CONTENTS
Individual and Group Study Guides

Study Guide: 7 Distinctions for Relating the Gospel and Academic Work: Introduction

Main resource: Beginning with Christ

Introduction: Beginning with Christ
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Excerpt from Introduction: Beginning with Christ

"Against the fragmentation and dis-integration inherent within modernity, Christ presents us with a radical re-integration. It is a vision so holistic that it is impossible to think biblically about creation without also thinking biblically about redemption, because they are both primarily about the self-communication of God’s goodness and glory through his Son."

Conversation Starter Questions

  1. In the context of Colossians, why does Paul want us to be clear that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”? (2:3)

  2. In our academic contexts, what might it look like to be taken captive by “hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition…”? (2:8)

Further Reading: 'Proclaiming Christ as Lord: Colossians 1:15-20'

In the PDF linked above we draw attention to Colossians 1:15-20 and make reference to its literary structure in conjunction with its themes.


There are many helpful overviews of this material in a range of commentaries, which all highlight the patterns which are more obvious in the original Greek. The following journal article presents a helpful survey in a format suitable as Further Reading. It includes commentary on the way the whole cosmos is not only created by Christ but will be reconciled back to God through the blood of his cross. While this exegetical article itself is brief in application, the rest of our series this year might be seen as an extended application of this text.

Larry R. Helyer, ‘Proclaiming Christ as Lord: Colossians 1:15–20’, SBJT 17.3 (2013)

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Discipline
Theology and Philosophy
Level
Introductory
Project
Postgraduate Network
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