返回Preface
Preface
Preface
All the epistles of Paul are holy, but especially those which he sent while in chains: he sent them as a commander during battle, fully confident of victory. And Paul himself considered this great and glorious. For when he writes to Philemon, he says: "whom I have begotten in my bonds" (Philem. 1:10). He said this so that we too would not be distressed in afflictions, but rather consider them an honor. There are many such epistles: to the Ephesians, to Philemon, to Timothy, to the Philippians, and this one — to the Colossians — all of them were written in chains. Just as he wrote to the Romans and Hebrews without having seen them, so too he writes to the Colossians without having seen them beforehand. Among them were Philemon and Archippus, to whom, it seems to me, a certain Church had even been entrusted. And he writes to the Colossians for the following reason: a certain impious teaching had appeared among them — they thought that they had been brought to God the Father not through the Son, but through angels, considering it absurd to believe that in the last days the Son of God appeared, while in the Old Testament everything was accomplished through angels. Moreover, they observed many Jewish and Greek customs, keeping days, seasons, and foods. All of this, of course, required correction and prompted the apostle to write this epistle.
All the epistles of Paul are holy, but especially those which he sent while in chains: he sent them as a commander during battle, fully confident of victory. And Paul himself considered this great and glorious. For when he writes to Philemon, he says: "whom I have begotten in my bonds" (Philem. 1:10). He said this so that we too would not be distressed in afflictions, but rather consider them an honor. There are many such epistles: to the Ephesians, to Philemon, to Timothy, to the Philippians, and this one — to the Colossians — all of them were written in chains. Just as he wrote to the Romans and Hebrews without having seen them, so too he writes to the Colossians without having seen them beforehand. Among them were Philemon and Archippus, to whom, it seems to me, a certain Church had even been entrusted. And he writes to the Colossians for the following reason: a certain impious teaching had appeared among them — they thought that they had been brought to God the Father not through the Son, but through angels, considering it absurd to believe that in the last days the Son of God appeared, while in the Old Testament everything was accomplished through angels. Moreover, they observed many Jewish and Greek customs, keeping days, seasons, and foods. All of this, of course, required correction and prompted the apostle to write this epistle.