The significance of the term στοιχεῖα (“elements”) in early Christianity arises from its occurrence in seven instances within the New Testament: within the Pauline and deuteropauline literature (Pauline Pseudepigraphic Letters), the term appears in Galatians (4:3, 9) and Colossians (2:8, 20), and the other three occurrences are found in Hebrews (5:12) and 2 Peter (3:10, 12). In several of these passages the meaning is quite evident and unproblematic; however…