ϛοιχεῖα, the elements or first principles of any art, whence
the subsequent parts proceed. The elements or first principles of the
Christian doctrine, Heb, v, 12. St. Paul calls the ceremonial ordinances
of the Mosaic law, “worldly elements,” Gal. iv, 3; Col. ii, 8, 20; “weak
and beggarly elements,” Gal. iv, 9. Elements, as containing the
rudiments of the knowledge of Christ, to which knowledge the law, as a
pedagogue, Gal. iii, 24, was intended, by means of those ordinances, to
bring the Jews; worldly, as consisting in outward worldly institutions,
Heb. ix, 1; weak and beggarly, when considered in themselves, and set up
in opposition to the great realities to which they were designed to
lead. But, in Col. ii, 8, the elements or rudiments of the world are so
closely connected with philosophy and vain deceit, or an empty and
deceitful philosophy, that they must be understood there to include the
dogmas of Pagan philosophy; to which, no doubt, many of the Colossians
were in their unconverted state attached, and of which the Judaizing
teachers, who also were probably themselves infected with them, took
advantage to withdraw the Colossian converts from the purity of the
Gospel, and from Christ their living head. And from the general tenor of
this chapter, and particularly from verses 18–23, it appears, that these
philosophical dogmas, against which the Apostle cautioned his converts,
were partly Platonic, and partly Pythagorean; the former teaching the
worship of angels, or demons, as mediators between God and man; the
latter enjoining such abstinence from particular kinds of meats and
drinks, and such severe mortifications of the body, as God had not
commanded.
the subsequent parts proceed. The elements or first principles of the
Christian doctrine, Heb, v, 12. St. Paul calls the ceremonial ordinances
of the Mosaic law, “worldly elements,” Gal. iv, 3; Col. ii, 8, 20; “weak
and beggarly elements,” Gal. iv, 9. Elements, as containing the
rudiments of the knowledge of Christ, to which knowledge the law, as a
pedagogue, Gal. iii, 24, was intended, by means of those ordinances, to
bring the Jews; worldly, as consisting in outward worldly institutions,
Heb. ix, 1; weak and beggarly, when considered in themselves, and set up
in opposition to the great realities to which they were designed to
lead. But, in Col. ii, 8, the elements or rudiments of the world are so
closely connected with philosophy and vain deceit, or an empty and
deceitful philosophy, that they must be understood there to include the
dogmas of Pagan philosophy; to which, no doubt, many of the Colossians
were in their unconverted state attached, and of which the Judaizing
teachers, who also were probably themselves infected with them, took
advantage to withdraw the Colossian converts from the purity of the
Gospel, and from Christ their living head. And from the general tenor of
this chapter, and particularly from verses 18–23, it appears, that these
philosophical dogmas, against which the Apostle cautioned his converts,
were partly Platonic, and partly Pythagorean; the former teaching the
worship of angels, or demons, as mediators between God and man; the
latter enjoining such abstinence from particular kinds of meats and
drinks, and such severe mortifications of the body, as God had not
commanded.