intention or purpose of God (1:9, to mysterion tou thelēmatos autou) for the economy of the fullness (plērōma) of the times when all things (ta panta) will be brought to completion united in Christ, things in the heavens and things on earth (1:10).3 Whatever the original background for the understanding of the universe may have been (a mythic restoration of the original order in a fallen universe?), there are key images here that are open to fresh interpretation in the light of contemporary views