Toward a renewed Recognition of Colossians through the Lens of Augustine's De Trinitate

Resumen

As a ressourcement of ancient, authoritative readings, this paper interprets Colossians throght the lens of Augustine's De Trinitate (C. 400-420). Besides explicit citation of key verses of the epistle during major points of his argument, Agustine touches upon themes strikingly reminiscent of Paul's own polemics. These include the nature of the heretical worship of angles, the hadwriting on the cross, and distinct categories of knowledge. Furthermore, Augustine makes explicit an underlying epistemological cosmology that informs both false and true liturgical acts. As endorsed by Paul and Augustine, true worship of God entails contemplation of both Christ's incarnate solidarity in physical death and subsequent ascension into relms located above the mediatory power of angles, who can only offer deceptive spiritual visions. Only the transferal of true knowledge by Christ can trnasform the material experience of the human believer into images o divine glory.