The gospel is not just about personal salvation. It is the overarching true story of God, through Jesus, reclaiming and redeeming the life of all of creation—the cosmos!  So Jesus (who he is, what he did, and what he continues to do on a cosmic scale) is relevant to all of life, whether animate or inanimate, whether past, present or future. Accordingly, the wise application of the gospel story in all its implications is the answer to every alternative truth claim.

In his book Rumors of Another World, Philip Yancey recalled seeing a copy of a New Testament from which all the verses about the “invisible world” had been snipped out. The pages hardly held together, because cutting out references to the unseen spirit world removes nearly one third of the New Testament’s seven thousand verses.^[i] The unseen spiritual dimensions were an important component of the worldview of the New Testament writers and of Jesus himself. Much of Western Christianity, embarrassed by post-Enlightenment scientific and technological advances, gradually but inexorably drifted from the Bible’s emphasis on the invisible world to a preoccupation with the visible. One might say that the gospel of Jesus Christ, at least in North America, has become one more coping mechanism to help us survive and thrive in the challenges of the visible world.

The recent rise of interest in alternative spiritualities and Neopaganism rebukes any embarrassment we might have and acts as a wake-up call to the church. It is a potent reminder that we have mostly forgotten what the New Testament writers knew: powerful, invisible spiritual realities oppose the gospel, shaping and operating behind what we see and experience. How should the church of Jesus Christ address the reality of the invisible spirit world today?  We fix our eyes on what is seen, whether positive realities (like strong marriages and families, healthy self-esteem, moral civil government, and impeccable personal morality) or negative realities (like abortion, Christian persecution, and the decay of social morals). Without discounting the importance of such things, how does the church sharpen its focus on Paul’s priority to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen” (2 Cor 4:18 NIV)?

The Scriptures do not leave us without an answer. In Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, he confronts a powerful form of spiritual paganism energized by contact with the occultic elemental spirits. The paganism Paul stared down in Colossae shares many characteristics with the Neopaganism we confront. Paul’s response to the unseen spiritual forces converging on Colossae presents a powerful paradigm for a contemporary confrontation with those same forces. We have a story to tell—a logos (word) that is more than a match for the muthos (myth) of paganism. This logos, though antithetical to paganism, still speaks powerfully to those whose legitimate heart yearnings have led them to paganism for satisfaction. Paul’s methodology is more than a “how to” guide. It is also a devotional display of the cosmic power and love of the Lord Jesus Christ, a love that is relevant in any age and in any circumstance.

The Unseen World in Colossae

The “Colossian heresy” has been a subject of vigorous academic debate ever since the 1875 publication of J. B. Lightfoot’s landmark Colossians commentary.^[ii] Two scholars independently identified over forty distinct, and not completely reconcilable, views of the error Paul addresses in Colossians.^[iii] The book is problematic because the reader hears only one side of a conversation. We must infer what Paul’s opponents proposed by reading Paul’s answers to them. Such inference leaves the details sketchy.

Scholars may disagree on the precise contours of the Colossian heresy, but they do not disagree on what elements of Paul’s letter illuminate it. First, the emphasis on the “fullness” of the deity that dwells in Jesus, suggests that the Colossian philosophy challenged that fullness, locating some of it outside of Jesus (1:19; 2:9). Second, the Colossian philosophy depended upon the “basic principles of the world” (NIV), better translated as “the elemental spirits of the universe” (2:8,20).^[iv] Third, the suspect philosophy included restrictions on what could be consumed and handled, as well as requirements regarding participation in various religious celebrations and festivals, including New Moon celebrations and Sabbath days (vv 16,21). Fourth, there is a direct reference to self-abasement and the worship of angels (vv 18,23). Fifth, and finally, the Colossian philosophy seemingly included various ecstatic visionary experiences of the divine.^[v]

This final point underscores both the appeal and the power of alternative spirituality in Colossae. As Christians, we know that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ [italics mine]” (Rom10:17, NIV). But the preacher of propositional truth will often be trumped by someone proposing an exciting personal experience, even if that experience does not square with the propositional truth of the gospel. The Colossian brand of spirituality offered convincing but misguided personal experience.

David DeSilva provides a good summary of what Paul was facing in Colossae:

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