Church of the Resurrection

View Original

Resources for Studying Colossians

Over the summer our church is studying the book of Colossians.

Our hope is that everyone will spend time each week reading and reflecting on the text. To aid you in this, we have Colossians Scripture Journals available, which have the text printed on one side and blank lines on the other. (You can purchase one at church on Sunday).

There is no substitute for simply reading a book of the bible for yourself. We encourage you to read Colossians on your own and wrestle with its meaning. In the journal you can circle words or phrases that are unfamilar and then you can use the wider context of the letter to explore their possible meanings. And feel free to bring questions with you each Sunday.

Some of us might be looking for some tools that will help go even further in depth than we can go on our own. One popular tool for bible study is the commentary. Good commentaries (and not all of them are good!) are written by respected bible scholars who are trained not only in the original languages (Greek, Hebrew, etc.) but also the literary, cultural, and historic contexts in which a particular book was written.

We’ve uploaded portions of three different commentaries that we have found helpful in the past. If you’re looking to dig deeper, we hope you’ll find these resources useful.

Paul for everyone: The Prison Letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon - NT Wright

Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching - Ralph Martin

Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul & His Letters - Michael J. Gorman