Sharing in the Inheritance Identity and the Moral Life in Colossians

The argument of this book is two-fold: that the target of the argument of Colossians is a Judaism dismissive of the Gentile Colossian Christians; and that the recognition of that fact casts new light on the moral material of the letter and its integration into the argument of the epistle as a whole.Several arguments are made in support of these claims. Significant parallels between Colossians and Galatians suggest similar concerns in both letters relating to Israel's identity as the people of God and how that relates to the Gentile believers are to live. The writers of Colossians, while sharing a similar Jewish perspective with the Colossian philosophers on the relationship between identity and way of life, admonish the Gentile Christians to live in a way consistent with who they are. Nevertheless Paul and Timothy differ with the philosophers as to what constitutes the identity of the Colossian Gentiles as the people of God. Further themes are also presented which strongly suggest the Jewish character of,the philosophy: wisdom, election, and death of Christ as the final return from exile.Bevere, Allan R. is the author of 'Sharing in the Inheritance Identity and the Moral Life in Colossians' with ISBN 9780826462077 and ISBN 0826462073.