Guide
What Is the Letter of Paul to the Colossians?
1st Century
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The Letter of Paul to the Colossians, included in the New Testament, was in fact likely written at least a generation after Paul. The unknown author addresses a congregation of Jesus followers in Colossae, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), whose members apparently maintained Jewish practices such as dietary regulations and observance of the Sabbath and festivals. The author rejects these practices as being of this world, while Christ is of the next.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Warning against Imposed Regulations
Colossians 2:16–23
Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to…