Colossians 2:4

τοῦτο λέγω. Haupt thinks the reference is only to Colossians 2:3, but this verse looks back as far as 2 b, and Colossians 2:5 to Colossians 2:1. Generally the reference of τοῦτο is thought to be Colossians 2:1-3, though Soden thinks it is to Colossians 1:24 to Colossians 2:3. παραλογίζηται means to deceive by false reckoning, then, as here, by false reasoning. πιθανολογίᾳ : “persuasive speech”. The word has no bad sense in itself, and what bad sense it has here it gets from παραλογ. Classical writers use it with the meaning of probable argument as opposed to strict demonstration.