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

includes index and biblioraphy

1. Stories of Colossians and Authorship..............1 Thought experiment one-harry potter, the third generation .............1 Thought experiments two - Nancy drew and the hardy Boys...........2 Stories of Colossians .........2 Why so many stories ..................4 The authorship debate: Historical Background ......5 Modern views on the authorship of Colossians ...........7 Nature of Authorship ............8 Arguments against and for paul`s Authorship of Collossians ........10 Why and for what purposes does it makes a Difference whether paul wrote colossians .............22 Beyond a Singular paul and homes for Colossians Stories ...........28 2. Rhetoric and Opposition ...................33James baldwin`s A letter to my nephew .............33 The letter to the colossians ....................34 Reconstructing the Rhetorical Situation as a Historical Situation - Guidelines .......37 Establishing a Rhetorical Situation - Collosians 2 : 6-23 as a Key ............38 Rhetoric and Structure ........41 External Clues to Audience and Ascetics .............55 Reconstruction of the Historical Context : Internal and External Cluses ........59 Historical Reconstructions of the Philosophy : The Ascetics / Visionaries of 2 : 6-23 .....................60 Responding to the Multiplicity of Reconstructions ..............67 3. The household code, Ethics, and Interpretation ...............69 Household codes...............69 LOrd / Master ..............69 IMagining responses .........70 Complementarians and Egalitarians ..........70 Immediate context in the letter ..............72 The topos-Concerning household management .................73 Nature and functions of the Colossian code ...............75 THe house hold code speaks : Hard Hermeneutical Questions ...........86