such as Philippians 1:9: “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless.” Here in Colossians, though, the matters of wisdom and knowledge are of critical importance and perhaps even debate, as the transcendent-ascetic philosophy has become of interest to the church and has made a particular claim on wisdom. Paul condemns this philosophy for having “an appearance