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Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire

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I'm giving this book four stars because while there was a lot of good stuff in here, there was also some problematic material. To me, four stars should mean: a good book for those who are sharp enough and open enough to read thoughtfully and reflectively, taking the good and rejecting the occasional misstep.

In order to make this review at least somewhat useful to those considering whether to read or buy the book, I'll make a few general comments. First off, the writing style is very good. There is well-written prose, reasonably creative dialogue, narrative, poetry, targum, just about as many genres as one book could handle. This allowed the book to seem fresh each time I picked it up, and also kept it from getting old fast. Secondly, however, I should note that the book covers a wide range of issues and can get somewhat technical. It is definitely more accessible than say Barth or Aquinas, but it is still worth reading carefully. In particular, I'm thinking of A. Travison's review. Either he didn't understand the discussion of Postmodernism at all, or his comments are simply dishonest caricatures. To be generous, I'll assume that he just should have read that section a little more slowly.

Far from being an assault on reason, this book provides an insightful and balanced--if somewhat brief and condensed--analysis and CRITIQUE of postmodernism. They are not Postmodernists who think that everything is up in the air. They are not saying that we need to abandon reason. They are saying that "conservative" (for lack of a better word) reactions to Postmodernism have been shallow and naïve. They are saying that we need to calm down and not make an idol out of rationality. And we need to realize that we do carry a worldview with us into EVERY intellectual discussion in which we engage. So we can't pretend that we are unbiased thinkers. This insight is not new even to staunchly conservative Christians--just read Cornelius Van Til or Greg Bahnsen--even if they come to slightly different conclusions. I do not think this book is far from the truth, and its discussion of Postmodernism is certainly valuable for being honest with that movement and then moving forward to something better.

While the book is pretty liberal (I consider myself liberal politically, and this book goes beyond what I would do), it is also quite Biblical in most of its ethical discussions (in other words, it seems to be theologically conservative). The criticisms of American economic policy is quite proper. The call for us to live a radically selfless lifestyle in order to insure justice for the poor of the world is right on. In our drive to have more and better things we are destroying the environment and human life, what is wrong with pointing this out and saying we should do something radical to change it?

On the down side is their discussion of husband/wife, parents/children and master/slave relationships. As with much of the book the discussion is somewhat underdeveloped. They don't ever get around to really saying what exactly the husband/wife or parents/children relationships should look like, for example. They do make it sound a lot like Paul didn't really mean it when he said that wives should submit to their husbands. It is made to sound as though any and all hierarchical relationships are inherently abusive, but I don't think such a claim could be maintained. Sadly, they are less clear in this section than I would have liked (or, perhaps I just need to reread it more carefully).

My only general complaint is that their exegesis is weak on the whole. Even when I agreed with their conclusions or principles (which was often), it seemed as though they were stretching to dig it out of Colossians.

This book essentially takes N.T. Wright's Pauline theology seriously and tries to re-situate Paul's message in Colossians into the contemporary postmodern, postcolonial context. To put it succinctly, Wright argues that Paul's essentially Jewish view of the messianic king wasn't some "heavenly" or "spiritual" king but a very this-worldly king. I.e., the kingdom of God isn't something we simply die into, but something that God is also bringing onto earth in all its fullness (social, political, spiritual, etc.). Thus, if Paul says Jesus is the messianic king (which, per the Davidic covenant and psalms, means also king of the world), his kingship necessarily confronts the claims of all other kings, especially the Caesar of the then-world empire Rome. Drawing similarities between the ancient Roman empire and today's American global democratic-capitalistic "empire", Walsh and Keesmaat attempt to give Paul a contemporary "voice". In other words, they suggest that the messiahship and lordship of Jesus necessarily subverts the absolute world powers today (esp. American-style global capitalism), whose influence is social, political, economic, spiritual, etc. Thus, Colossians calls us to live in subversion to today's empire.

A few reviews seem to interpret this book as a biblical justification for a leftist politic (or terrorism!). I can understand how such a reading can take place. The authors do not mince words in criticising the powers that be, and they do go at it strong on a few of their socio-political views. However, their message and approach is too valuable for these things to be stumbling blocks. There is a greater challenge in this book than about debating between the left and the right. (I should also warn those with leftist leanings to read closely enough to be challenged and not simply assume that their recapitulation of Paul is essentially leftist.)

This book won't appeal to everyone though, which, I believe explains the polarized views. If you have grown up with a distinctly postmodern sense of suspicion, then this book has a message for you. The authors have a way of both engaging you and challenging you at the same time. This book is not easily digested (both its message and the density in which it is presented) nor can you simply nod to its message. It necessarily makes you feel uncomfortable.

What should be made clear about this book is that it is not a book ABOUT postmodern Christianity, it IS a postmodern Christian book (for better or worse).

I am another person who has only great things to say about this book. This is my first Amazon book review and I decided to write it because I would love to see people buy and read this book. I can be described as having been an "out of church Christian" and have struggled for many years over the form of Christianity that too often sells the Gospel and use Christ as a tool to win converts. I am also as an individual wedged between Modernity and Post-Modernity. There are a lot of books that have come out in recent years that tackle suck questions, but I have found this to be head and shoulders the best for a couple of reasons. First it uses scripture almost exclusively to form its thesis. It is at the core a Bible commentary. Whlile the post-modern in me does want to throw off reason as an idol, I do not trust paths that are forged outside of scripture as a base. It also does not cherry pick scripture to come to a conslusion that the authors want to assert, the conversation comes straight out of Colossians. Their view comes out of Colossians rather than down on Colossians.

Second and most importaintly the "answer" the authors point to is Christ. It sounds trite, but if you have read Colossians it is rather obvious. The man Jesus is the one who made everything and is the one in whom all tings hold together. Now that is a huge thing to wrap your brain around and I have not found many authors who have tried to tackle it seriously and practically for us who are living in the curent day.

It is a great book to read together with others. It is a rather sophisticated book and it is not the easiest of reads. We have started a Bible study on Colossians around it and it has been very good.

I also find it very interesting that this book was written by Canadians.

I recently finished two books, each of which, in their own way, elaborated a common theme: understanding the New Testament as 1) a tool for confronting ideologies in conflict with the Kingdom Jesus preached, and 2) painting an alternate, Christian vision of reality which subverts reigning dominant paradigms. Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmat's "Colossians remixed: subverting the empire" elaborated this theme through a study of Colossians and Richard Bauckham's "The theology of the book of Revelation" through a study of Revelation. I found both of these books extremely helpful in developing a much deeper, richer, and relevant reading of scripture. The idea I found most intriguing was how important it is to understand the pervasive role that the ideology of the Roman Empire had in shaping the hearts and minds of those living in its shadow. The reason I found these books so helpful was that they put flesh on the platitude that we should "understand scripture within its original context." I think it's easy to read scripture without the lenses of history, myopically attempting to extract some lesson from its words by transporting it directly into our own cultural context. Perhaps there are many passages of scripture which can more easily transcend times and places than others: perhaps the beatitudes, and other passages on the themes of love and forgiveness found in the parables of Jesus. But I think there is much to be gleaned from scripture not just by looking for absolute rules to live by, but by understanding the kind of function that, e.g. the letters of the new testament had within the communities to which they were written. But understanding the function of scripture in this sense involves bringing to scripture some historical understanding, which corrects a historically myopic reading of scripture. These two books in their own ways have gone some way towards correcting my own historical myopia (which doesn't take much).

Walsh and Keesmat argue that Colossians is, in fact, a subversive tract against the Roman Empire. What is an empire? Walsh and Keesmat define an empire as a kind of totalizing worldview: a picture of reality which is not so much explicitly assented to as a list of propositions as it is lived out and evidenced through one's actions and those actions' relationship to the collective rhythm of a society. According to Walsh and Keesmat, there are four aspects of an empire. Empires are 1) built on systematic centralizations of power, 2) secured by structures of socioeconomic and military control, 3) religiously legitimated by powerful myths and 4) sustained by a proliferation of imperial images that captivate the imaginations of the population (p. 58). In the context of the Roman empire, for example, the legitimation of Roman rule was summed up in the Pax Romana: the idea that Rome was the bringer of lasting peace, and could guarantee such peace in exchange for the allegiance of its subjects. What Paul does in Colossians, and what isn't obvious to us today, I think, is directly challenge Roman ideology. Implicit in Colossians (there waiting to be discovered with just a little bit of historical lenses correcting the myopia) is the message that it is Christ, not Rome, that brings lasting peace, and it is Christ, not Rome to whom we owe our allegiance. And don't let all the practices which legitimate the Roman empire, Paul is saying, lull you into complicity with her--whether that be benefiting from her wealth (e.g. church at Laodicea) or accepting the myths that attempted to legitimate one's place in a society structured to keep the power in the hands of the already powerful at the expense of the slaves, the women, and the poor (c.f. the "noble lie" in Plato's Republic).

Walsh and Keesmat's treatment of Colossians suggests to me a certain kind of exegetical methodology:

Exegetical methodology: First figure out the writer's message (which requires giving ourselves some historical perspective with which we can better understand the issues confronting the church at the time), and then rethink the message within our own socio-economic-political context.

For the Colossians, it seems there were two parts of the message: first, an engagement and criticism of the "philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world" (Colossians 2:8), which was the totalizing vision of the Roman Empire under which they lived. Second, and integrally related to the first part, is a painting of an alternative picture of a community modeled on the Kingdom of God, which Christ proclaimed, inaugurated and (somehow) made possible through his life and death. Walsh and Keesmat model this practice in writing some targums--an application and elaboration of the message adapted to our own cultural context--of passages from Colossians. This is not a new practice: the Jews of the Diaspora read the Torah in this same way (p. 38).

Walsh and Keesmat suggest that the reigning ideology of "pax Americana" is global capitalism, which is almost universally subscribed to, if not in word, then at least in deed. Of course, operating on the principles of global capitalism has brought great success for America, but economic success is not the end-all-be-all for the Christian. Concerns of justice should always trump it--a message we find throughout both the Jewish Scriptures and New Testament. And there is a real question about the justice of the kinds of economic relationships involved in maintaining an empire like the United States. These are big questions that aren't easy, no doubt. But reading scripture in a historically informed way which is sensitive to the concerns of the context in which it is written (which will almost certainly require extra-biblical resources) will allow us to arrive at the meaning of scripture. If we then engage in some cultural criticism of our own--something which Paul and John themselves did--then we'll have in hand an interpretation which has the power to transform the way we live by engaging the realities of our own situations. This brings new meaning to the idea of the word of God as living and active.

Have you ever turned on the radio, listened to two minutes of a catchy new song, begun to sing along to the strangely familiar chorus, only to then realize that this "new" song was actually just a modern rendition of one of your old favorites? Whether it's Jessica Simpson singing Berlin's 80's classic, "Take My Breath Away," MXPX rocking out Keith Green's "You Put This Love in My Heart," or even Tori Amos giving her take of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," we have all heard it done (with varying levels of success). As intimidating as it may be to offer your own modern version of, say, the love song from Top Gun, in Colossians Remixed husband/wife team Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat take on an even more ambitious challenge: remixing a New Testament Pauline epistle so that its message sounds as fresh today as it did nearly two millennia ago.

The idea for Colossians Remixed began with Walsh's simple question to New Testament scholar N.T. Wright about the latter's commentary on Colossians: "So what?" (8). What is the point of pontificating on a two thousand year old book if you cannot make it applicable to today's twenty-first century, postmodern audience? Thus began Walsh and Keesmaat's journey to find the thread tying the first century context to the twenty-first. According to Walsh and Keesmaat, that thread is empire.

Walsh and Keesmaat (hereafter W&K) argue that just as the first century Christians lived in the heart of a worldly empire, so today Christians find themselves in a new world empire. They describe the common characteristics of empires as being

"(1) built on systemic centralizations of power, (2) secured by structures of socioeconomic and military control, (3) religiously legitimated by powerful myths and (4) sustained by a proliferation of imperial images that captivate the imaginations of the population." (58)

W&K find all four of these characteristics true not only of first century Rome, but also of the twenty-first century empire of "global capitalism" (65). While any historian could list the ways the ancient Roman empire fits in with the four characteristics above, it is a bit more difficult for the modern observer to see how the global capitalistic empire measures up. Thus, W&K spend Part One, "Context Remixed: Colossians and Empire," describing this new empire.

According to W&K, Generation X-ers are caught between a postmodern ideology that welcomes diversity and denies all absolutes and a cybernetic consumerist ideology that strives to promote the latest and the greatest. While many think of Gen X-ers as anti-materialistic, W&K argue that this generation actually gravitates quite naturally toward the materialistic world. In fact, W&K find some striking bonds between these two ideologies: whereas in the consumerist world one is free to pick and choose one's style, wardrobe, electronic equipment, etc., so in postmodernism one is free to pick and choose one's own beliefs, morals, and values. Just as the latest styles and trends are always in flux, so also is truth. One is free to create herself into whoever she desires to be. Only, according to W&K, here's the catch: we aren't free. The empire of global capitalism has systemically established its influence and power over our lives; it has stolen our dreams and replaced them with its own commercialistic images; it has hypnotically indoctrinated us with the myth of endless progress; and in order to secure its influence in our lives and in the world, it has established economic and military control of unprecedented proportions.

In order to understand the implications of living in this modern empire, W&K paint as vivid of a picture as they can of the imperial context in which Paul originally wrote, combining various genres--narrative, historical fiction, dialogue, essay, and even targum--to accomplish this end. They argue that Christianity is just as counter-cultural (or counter-imperial) today as it would have been in the Roman world. Thus, according to W&K, the Colossians in our Bible is as much a subversive political tract as it is an otherworldly theological treatise, and it should be read that way today.

One of the biggest difficulties many Gen X-ers have with the Bible is the impression it gives of dogmatic, absolute truth. In Part Two, "Truth Remixed: Contested Imaginations," W&K argue just the opposite. They argue that while the ancient Roman and modern capitalist empires takes imaginations captive and molds them into its own way of thinking (e.g. Caesar is All, bigger is better, etc.), Colossians subverts these controlling mindsets by offering a different story that awakens the imagination. Any empire knows that in order to control a people, one must control their imagination. This is done by making people forget their history, by erasing their story, and by instilling a new regime of truth. A regime of truth is any prevailing, controlling ideology or worldview that boxes in the imagination. All empires must use them, because they are the bases for control. An imagination is the ability to tell a different story, and thus to live and produce fruit outside the confines of the established regime of truth. Thus, according to W&K, the Bible (and Colossians specifically) is not another regime of truth, but rather, it serves to "engender an alternative imagination that subverts the rule of idolatry and sets us free to bear the fruit of the gospel in every dimension of our lives" (144). Truth becomes "not a correspondence between ideas and facts," but a covenantal, incarnational relationship (130). W&K then proceed in Part Three, "Praxis Remixed: Subversive Ethics," to describe how this understanding can produce fruit in our lives today by subverting the imperial values with a liberating, counter-cultural Christian ethic.

Like any attempt to update an old classic, Colossians Remixed has moments that capture the essence of the original in a profoundly insightful, fresh way, and moments that leave one nostalgically longing for the original in its original form. Though presented in a readable fashion, W&K are no pushovers in their exegetical skills. Thus, their ability to make Colossians come alive in the original context of the Roman Empire displays both impressive hermeneutical ability and creative skill. This is perhaps most poignantly presented in their historical-fictional narratives of Nympha and Onesimus. In reading W&K's epistle from Onesimus to Paul, one is struck by the shocking way in which Paul's message of the gospel turns the social structures of Roman life upside-down. Likewise, the story of Nympha's trial vividly illustrates the true subversiveness of the Colossian Christological hymn. Through these narratives, as well as other presentations in the book, W&K make their point loud and undeniably: Colossians was truly a subversive text.

The jump from Colossians subverting the Roman Empire to Colossians subverting today's empire is a bit more difficult to make. Yet, here too W&K do a convincing job. By establishing the four common characteristics of all empires, they are able to portray Western consumerism as the empire of all empires. However, because Western consumerism is not quite as well defined as Roman Imperialism, W&K spend much of the book equivocating between different meanings of the modern empire. In some passages, they seem to be discussing a general Western consumerist ideology; in other passages they focus more on the corporate-capitalist world; while in still other passages they refer directly to American economic and political practices. While these three understandings are clearly inter-related, at times it is difficult to nail down precisely who or what W&K are talking about. Thus, while their overall analysis and diagnosis of the current situation is quite defensible, they sometimes resort to one-sided caricatures of more nuanced situations in order to prove their point. For example, without any references to support their statements, W&K dogmatically assert that

"the U.S. administration was willing to go to war against Iraq under the false pretenses of 'weapons of mass destruction,' supposed connections to Al Qaeda and 9/11, and the 'liberation' of Iraq... A war-mongering empire should find no support from a community that worships the Prince of Peace." (182)

While I agree with this statement and believe their point about Christians promoting peace admits a world of turmoil is well taken (and serves as a strong, much-needed corrective to much of today's evangelical, pro-war rhetoric), their argument is weakened a bit by the rhetoric they employ.

Notwithstanding a few overstatements on their part, W&K diagnose the contemporary climate quite well in light of their reading of Colossians. But describing a problem is one thing; prescribing solutions is another. Here Colossians Remixed gets mixed reviews. For in parts One and Two, W&K argue adamantly against absolutes that hit one in the face, yet in certain sections of Part Three, that is precisely the impression one feels: being hit in the face with absolutes (only now the absolutes are not prescribed by Paul, but by two twenty-first century interpreters of Paul). For example, in their discussion of an ecological ethic, they ask, "Is [the issue of baby's diapers] a matter of Christian integrity? Yes, it is. Christians committed to ecological restoration and peace will want to put cloth diapers on their baby's bottom..." (197). In this single instance, they have alienated a good deal of their well-meaning Christian brothers and sisters who do not hold similar convictions of excrement disposal. In keeping consistent with the relational nature of their reading of Colossians and their understanding of truth, it would seem that they would desire to describe how their imaginations are cultivated and worked out in the world, and then invite others to express their imaginations in ways they see fit to promote shalom. Instead it sometimes feels as if they are trying to encourage imagination on the one hand and tell others how their imagination should play out on the other.

In the final analysis, then, this remix of Colossians allows Paul's music to be heard to previously tone-deaf ears, and for that it accomplishes much. While W&K's rubric of subverting the empire offers a deeper understanding of the contemporary situation in the materialistic West as well as the original context in Colossae, there are still a few spots in this book where Paul might not be able to recognize his own song.

[...]

Already being an admirer of Walsh and Keesmat's friend and teacher, NT (Tom) Wright, I picked up this book with great expectations and was not let down. They and their colleague Richard Middleton, whose equally excellent if more scholarly, "The Liberating Image" sets Genesis 1 clearly in its anti-imperial context, are opening up solid ground in which the seeds of authentic discipleship can grow.

Their books are part of a wider movement, which, unfortunately so far, they seem not to have engaged fully, which includes the work of writers such as Ched Myers (Mark's Gospel), Warren Carter (Matthew's Gospel) and myself (John and Revelation). Serious and engaged scholarly research into the imperial context of the New Testament has beamed liked a searchlight on the otherwise obscure and baffling words of some NT texts. Foundational volumes such as "Paul and Empire" (ed, Richard Horsley) as well as source work such as SRF Price's "Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor" and P. Zanker's "The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus" have shown how NT exegesis that does not engage the imperial context--then and now--simply does not engage "the gospel," whether of Jesus or of Paul (which are, in the end, the same).

If you like this approach, you might also like Neil Elliott's work on Paul, as well as any of Wright's or Horsley's excellent volumes.

J. Richard Middleton's endorsement of the book should have been written in flashing lights. If is taken seriously for its own message or as a model for the task of postmodern hermaneutics and "faithful improvisation" then it will be a "Molotov cocktail lobbed into the midst of contemporary biblical studies and the American Empire."

The interactive dialog is a very helpful device to bring along many readers who are still working through their clarification of an internal clash of modern/postmodern worldviews. While it would have been distracting to have another character coming from a modern perspective that mifht have been another book. I guess we'll find that on the web pages that are sure to denounce the author's "naming of names." The empire is alive and too well. Let's hope we can find the courage to be the alternative community that Paul challenged the Colissians to be.

Occasionally, a book comes along that ignites the fires of my imagination and fuels my passion for being part of the counter-culture we call the Church. Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat's Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire is one such book.

Colossians Remixed goes where regular commentaries rarely go. The authors rewrite Colossians as if Paul were writing to postmodern, postChristian, 21st century Americans living under the rule of the American Empire. They go about this task by showing how deeply subversive Colossians was of the Roman Empire, and they seek to translate the subversive nature of the tract into today's world.

The good

The authors write with great insight into the biblical text, both Old and New Testaments. Their reading of Colossians with "Old Testament ears" helps solidify the points they argue. Infusing even the greeting in Colossians "Grace and peace to you" with the Jewish concepts of these two words makes for a delightful exposition of the text. The authors love the Scriptures and they like seeing modern-day audiences shocked by their "targums" just as they consider how the original audiences were surprised by Paul's rhetoric.

The authors understand the importance of the Roman Empire for Paul's writings. When Paul calls Jesus the "image" of the invisible God, he was subverting Caesar, whose image appeared on virtually everything. And for our image-driven society today, Paul's statement is just as powerful. Understanding the historical context of Colossians provides fresh insight into the text and helps the authors ground their targums in historical reality.

Colossians Remixed is right to argue that the United States is an "empire" of sorts, even if it does not always resemble Rome. And the authors are correct in stating that Christians should be subversive of the current worldviews that prop up and idolize the American way of life. This thread may be unpopular, but I confess it is the thread that made me do the most soul-searching. Over and over again, the authors remind us of how deeply committed we are to the idolatrous American dream.

The bad

Colossians Remixed fumbles in its vision of salvation. Yes, the cross of Christ defeated the powers of evil. But "evil" in this book is almost always relegated to the evil of the Roman Empire. Salvation is found in faith in Christ as one leaves behind the world of idolatry and enters the Kingdom of God. Evil in Colossians Remixed is usually defined in systemic, imperial terms - not in individual terms. It's true that evangelicals tend to leave out systemic injustice and organizational sin in favor of individual sin when discussing this subject. But surely these two aspects complement each other. They are inseparable. Colossians Remixed swings the pendulum too far away from evangelicalism's individualistic notions of sin and doesn't leave much room for that kind of sin at all.

A second area of concern is in the nature of truth. Thankfully, the authors do not embrace a full-fledged postmodern understanding of truth. But they do downplay the role of reason and rationality in finding truth. The authors say we should not be committed to rationality, but to Jesus. Once we commit to rationality, we have entered into idolatrous worship of reason. But is this really so? And is a commitment to Jesus and a lesser commitment to rationality mutually exclusive? Do we have to choose one or the other? The authors are correct to question our culture's love affair with rationalism, but their reaction to our culture's problem is woefully inadequate.

The ugly

The main problem with this book (which will probably keep it from gaining a wide audience) is its incessant turning to left-wing political answers as the solution to the Church's complicity with the empire. Walsh and Keesmaat deserve an "A" for effort in their attempt to bring Colossians to bear on society today, but they muddle their efforts by adopting political strategies and views that undermine the true "subversiveness" of their mindset.

When speaking of a Christian political vision, the authors affirm that Christians should stand up for the most vulnerable members of society and then decry "tax cuts for the rich." Nowhere in their emphasis on compassion for the vulnerable do we find a plea for the lives of the unborn. The authors also focus on environmental issues as important to the Kingdom of God. But they fail to point out the dangers of "earth worship," only capitalism. Bush, the War on Terror, the U.S. military - all fall under the authors' condemnation, with little evidence that they have understood the complexity of the issues at hand.

Finally, Colossians Remixed would have us "secede" from the culture we inhabit. We should throw out our TVs and their incessant advertising. We should start using bicycles, stop buying processed foods, start gardening, stop using as much energy. Surely, "secession" is one way to subvert the "empire." But is this the only way? Is it the best way?

Colossians Remixed is a delightfully provocative book. Its creative content, easy-going style, and terrific illustrations make it a book that is well worthy of your time and attention. You will be disappointed by some of the blanket statements and petty politics of the authors, but if you are looking for a thought-provoking book that differs from just about anything else out there, Colossians Remixed won't let you down.

If you are comfortable in your Christianity, in your middle-class lifestyle, and in your place in modern American culture, you may want to consider carefully before reading this book. It is likely to upset you deeply. Approached with an open mind, it might even change your life.

The basis thesis is that in the letter to the Colossians, Paul (or deutero Paul, although the authors sidestep this controversy) was transmitting a strong anti-imperial message. "He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God [and therefore you, Caesar aren't]." "Through him all things were made ... whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers [get it, Casear? You are not only subject to the true Lord of all, you are his creation]" "In him all things hold together [and so we don't need your Pax Romana]" "In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell [so no, Caesar, you are not divine]"

They then apply the letter to the 21st Century. The parallels are striking. As in the time when the letter is written, one nation has acquired hegemony over the known world. As in that time, the world power is full of hubris. As in that time, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. As in that time, military might is being used to dominate the less fortunate. As in that time, our true god (the one we confess with our actions) is not the creator and covenant God of Israel, but rather the false god of economic security and unlimited growth (i.e., Mammon).

"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world?"

Why indeed?

I am another person who has only great things to say about this book. This is my first Amazon book review and I decided to write it because I would love to see people buy and read this book. I can be described as having been an "out of church Christian" and have struggled for many years over the form of Christianity that too often sells the Gospel and use Christ as a tool to win converts. I am also as an individual wedged between Modernity and Post-Modernity. There are a lot of books that have come out in recent years that tackle suck questions, but I have found this to be head and shoulders the best for a couple of reasons. First it uses scripture almost exclusively to form its thesis. It is at the core a Bible commentary. Whlile the post-modern in me does want to throw off reason as an idol, I do not trust paths that are forged outside of scripture as a base. It also does not cherry pick scripture to come to a conslusion that the authors want to assert, the conversation comes straight out of Colossians. Their view comes out of Colossians rather than down on Colossians.

Second and most importaintly the "answer" the authors point to is Christ. It sounds trite, but if you have read Colossians it is rather obvious. The man Jesus is the one who made everything and is the one in whom all tings hold together. Now that is a huge thing to wrap your brain around and I have not found many authors who have tried to tackle it seriously and practically for us who are living in the curent day.

It is a great book to read together with others. It is a rather sophisticated book and it is not the easiest of reads. We have started a Bible study on Colossians around it and it has been very good.