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Paul's several imprisonments leave uncertain the specific place and date of this letter composed in prison. The same difficulty exists with [[Ephesians]] and [[Philippians]] and [[Philemon]]. Traditionally he was under house arrest at Rome, in which he was allowed a certain restricted freedom in preaching to visitors (see Acts 23:16-28), but a second Roman imprisonment has been proposed as the setting of its composition. Others suggest a still earlier imprisonment at Caesarea (see Acts 23:12–27:1) or in Ephesus (see Acts 19). Still other scholars regard the letter as the work of some faithful pupil or follower of Paul, writing in his name. Whatever is the truth, the contents of this letter to the Colossians often closely parallel the thoughts in Ephesians.

Paul's several imprisonments leave uncertain the specific place and date of this letter composed in prison. The same difficulty exists with [[Ephesians]] and [[Philippians]] and [[Philemon]]. Traditionally he was under house arrest at Rome, in which he was allowed a certain restricted freedom in preaching to visitors (see Acts 23:16-28), but a second Roman imprisonment has been proposed as the setting of its composition. Others suggest a still earlier imprisonment at Caesarea (see Acts 23:12–27:1) or in Ephesus (see Acts 19). Still other scholars regard the letter as the work of some faithful pupil or follower of Paul, writing in his name. Whatever is the truth, the contents of this letter to the Colossians often closely parallel the thoughts in Ephesians.

Colossians together with Hebrews is an outstanding reply to [[Gnosticism|gnostic]], [[Kabbalah|Kaballistic]] and [[Cosmic humanism|New Age]] teachings.

Colossians together with Hebrews is an outstanding reply to [[Gnosticism|gnostic]], [[Kabbalah|Kaballistic]] and New Age teachings.

 

The letter to the Ephesians can be divided into five sections:

The letter to the Ephesians can be divided into five sections: