackling everything from the scholarly history of authorship to the rich sacramental theology of baptism. The eschatology of the letter extends beyond those verses that speak of the life to come, for its message is constantly given with an eye on eternity. The true doctrine of Christ, who is the exalted Lord over the entire creation, refutes the false christologies that were circulating in Colossae, variations of which continue to compete against the true Gospel in the world today.

Features

• A reconstruction of the probable Colossian heresy
• Arguments and evidence for undisputed Pauline authorship
• A focus on the Christology, Soteriology, and Cosmology of Colossians

Additional Essays

• Baptism in the Message of Colossians
• The Pauline Model of Growth in Sanctification
• Colossian’s relationship to Ephesians and Philemon

About the Author

Dr. Paul E. Deterding has served as an adjunct professor and parish pastor, and currently is on the faculty of St. Paul Lutheran High School in Concordia, Missouri. He studied at Concordia Senior College in Ft. Wayne, Indiana (B.A.) and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri (M.Div., S.T.M., Th.D.).

Endorsements

"Congratulations are in order to author Paul Deterding for his fine commentary on the book of Colossians in the Concordia Commentary series. In this book, Deterding sees his namesake Paul combining Christology, creation, and eschatology to refute the incipient Gnosticism that was threatening the young church at Colossae. As to the importance of Christology, I would suggest, generally, that if you get Christ right, you get theology right."

–Joel D. Heck, Concordia University, Austin, Texas in Concordia Journal (2009 Spring)

About the series

The Concordia Commentary Series: A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture is written to enable pastors and teachers of the Word to proclaim the Gospel with greater insight, clarity, and faithfulness to the divine intent of the Biblical text.

The series will cover all the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, with an original translation and meticulous grammatical analysis of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek of each text. The foremost interpretive lens centers on the unified proclamation of the person and work of Christ across every Scriptural book.

The Commentary fully affirms the divine inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture; Each passage bears witness to the confession that God has reconciled the world to Himself through the incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ His Son.

Authors expose the rich treasury of language, imagery, and thematic content of the Scripture, while supplementing their work with additional research in archaeology, history, and extrabiblical literature. Throughout, God’s Word emanates from authors careful attention and inculcates the ongoing life of the Church in Word, Sacrament, and daily confession.

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