Better understanding of Colossians 2:8-10?

I’m fairly new PCA, but have been “churched” for approximately 15 years or so. I had an interesting conversation with a co-worker who became a Christian roughly 5 years ago. We talk about our differences on doctrine with relative frequency as we’re both believers. I don’t have MDiv or anything, but I dual majored in business admin and biblical studies (required by the school I went to) from a school with tenuous ties to the reformation. Lots of PCA presbys in the Bible and theology department.

As I understand it her church is a very small charismatic church (Calvary fellowship I think she said), and we were discussing reformed doctrines (predestination, etc.) and I was explaining the historicity of these ideas talking about the writings of Calvin, Knox, Aquinas, and was getting all the way back to Augustine, and I mention his name, and she shuts down entirely. So I press on that a bit.

She’s always taken a very “me and my Bible” approach to her biblical study, and evidently subscribes to a very literal understanding of these verses in Colossians and because she identified Augustine as a philosopher, she’s not particularly interested in this. To paraphrase her, she wrote off philosophy when she became a Christian, despite the fact that one could argue theology as a whole is a form of philosophy.

I tried explaining to the best of my understanding that I don’t think those verses mean what she’s taking them to mean. I don’t think that a religious writer calling themself a philosopher is out of bounds or would qualify as “vain philosophy” right? So I figured it may be best to consult people smarter than me, on this matter. I certainly think she’s being far too literal, but am I out of step?