Colosse, once a flourishing city in what is now Turkey, lies today in ruins. All memory of it would no doubt be lost had it not been the subject of a letter addressed to the church in Colosse by the Apostle Paul.

Barely a stone remains of Colosse, located in southwestern Phrygia in the Roman province of Asia (Asia Minor). The ancient city was about 12 miles above Laodicea, near the great road from Ephesus to the Euphrates River, and thus of importance as a trade route.

Colossians is a short book that can be read in under 10 minutes. What we call books, such as this, were written as formal letters and also are referred to as epistles. It is well worth reading again, especially for its defense against atheists and agnostics, who say the biblical version of creation is a myth. It also points to Christ as the creator of heaven and earth and as the head of the body, which is
the church.

One of my favorite verses is Col. 1:16,17: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powersall things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Colossians was written by Paul at Rome during his first imprisonment (Acts 28:16, 30), probably in AD 62 -- soon after writing his epistle to the Ephesians. Paul remained in Rome for at least two years where, despite being a prisoner, he also wrote Philippians and Philemon. To his credit, he wrote a large part of what we now call the New Testament

Although the Bible record does not include his fate, scholars believe he was eventually acquitted of the charges and released in 63 or 64 A.D., after which he made his way back through Greece and Turkey before again being arrested and returned to Rome where he was martyred, by beheading, or torn apart by wild animals in the arena before a cheering crowd, in about 67 A.D., during the reign of terror by the Emperor Nero.

Such was the end of this great writer, defender of the faith and lowly tentmaker.

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