It is in the magical texts,
however, where one finds profuse praise of the power of various gods and
goddesses, exclamations of their sovereignty over the heavenly realm, the
earth, and the underworld, and numerous epithets extolling their supernatural attributes.
This is not surprising because practitioners of magic were primarily concerned
with supernatural power and how to solicit the assistance of divine beings.
Many of these texts use some of the same terminology and conceptuality as the
Colossian hymn. I am not making a case for a genetic relationship of the source
of statements in the Colossian hymn as my predecessors in the history of
religions school did, but rather suggesting that interpreters should consider
the contextual relevance of the praise of Christ in the hymn against the backdrop
of rival claims to sovereignty.
A first-century silver lamella
found in northern Asia Minor (Amisos, Pontus) begins with a series of divine epithets
to describe the god called upon for protection: “I am the Great One who sits in
heaven [‘Εγω ειμι ο μεγας ο εν ουρανω καθημενος] upon the moving vault of
the whole cosmos, Arsenophris . . . the one who rules over kings. . . . Let no
more harm appear! Drive away, drive away the lawsuit from Rufinia! . . . And
may no poison [φαρμακον] harm
me. . . . [I am] king of kings.” The Greek magical papyri are replete with
ascriptions of power and sovereignty to the particular deity being called upon
to grant the request of the suppliant. One of these texts invokes Helios in the
most exalted term as lord of heaven and earth: “Hail, O lord, Great Power,
Great Might, King, Greatest of gods, Helios, the lord of heaven and earth. God of
gods: mighty is your breath, mighty is your strength, O lord” (PGM IV.640-43).
Another text invokes Helios as creator of τα παντα—even
of angelic powers:
Listen, Helios, father of the
world; I call upon you with your name . . . [28 magical names are listed] . . .
You are the holy and powerful name of considered sacred by all angels; protect
me, so-and-so, from every excess of power [εξουσιας] and from every violent act. Yes, do this, lord, god of
gods . . . [18 magical names are listed] . . . creator of the world, creator of
the universe [κοσμου κτιστα, τα παντα κτιστα], .lord, god of gods, MARMARIō IAō. I have
spoken of your unsurpassable glory, you who created gods, archangels, and
decans [ο κτισας θεους και αρχαγγελους και δεκανους]. The ten thousands of
angels stood by [you] and exalted the heaven, and the lord witnessed to your
Wisdom [σοφια], which is Aion
. . . and said that you are strong as he is. (PGM IV.1180-209)
In another text, Eros is called
upon in an invocation and is extolled as creator of “all things” (τα παντα) and is also ascribed the
epithet, “first born”: “I call upon you, author of all creation, who spread our
own wings over the whole world . . . who fitted all things [τα παντα] together by your power, firstborn (πρωτογονε), founder of the universe
. . .” (PGM IV.1749-58). The Great Mother is invoked as “the beginning,”
eternal, the source of all things, and as sovereign: “[come to me] . . . Mother
of all things . . . Beginning [αρχη]
and end are you, and you, alone rule all. For all things are from you, and in
you do all things [παντα],
Eternal one, come to their end” (PGM IV.2834-39). (Clinton E. Arnold, Colossians
[2d ed.; Word Biblical Commentary 44A; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan
Academic, 2025], 348-49)
In a pagan magical text, Eros is
invoked as the “author of all creation” (τον αρχηγετην πασης γενεσεως), “the founder of the universe,” “firstborn” (πρωτογονε) and—in precisely the
same language as the Colossian hymn—as the one by whom “all things hold
together” (τα παντα συνεστηκεν) (PGM IV.
1750-771, esp. 1770-71). The intent of all these epithets is to extol the power
of the deity who is being called upon to perform the request of the suppliant.
Yet the text also warns that this deity can bring pain, is sometimes
irrational, is a generator of frenzy, and whose light becomes darkness.
The term also appears in a
syncretistic magical text that has a mix of Jewish and pagan traditions for
ritual power. Called the Eighth Book of Moses, the text contains an invocation
to a god who “Holds together the vault of heaven and the earth” (δια σε συνεστηκεν ο πολος και η γη; PGM XIII.76). The same
epithet is cited later in the text (PGM XIII.586). (Clinton E. Arnold, Colossians
[2d ed.; Word Biblical Commentary 44A; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan
Academic, 2025], 367)
