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Document Details :

Title: Is the Word of God Incomplete?
Subtitle: An Exegetical and Rhetorical Study of Col 1,25
Author(s): GRANADOS ROJAS, Juan Manuel
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 94    Issue: 1   Date: 2013   
Pages: 63-79
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.94.1.3186138

Abstract :
The common reading of πληρόω in Col 1,25 has emphasized the apostolic task of preaching the gospel everywhere. We agree with other scholars that such a completion has not only spatial meaning but also a qualitative one. Yet, our research goes further: what kind of quality is this? The rhetorical devices of 'accumulation' and 'reversal' combined in 1,24-29 point to an ethical purpose. In this sense, 'bringing to completion the word of God' means preaching the word, but also making everyone mature in Christ. The phrase includes both the diffusion of the gospel and the achievement of its ethical purpose.

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