Studying the background to Colossians yesterday, I ran across this quote from W.T. Wilson about the kind of thinking that was common in the days when Paul wrote the letter:
“It seemed that the universe, in all its vastness and intricacy, was beyond human comprehension or control, being governed instead by a host of wrathful gods and indifferent supernatural powers. Human beings could do little more than struggle against the relentless tide of “Fate.” For them, personal and material insecurity, not to mention moral and spiritual indeterminacy, characterize the human condition, which often amounts to little more than fruitless search for meaning that ends with death and oblivion…
Often abetting this “common core” was the belief that the very fabric of the universe suffered from some sort of irreparable rift. The two fundamental realms of reality that make up the universe, the celestial and terrestrial, are set in opposition to one another on account of some cosmic crisis, variously described…
In response to this unsettled state of affairs, mortals sought some understanding of and access to the supernatural powers that controlled their lives, often via intermediary or demonic beings or through mystical experiences. This would involve discovering some sort of effectual means for appeasing, worshipping, or manipulating these powers in order to obtain a degree of protection or in order to escape the corrupted, terrestrial world, either in this life or the next.”
This is a description of at least one way of looking at thew world that was prevalent in Paul’s day. It’s one of the things the church in Colossae had to guard their minds against. It seems to be what led to their beginning to accept some false teaching.
I know in 2012 we’re submerged in our technology and scientific ways of thinking, but I can’t help but wonder, looking at popular media, talking with people, if we’re not seeing the beginnings of a movement towards the same kind of thinking in our culture…
(Quote from W.T. Wilson, The Hope of Glory: Education and Exhortation in the Epistle of the Colossians. Quoted in Douglas J. Moo, The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, p. 59.)