Product Description

An imaginative and provocative attempt to bring our 21st century postmodern world into conversation with Paul’s letter to the Colossians.

Have we really heard the message of Colossians? Is it just another religious text whose pretext is an ideological grab for dominating power? Reading Colossians in context - ancient and contemporary - can perhaps give us new ears to hear.

In this innovative and refreshing book, Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmaat explain our own socio-cultural context to help us enter into the world of the New Testament, and get a sense of the power of the gospel as it was addressed to those who lived in Colossae two thousand years ago. Their reading presents us with a radical challenge from the Apostle Paul for today.

Drawing together biblical scholarship with a passion for authentic lives that embody the gospel, this groundbreaking interpretation of Colossians provides us with tools to subvert the empire of our own context in a way that acknowledges the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144421 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

Innovative and captivating treatment of Colossians
This was the first book I read in 2007 and I suspect it will turn out to be the best. I have never taken such care over the reading of a book; often re-reading paragraphs four or five times to digest them and to see them from every angle. This is a superb book that I cannot recommend highly enough.

The book is an attempt to see the short letter to the Colossians with fresh eyes. I can't overstate how successful the authors (a married couple) are in their intention. By critically arshalling the tools of post-modern deconstruction they show us how politically charged a text it would have been to its first hearers and successfully translate that political message for our day.

Despite its engagement with post-modern literary theory, this is not a book that comes from the Emergent Church. The authors are totally orthodox, in the fullness of that word and this could be read easily by Christians of any shape or colour, Protestant or Catholic or Orthodox. They never clumsily use the key terms that they feel they must utilise to do justice to the case Paul brings to the Colossae churches. So although controversial words like "globalisation", "hegemony", "postmodernity", "realitivism" and most potently "empire" are used, they are expertly defined within clear parameters.

The argument of the book, briefly, is that Colossians was an incendiary political tract that argued the message of Christ was much more than just a series of abstract Platonic concepts to be grasped and internally adhered to but that Christ's claim to supremacy placed him centre in every aspect of life- whether that is how a wealthy person treats their slaves, how a husband treats their wife or how a community of believers relates to an Empire that is inherently hostile to the fullness of their message. These concerns, Keesmat and Walsh argue, are actually prevalent in the western church today and we need to heed the call to be subversive agents of grace in an empire that exists on the back of the majority world who are often slaves in all but name.

I don't want to rehash their arguments in too much detail in this review. It may sound too political to you, too argumentative in the way that I have phrased it but all I can urge you to do is splash out on this book, give it a few hours and then enjoy the weeks worth of thoughts that flow from it. I don't agree with everything they say, you won't either. But their large picture makes for a convincing case, an exciting call to renewed discipleship and a challenge to truly be the people God calls us to be. Biblical, thoughtful and brilliantly written, I love this book.

Colossians literally remixed.
With the last century of study seemingly focusing on the Colossian heresy this postmodern friendly, highly readable 'commentary' (of sorts) on Colossians seems to be the cutting edge of current Colossian scholarship. It brings a fresh perspective on an interesting book of the New Testament exploring themes of subversion in relation to the Roman Empire, and culture of the time. A fascinating study.

Fresh and imaginative approach to a New Testament letter
This is a `commentary' on the book of Colossians unlike any other, and exceptionally accessible. It's one of an increasing number of books from North American authors that draw out the implications of rival claims to our total loyalty that (on the one hand) Jesus Christ and (on the other) the surrounding dominant culture of society ('empire') can be seen as making. Written by two extremely able communicators, it uses a range of very creative methods to illustrate the argument Colossians puts forward - including postmodern `antagonists' of varying hues, contemporary targumim (expanded paraphrases of a scriptural text), and a dramatic re-staging of the first church `reading' of particular sections of the letter to try and convey how they might originally have been received.

The result is a vivid and mostly convincing analysis of this ancient letter (quite possibly written by Paul), and a testimony to its continuing, powerful relevance as a call to countercultural Christian living. Although operating with a somewhat flawed model of how the death/resurrection of Jesus (why is it never his life...?) restores human relationships with God, it makes for an intriguing and fresh presentation of Colossians for today.