While there are pertinent aspects that portray Paul's authority in the letter to Colossians, it is possible that Paul did not write it. It is undisputed that the letter points to Paul's affirmations about devotion to Christ (Foster, 2016, p. 106). Besides this, the letter endorses Paul's teachings about Christ and the blessings that have been extended to Christians by virtue of the death of Christ. There are, however, particular contrasting aspects that make one doubt if the author was Paul. One of them is the greetings to Colossians, which differs from that to other churches (Savoy, 2019, p.5). There are also speculations that it is possible that Paul was imprisoned at the time the Epistle was written. This raises the question whether he had the time to pen down the letter, especially when he was first imprisoned in Rome. His communication is also more emphasized in his writing, and his physical presence less obvious in the letter. This raises the question of whether he instructed someone to communicate to the church in Colossae with his authority because of his absence and less contact with Colossians.
It is possible that the Epistle was written by an author, highly conversant with Paul's teachings and beliefs. It might not have been Paul because of the writing style that differs from that incorporated in other epistles, for example, Ephesians and Galatians. The argument put forward by various scholars is that the number of words, the nature of the language, and the conjunctions used aptly differ from the other letters (Foster, 2016, p. 71). Besides, the theology also differs (Laken, 2018, p.11). While in the other letters, Paul emphasizes the position and the Holy Spirit's work in the believer's life, this emphasis is not prominent in Colossians. Other aspects that seem to be less evident are the emphasis on the local church, which differs from other letters where Paul seems to emphasize the universal church. To some extent, if Paul did not write the letter, the difference would have been evident in the theology.
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References
Foster, P. (2016). Colossians Bntc . Bloomsbury Publishing.
Laken, A. K. (2018). An Authorship Study on the Letters of Saint Paul.
Savoy, J. (2019). Authorship of Pauline epistles revisited. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology , 70 (10), 1089-1097.
Response to peers
Student 1
Hello. Thank you for your dynamic approach to the question about Colossian’s authorship. I agree with you that without original copies of the works written by Paul, it is difficult to ascertain whether he wrote the Epistle in question. I also think you raise a plausible question about his imprisonment. It is possible that during the time of his imprisonment, he delegated the duty to someone else who better knew him to write to Colossians. Most importantly, the authorship could be questioned because a few scholars argue about the style used in writing Colossians that differs from other major letters that Paul wrote. Regardless of the authorship, just as you say, I believe the message to Colossians should be the major focus. If Paul affirms that the church should focus on loving God and the neighbor as well as doing good, I believe the message is parallel with those from the other Epistles; hence, it should not be a significant issue.
Student 2
Hello. One of the most important elements that make your argument highly appealing is your precise nature in describing it. I agree with you that it is possible that someone wrote in the authority of Paul because of a few contrasting aspects between this Epistle and others like Galatians. Besides the writing style that is employed, according to Colossians 1:1-2, where the opening greetings to Colossians cite Paul and Timothy, Timothy’s co-authorship with Paul is hinted.
I firmly agree with you that with Foster’s argument about Colossian theology, it is possible to question whether Paul actually wrote the Epistle. From the analysis of Foster’s text, it is argued that in Colossians, unlike in other Epistles where the emphasis on the universal church is evident, Paul emphasizes the local church. He says that he has heard about the faith of the church in Colossae. While these are important evidence that he probably did not author it, the main question is about his signatures, which were significantly similar to those in other Epistles
