Epistle to the, a canonical epistle of the New Testament, addressed by St Paul to the Christians of Colossæ, a city of Phrygia. Its authenticity is supported by a body of evidence so ancient, uninterrupted, and universal, that few even of the extreme rationalists of the present century have ventured to deny it. The date of its composition, which is synchronous with that of the epistle to the Ephesians, has been variously assigned by critics to the captivity of Paul at Cesarea or at Rome. Tradition is harmonious in favour of the latter, while the internal evidence brought forward on either side can hardly be regarded as decisive. The same doubt exists in regard to the question, whether or not Paul had visited Colossæ previously to the date of this epistle; but though no incidental statement in this or any other epistle can be brought forward to strike the balance between the plausibilities of either hypothesis, still, though possible, it is far from probable that the familiar acquaintance which the apostle betrays in regard to the Christians and the Christianity of Colossæ could have been derived from any other source than a personal visit to the city. The aim of the apostle in writing this letter is manifestly to counteract the teaching of certain Jewish Christians, who coloured over the grosser features of Judaism—circumcision and observance of the Mosaic ritual—with sophistical speculation concerning the higher world of spirits and the corruption of matter, and as corollaries from these adduced themselves to the observance of angel-worship, and enjoined a refined system of bodily austerities. Their errors cannot be formally identified with the tenets of any heathen or any Christian school of philosophy; and the Essene teachers, whom they most closely approximate, were at that time to be found only in Syria and Palestine. The note given by St Paul descriptive of their tenets enables us to realize that embryonic Gnosticism which proved the fruitful germ of almost innumerable sects; and so strikingly applicable is his language to these as they arose, that some on that ground alone have regarded the epistle as a grand anachronism.