“Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,”
Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch! — the commands (haptō, geuomai, thigganō) are false-teacher restrictions. Ascetic avoidances are presented as salvific necessities. Paul's three imperatives (all prohibitive) mock the rules' emptiness.
Church Fathers on Colossians 2:20
“If you died with Christ.” He puts that in the middle, and on either side, expressions of greater vehemence. “If you died with Christ from the elements of the world,” he says, “why as though living in the world do ye subject yourselves to ordinances?” This is not the consequence, for what ought to have been said is, “how as though living are you subject to those elements?” But letting this pass, what says he?
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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