The Reign of Christ in Colossians: A Reassessment

This article undertakes a critical examination of the supposedly abundant expressions in Colossians denoting Christ's sovereign ruling lordship, and challenges the widely held notion that such lordship is in fact the letter's leading christological ingredient. We concentrate on the author's lexical preferences in christological segments, motivated by the question of which vocabulary is eligible for enrollment among the terms for expressing Christ's supremacy. The argument is carried forward on three fronts. After noting the widespread propensity in secondary literature to speak of Christ's rule in Colossians, we note, first, that rule terminology, strictly defined, is actually quite skimpy in the letter. Second, we observe that terms employed by Paul elsewhere to describe Christ's supremacy are conspicuously absent here. And, third, we find that other christological motifs, not Christ's rule, predominate in Colossians. We conclude by advocating an exercise of prudence when issuing assertions about Christ's rule in Colossians. The point is that dominion christology is not an adequate description of what this letter is saying about the role of Christ in relation to Christians and creation. Other christological themes, often overlooked, emerge when the text is read with closer attention to the author's diction.