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"Let no (pagan) therefore judge you..."
#44
The "man" of verse 16, is clearly the same "man" of verse 18, and indeed the "man" spoken of through out the whole Chapter. If we are unbiased in our treatment of the text in its entire context, we can learn the following about this "man" that Paul is warning us about:

1) They are given to Philosophy. v8
2) They are Devoid of Truth (Vain Deciet). v8
3) They hold to Traditions of men. v8
4) They follow after the Elements of the World (Gal 4:8-9 shows us, Paul uses this term to refer to Pagan gods). v4
5) They do not follow after Christ. v8
6) They judge the believers in food and drink, and in the observation of holy days. v16
7) They worship angels (see what Paul tells us of Pagan gods in 1 Cor 8:5, 10:20, and Gal 4:8-10). v18
8 ) They are proud. v18
9) They are carnal minded ("the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God" Romans 8:7). v18
10) They do not hold to the Head and are therefore not part of the Body of Messiah. v19
11) They are of the world. v20
12) They are subject to ordinances, commandments and doctrines OF MEN (NOT GOD). vs 20-22
13) They promote self-made religion (ESV). v23
14) They promote asceticism (ESV). v23
15) They engage in sever treatment of the body (NASB). v23

I think that it is abundantly clear when we allow the text to speak for itself, that Colossians 2 is NOT speaking of Torah-observant belivers judging non-Torah-observant believers. Nor does it appear to be talking of Jewish Pharisees, but rather it seems to be a warning about Pagans, or perhaps proto-Gnostics (perhaps even a Kabbalistic sect of Essenes?).

Furthermore we see that Paul talks of the observance of Holy Days, New Moons, and Sabbaths as being present tense Shadows of things to come (Future Tense). When we compare this with Paul's own life, where he himself kept the Festivals (read Acts), and with the record of the first 250 years of Church History in the West where they all clearly kept the Sabbath and the Festivals. Aswell as the history of the pre-Roman Catholic Church of the East (notably in India and China) which all kept the Seventh-day Sabbath for over a thousand years, and kept Kosher ("the Nestorians eat no pork and keep the Sabbath [New Schaff Hertog Encyclopedia "Nestorians"]; the 16th century Indians were killed by the Portugese Roman Catholics for being "Judaisers" who kept Kosher and observed the Sabbath etc; and the entire church in China was called the "Hwuy that abstain from animals that do not have cloven feet"). It becomes overwhealmingly clear that Colossians 2 is in support of Torah-observance, or at the very least, is NOT teaching against Torah-observance.

May the Father give you eyes to see, and ears to hear, and hearts to understand.

Shalom.
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Re: "Let no (pagan) therefore judge you..." - by aspiring2slavery - 05-25-2012, 03:08 PM

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