During the first generation after Jesus, Paul's epistles to various churches helped establish early Christian theology. According to
Bruce Metzger, it was written in the 60s while Paul was in prison. Other scholars have ascribed the epistle to an early follower of Paul, writing as Paul due to its similarity with other contested works. The epistle's description of Christ as pre-eminent over creation marks it, for some scholars, as representing an advanced
christology not present during Paul's lifetime. Pauline authorship was held to by many of the early church's prominent theologians, such as
Irenaeus,
Clement of Alexandria,
Tertullian,
Origen of Alexandria and
Eusebius. However, as with several epistles attributed to Paul, critical scholarship disputes this claim. A 2011 survey of 109 scholars at the British New Testament Conference found 56 in favor of authenticity, while 17 rejected Pauline authorship and 36 were uncertain. One ground is that the epistle's language does not seem to match Paul's, with 48 words appearing in Colossians that are found nowhere else in his writings and 33 of which occur nowhere else in the
New Testament. A second ground is that the epistle features a strong use of liturgical-hymnic style which appears nowhere else in Paul's work to the same extent. A third is that the epistle's themes related to Christ, eschatology and the church seem to have no parallel in Paul's undisputed works. Advocates of Pauline authorship defend the differences that there are between elements in this letter and those commonly considered the genuine work of Paul (e.g.
1 Thessalonians). It is argued that these differences can come by human variability, such as by growth in theological knowledge over time, different occasion for writing, as well as use of different secretaries (or
amanuenses) in composition. Not only that, but it has been noted that Colossians has indisputably Pauline stylistic characteristics, found nowhere else in the New Testament. Advocates of Pauline authorship also argue that the differences between Colossians and the rest of the New Testament are not as great as they are purported to be. As theologian Stephen D. Morrison points out, "Biblical scholars are divided over the authorship of Ephesians and Colossians." He provides as an example the reflection of theologian
Karl Barth on the question. While acknowledging the validity of many questions regarding Pauline authorship, Barth was inclined to defend it. Nevertheless, he concluded that it did not much matter one way or the other to him. It was more important to focus on ('what is written') than ('who wrote it'). "It is enough to know that someone, at any rate, wrote Ephesians (why not Paul?), 30 to 60 years after Christ's death (hardly any later than that, since it is attested by Ignatius, Polycarp, and Justin), someone who understood Paul well and developed the apostle's ideas with conspicuous loyalty as well as originality." Paul would likely have composed it at roughly the same time that he wrote
Philemon and
Ephesians, as all three letters were sent with
Tychicus and
Onesimus. A date of 62 AD assumes that the imprisonment Paul speaks of is his Roman imprisonment that followed his voyage to Rome. Other scholars have suggested that it was written from Caesarea or Ephesus. If the letter is not considered to be an authentic part of the Pauline corpus, then it might be dated during the late 1st century, possibly as late as AD 90. ==Surviving manuscripts==