While listening to the Allred/White debate on Christology, I decided to bring together notes I have written in other posts on Col 1:15-20, a key Christological text that has been abused by Trinitarians. However, when the text is examined carefully, it is strongly opposed to Trinitarianism.
The Greek reads:
ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται· καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν, καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν, εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, [δι᾽ αὐτοῦ] εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἴτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
The NRSV renders it as follows:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers -- all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
There is a differentiation, not just between the persons of the Father and the Son, but between “God” (ο θεος) and Jesus (vv. 15, 19), something which is inconsistent with Trinitarianism, wherein one can (with great ambiguity) differentiate between the "persons" (however defined) of the Trinity, but cannot differentiate "God" or any of the divine titles/names (e.g., Yahweh) from the three "persons."
That the “all things” that are created do not include the spirits of man can be seen in v. 21 where there is a differentiation between the things created in vv.15-20, “And you (και υμας), that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled," something said to then-believing Christians. Does Paul here include Satan and demons among this "creation" when he says Jesus has reconciled "all things" in heaven and earth to Himself? Highly unlikely. Paul could not have included unbelievers in this "reconciliation"; otherwise, he would not have qualified the prospects of reconciliation for his audience: "If ye continue in the faith" (v. 23). I mention this point as some Evangelicals (incorrectly) cite this pericope as "proof" of how allegedly anti-biblical LDS Christology is (e.g. Ron Rhodes, "Christ," in The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism). Only by arguing that Satan and the demonic hosts will be eventually "reconciled" (i.e., receive eschatological salvation) can one claim such (as Origen of Alexandria did).
The text states that thrones, principalities, and powers were created “in Jesus.” These are hierarchies of angels that are in view in this pericope (cf. Rom 8:38), That this is the case can be further seen in the fact that Col 1:15ff places this creation within the realm of all those things that God the Father is reconciling to Himself (Col 1:20), clearly placing a limit to the "all things" spoken about in Col 1:16.
Relying upon the faulty translation of the preposition εν in the KJV, some critics harp on the English preposition, "by." Most modern translations, including the NRSV quoted above, translate the preposition as "in," not "by"--it is possible this is a "causal εν," with "because of him" being a plausible translation of the construction ἐν αὐτῷ; as Nigel Turner, with respect to εν, "[a] causal sense is probably best included here" (Nigel Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, vol. III: Syntax [ed. James Hope Moulton; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1963], 253). This is further strengthened by the fact that v.16 is part of a οτι-clause in Greek (οτι meaning "for" or "because of"). On the locution εν αυτω, two Greek grammarians write:
The voice of the verbs used in v.16 when speaking of the creative role of Jesus are passives, not actives--ἐκτίσθη is the indicative aorist passive of κτίζω while ἔκτισται is an indicative perfect passive. This would be consistent with LDS theology. Note the following from Bruce R. McConkie in vol. 3 of his Doctrinal New Testament Commentary: "16-17. Christ created the universe and all things that in it are, but in doing so he acted in the power, might, and omnipotence of the Father. 'Worlds without number have I created,' is God's language, 'and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.' (Moses 1:33.) 'By him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.' (D. & C. 76:24; John 1:1-3; Heb. 1:2.)" Such is reflective of the function of divine passives, where the Father is the ultimate creator, but it was done through the Son (and, in LDS theology, other figures, too [cf. Abraham 4:1ff]). As N.T. Wright writes in his commentary on Colossians, part of the Tyndale Commentary series: "All that God made, he made by means of him. Paul actually says 'in him,' and though the word εν can mean 'by' as well as 'in,' it is better to retain the literal translation than to paraphrase as NIV has done. Not only is there an intended parallel with verse 19, which would otherwise be lost: the passive 'were created' indicates, in a typically Jewish fashion, the activity of God the Father, working in the Son. To say 'by,' here and at the end of verse 16, could imply, not that Christ is the Father's agent, but that he was alone responsible for creation."
On the use of passive verbs, consider the following:
The Greek terms translated as "were created" and "have been created" are ἐκτίσθη and ἔκτισται, the third person indicative aorist passive and perfect passive of the verb κτίζω, meaning "to create." In addition, the prepositions that are coupled with these tenses differ (εν [in] and εις [into/towards/for], respectively).
Compare the passive voice used of the creative activity of Christ in Col 1 with that of Rev 4:11 where, speaking of the role the Father plays in creation, we read:
That the “all things” that are created do not include the spirits of man can be seen in v. 21 where there is a differentiation between the things created in vv.15-20, “And you (και υμας), that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled," something said to then-believing Christians. Does Paul here include Satan and demons among this "creation" when he says Jesus has reconciled "all things" in heaven and earth to Himself? Highly unlikely. Paul could not have included unbelievers in this "reconciliation"; otherwise, he would not have qualified the prospects of reconciliation for his audience: "If ye continue in the faith" (v. 23). I mention this point as some Evangelicals (incorrectly) cite this pericope as "proof" of how allegedly anti-biblical LDS Christology is (e.g. Ron Rhodes, "Christ," in The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism). Only by arguing that Satan and the demonic hosts will be eventually "reconciled" (i.e., receive eschatological salvation) can one claim such (as Origen of Alexandria did).
The text states that thrones, principalities, and powers were created “in Jesus.” These are hierarchies of angels that are in view in this pericope (cf. Rom 8:38), That this is the case can be further seen in the fact that Col 1:15ff places this creation within the realm of all those things that God the Father is reconciling to Himself (Col 1:20), clearly placing a limit to the "all things" spoken about in Col 1:16.
Relying upon the faulty translation of the preposition εν in the KJV, some critics harp on the English preposition, "by." Most modern translations, including the NRSV quoted above, translate the preposition as "in," not "by"--it is possible this is a "causal εν," with "because of him" being a plausible translation of the construction ἐν αὐτῷ; as Nigel Turner, with respect to εν, "[a] causal sense is probably best included here" (Nigel Turner, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, vol. III: Syntax [ed. James Hope Moulton; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1963], 253). This is further strengthened by the fact that v.16 is part of a οτι-clause in Greek (οτι meaning "for" or "because of"). On the locution εν αυτω, two Greek grammarians write:
ἐν αὐτῷ in Him. The prep. Denotes Christ as the sphere within which the work of creation takes place (Bruce). All the laws and purposes which guide the creation and government of the universe reside in Him (Lightfoot). The prep. Is possibly both instr. and local (Moule). He is not in all things, but all things are in Him, a difference that is not insignificant (Fred B. Craddock, “’All Things in Him’: A Critical Note on Col. 1;15-20,” NTS 12 [1965]:78-80). (Cleon L. Rogers Jr. and Cleon L. Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1998], 461)
The voice of the verbs used in v.16 when speaking of the creative role of Jesus are passives, not actives--ἐκτίσθη is the indicative aorist passive of κτίζω while ἔκτισται is an indicative perfect passive. This would be consistent with LDS theology. Note the following from Bruce R. McConkie in vol. 3 of his Doctrinal New Testament Commentary: "16-17. Christ created the universe and all things that in it are, but in doing so he acted in the power, might, and omnipotence of the Father. 'Worlds without number have I created,' is God's language, 'and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.' (Moses 1:33.) 'By him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.' (D. & C. 76:24; John 1:1-3; Heb. 1:2.)" Such is reflective of the function of divine passives, where the Father is the ultimate creator, but it was done through the Son (and, in LDS theology, other figures, too [cf. Abraham 4:1ff]). As N.T. Wright writes in his commentary on Colossians, part of the Tyndale Commentary series: "All that God made, he made by means of him. Paul actually says 'in him,' and though the word εν can mean 'by' as well as 'in,' it is better to retain the literal translation than to paraphrase as NIV has done. Not only is there an intended parallel with verse 19, which would otherwise be lost: the passive 'were created' indicates, in a typically Jewish fashion, the activity of God the Father, working in the Son. To say 'by,' here and at the end of verse 16, could imply, not that Christ is the Father's agent, but that he was alone responsible for creation."
On the use of passive verbs, consider the following:
[T]he creation language of [Psa 32:6, LXX] maintains the passive construction found in the Hebrew. It reads:
τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm and by the breath of his mouth all their power. (Ps 32:6 LXX)This passive construction is analogous to the language of the Colossian hymn where Christ’s role in creation is depicted through the use of passive verbs. Though Christ is the subject of the passage as a whole, in Col 1:16 the subject of the sentence is “everything in the heavens and on the earth.” Christ’s involvement in their creation is presented though the use of εν with the dative so that all things were created “in him.”
ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς . . τὰ πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται
For in him everything in the heavens and upon the earth were created . . . All things were created through him and for him. (Col 1:16)Just as in Ps 33 (32 LXX) where the word of the Lord does not create, but is the means by which God created, so in the Colossian hymn Christ does not create, but is presented as the one in whom, through whom, and for whom God created all things. (Matthew E. Gordley, The Colossian Hymn in Context [Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2007], 61-62 [square brackets my own for clarification]).
The Greek terms translated as "were created" and "have been created" are ἐκτίσθη and ἔκτισται, the third person indicative aorist passive and perfect passive of the verb κτίζω, meaning "to create." In addition, the prepositions that are coupled with these tenses differ (εν [in] and εις [into/towards/for], respectively).
Commenting on these shifts in tenses and prepositions, Nigel Turner wrote the following:
St. Paul was pursuing the intimation of verse 15, that Christ is God’s icon and our archetype. The two tenses are thus explained by the fact that the prototokos conception necessarily involves two other conceptions, viz. (1) a past act which is punctiliar (grammatically) because one aspect of creation is past for ever, and (2) a second action which is not merely punctiliar but also perfective. Of this second action, the results are with us still, since we and all creation are not yet in actuality the icon of Christ, as he is of God. Although the process has been soundly set in motion, it will proceed while all nature continually renews itself in him until it reaches his entire perfection. Aptly using the perfect tense, St. Paul could close the verse with the words, “All these things were once created by his instrumentality (dia, “through”; not en, “in,” as at the beginning of the verse) and they continue to be created now towards (eis) him.” He meant towards his perfect image; closer to the intended pattern. St. Paul did not often confuse the prepositions eis and en, and indeed in Col. 1:16 he set both together in a context which requires that their meaning is not at all synonymous: “in (en) him were once created all things that are in heaven and upon earth the visible and the invisible, thrones, lordships, powers, authorities; all these have been created (and now exist) by his continual support (dia) and he is their goal (eis).” (Nigel Turner, Grammatical Insights into the New Testament [Edinburgh: T&T Clarke, 1965], 125).
Compare the passive voice used of the creative activity of Christ in Col 1 with that of Rev 4:11 where, speaking of the role the Father plays in creation, we read:
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (NRSV)
The figure addressed is clearly the person of the Father, as Jesus is later presented as being distinguished from this figure on the throne, as seen in Rev 5:5-6. Furthermore, the terms translated as "you created" is ἔκτισας, the indicative aorist active of κτίζω.
Why is this important? The differences in voices (active vs. passive) show that there were different roles the Father and Son played, with the logical implications of such being very strongly anti-Trinitarian when one applies modus tollens:
First Premise: If Jesus is God within the Trinitarian understanding of Christology, he played an active role in the creation, just like the Father.
Second Premise: Jesus played a passive role in the creation, as opposed to the active role in creation played by the Father.
Conclusion: Jesus is not God as understood within the framework of Trinitarian Christology.
Similar logical and exegetical implications can be seen in texts such as 1 Cor 8:4-6. This is all the more ironic as Col 1:16 is often seen as definitive "proof" of Trinitarian Christology.
Compare this with what Dunn wrote in a very learned tome on Christology:
Blake Ostler wrote the following about this text (and Heb 11:3, a related verse) showing it does not support creation out of nothing:
It should be noted that LDS theology does state that Christ is the creator, and often borrows the verbiage of this Christological hymn when speaking of His role in the creation (e.g., D&C 93:10; 3 Nephi 9:15; the 1916 First Presidency statement, "The Father and the Son”), and such is not limited to the "New Creation," but also to the Genesis creation, contra "Biblical Unitarians." I raise these issues, however, as many critics of LDS Christology have falsely stated that Col 1;15ff refutes "Mormon" theology which states that "biblical theology" presents Jesus as being the creator of the spirits of man as well as fallen angels (a category clearly not being reconciled to God, unless one wishes to embrace Origen's eschatology wherein Satan and the Demons, as mentioned previously, will receive eschatological salvation [!])
In Col 1:19, we read: "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him." Two aorists are used in this verse (ευδοκησεν [thought/pleased] and κατοικησαι [dwell]; cf. Col 2:9). If we go along with the trinitarian view, then at what point in time was God the Son filled with God's fullness, and was he God before this happened in their view? Such is consistent with LDS theology, such as the LDS interpretation of Phil 2:5-11, but at odds-end with Trinitarian theology.
Verse 18 reads; "And he is the head of the body, the church is the beginning of the firstborn of the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence." This is nonsense in light o the hypostatic union which states that Christ was "fully God" while incarnate, but only "veiled" his divinity (more on this later when we discuss Phil 2:5-11). However, this is part of a ινα clause in Greek, meaning that Christ became the "firstborn of the dead" in order that he might have the preeminent, or "supreme" (πρωτεύων). As one Greek scholar wrote:
Maximillian Zerwick, a Jesuit New Testament scholar, echoed such sentiments:
There is no text in the NT that clearly or even probably affirms the personality of the Holy Spirit through the route of Greek grammar. The basis for this doctrine must be on other grounds. This does not mean that in the NT the Spirit is a thing, any more than in the OT the Spirit (רוּחַ —a feminine noun) is a female! Grammatical gender is just that: grammatical. The conventions of language do not necessarily correspond to reality . . . One implication of these considerations is this: There is often a tacit assumption by scholars that the Spirit's distinct personality was fully recognized in the early apostolic period. Too often, such a viewpoint is subconsciously filtered through Chalcedonian lenses. This certainly raises some questions that can be addressed here only in part: We are not arguing that the distinct personality and deity of the Spirit are foreign to the NT, but rather that there is progressive revelation within the NT, just as there is between the Testaments . . . In sum, I have sought to demonstrate in this paper that the grammatical basis for the Holy Spirit's personality is lacking in the NT, yet this is frequently, if not usually, the first line of defense of that doctrine by many evangelical writers. But if grammar cannot legitimately be used to support the Spirit's personality, then perhaps we need to reexamine the rest of our basis for this theological commitment. I am not denying the doctrine of the Trinity, of course, but I am arguing that we need to ground our beliefs on a more solid foundation.
One Evangelical wrote in response to this the following:
In Hebrews 1:10, the writer says of the Son (see v. 8),
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.”
“Laid the foundation” is an active verb form, ἐθεμελίωσας, and the sense of both lines is that the Son is the Lord who did these things. So the Son was active, not merely passive, in the creation of the world.
Boylan infers from the use of a passive verb form in Colossians 1:16 that the Son was purely passive in the creation of the world. That is an illicit exegetical move because it misunderstands the subject of the passive verbs. The passive verb forms in Colossians 1:16 have as their subject “all things,” not the Son Jesus Christ. In the clause, “In him all things were created,” the subject is “all things,” not “him.” What is the passive recipient of the action denoted by the verbs is creation (“all things”), not the Son.
Many if not most orthodox Christian theologians are comfortable with the idea that the three persons of the Trinity all played somewhat distinctive, complementary roles in the creation of the world, just as they all play distinctive and complementary roles in redemption. But none of the three persons is “passive” in these divine works.
This was shared with me on a facebook discussion group; here is my response:
On Heb 1:10
And, "In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands" (NRSV)
This is a quote from Psa 102:25 (101:26, LXX). And Bowman is correct that ἐθεμελίωσας is in the active voice. Firstly, this can be consistent with the LDS view (and what I wrote about Col 1:16) when one understands that it is the Father (who is identified as "God" to the distinction of the Son in Col 1:15ff) who creates through/in the Son who is the Father's agent, and that this is the Genesis creation. There is no problem.
However, one should note that while the Hebrew of Psa 102:24f is addressed to Yahweh, it is *not* the case in the LXX due to the issue of how the LXX translators understood v. 23 (LXX v 24) to be vocalised. ענה could be vocalised as "broken/weakened" (per the MT) or ἀπεκρίθη ("he [Yahweh] answered" as per the LXX which the Hebrews author is following), so the subsequent verses are not addressed to Yahweh but a human king. Furthermore, LXX Psa 101 was understood by early Christians to be about the topic of Messianic Eschatology, so one could argue that the author, using prolepsis, is speaking of the new creation and the future messianic age (cf. Heb 2:5). As one commentator wrote:
[T]he whole passage down to the end of the psalm becomes the answer of Yahweh to the suppliant who accordingly appears to be addressed as Kurie [lord] and creator of heaven and earth…Instead of understanding the verse as a complaint of the psalmist at the shortness of his days which are cut off in the midst, LXX and the Vulgate understand the utterance to be Yahweh’s answer to the psalmist’s plea that he will intervene to save Zion, because “it is time to have pity on her, yea, the set time is come” (v. 13). He is bidden acknowledge (or prescribe?) the shortness of Yahweh’s set time, and not to summon him when it is but half expired. On the other hand he [the Messianic lord] is promised that his own endurance shall be perpetual with the children of his servants. B.W. Bacon, “Heb. 1:10-12 and the Septuagint Rendering of Ps. 102:23,” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 3, 1902, p. 280-285, here, pp. 282-83 [I have a pdf of this interesting article if anyone wants a copy thereof]).
Such would conform with Isa 51:16 where Yahweh addresses a human about the formation of the new heavens and new earth ("I have put my words in your mouth, and hidden you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, 'You are my people'" [NRSV]). As the Word Biblical Commentary (WBC: Isaiah 34-66 [1987], p. 212) writes:
That makes no sense if it refers to the original [Genesis] creation . . . Heavens and land here must refer metaphorically to the totality of order in Palestine, heavens meaning the broader overarching structure of the Empire, while land is the political order in Palestine itself.
However one cuts it (Genesis creation or speaking, via prolepsis, of the Messianic age), there is no issue with LDS Christology.
This is already getting lengthy. Much more could be said on these topics, but that should give some food for thought.
And, "In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands" (NRSV)
This is a quote from Psa 102:25 (101:26, LXX). And Bowman is correct that ἐθεμελίωσας is in the active voice. Firstly, this can be consistent with the LDS view (and what I wrote about Col 1:16) when one understands that it is the Father (who is identified as "God" to the distinction of the Son in Col 1:15ff) who creates through/in the Son who is the Father's agent, and that this is the Genesis creation. There is no problem.
However, one should note that while the Hebrew of Psa 102:24f is addressed to Yahweh, it is *not* the case in the LXX due to the issue of how the LXX translators understood v. 23 (LXX v 24) to be vocalised. ענה could be vocalised as "broken/weakened" (per the MT) or ἀπεκρίθη ("he [Yahweh] answered" as per the LXX which the Hebrews author is following), so the subsequent verses are not addressed to Yahweh but a human king. Furthermore, LXX Psa 101 was understood by early Christians to be about the topic of Messianic Eschatology, so one could argue that the author, using prolepsis, is speaking of the new creation and the future messianic age (cf. Heb 2:5). As one commentator wrote:
[T]he whole passage down to the end of the psalm becomes the answer of Yahweh to the suppliant who accordingly appears to be addressed as Kurie [lord] and creator of heaven and earth…Instead of understanding the verse as a complaint of the psalmist at the shortness of his days which are cut off in the midst, LXX and the Vulgate understand the utterance to be Yahweh’s answer to the psalmist’s plea that he will intervene to save Zion, because “it is time to have pity on her, yea, the set time is come” (v. 13). He is bidden acknowledge (or prescribe?) the shortness of Yahweh’s set time, and not to summon him when it is but half expired. On the other hand he [the Messianic lord] is promised that his own endurance shall be perpetual with the children of his servants. B.W. Bacon, “Heb. 1:10-12 and the Septuagint Rendering of Ps. 102:23,” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 3, 1902, p. 280-285, here, pp. 282-83 [I have a pdf of this interesting article if anyone wants a copy thereof]).
Such would conform with Isa 51:16 where Yahweh addresses a human about the formation of the new heavens and new earth ("I have put my words in your mouth, and hidden you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, 'You are my people'" [NRSV]). As the Word Biblical Commentary (WBC: Isaiah 34-66 [1987], p. 212) writes:
That makes no sense if it refers to the original [Genesis] creation . . . Heavens and land here must refer metaphorically to the totality of order in Palestine, heavens meaning the broader overarching structure of the Empire, while land is the political order in Palestine itself.
However one cuts it (Genesis creation or speaking, via prolepsis, of the Messianic age), there is no issue with LDS Christology.
This is already getting lengthy. Much more could be said on these topics, but that should give some food for thought.
One final comment--
Bowman wants us to believe that the Trinity is part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (I disagree and believe he is condemned under Gal 1:6-9). For it to be true, it must be consistent with logic. However, notice the following admissions:
John H. Fish III, a Trinitarian, in an article entitled, “God the Son," wrote the following as an admission of the illogical nature of the Trinity:
Theologically it is correct to say that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. But these statements cannot be reversed. We cannot say God is the Father, because that would omit the Son and the Holy Spirit. Nor can we say God is the Son, or God is the Holy Spirit. (John H. Fish III, "God the Son", Emmaus Journal Volume 12, 2003 (1) (34), Dubuque, IA: Emmaus Bible College).
To transpose this admission from theological to mathematical language, it is the equivalent of saying while 3=1+1+1, 1+1+1 does not equal 3, which is utterly absurd. Also, Fish's claim means one cannot say that any singualr person of the Tri-une being is God (e.g., "God is the Father"), notwithstanding passages such as 1 Tim 2:5 and 1 Cor 8:4-6 that predicate "God" upon the person of the Father.
This is echoed by John V. Dahms in his article, "How Reliable is Logic?" (Journal of Evangelical Theology 21/4 [December 1978] 369-80); on p.373, Dahms (another Trinitarian) makes this startling confession (comment in square brackets mine for clarification):
The orthodox doctrine of the incarnation [read: Hypostatic Union] also provides a problem for those who insist that logic is universally applicable. how can there be two natures but only one person, especially if it be remembered that the debate over monothelitism led to the conclusion that the two-natures doctrine implies that Jesus Christ had two wills? That one person can have two wills would seem to be contrary to the law of contradiction. Of course there are "conservatives" who declare that in Christ "there are not two wills, one Divine and one human." One suspects that the law of contradiction has inspired such a judgment, though one wonders whether they are not violating the same law when they continue to affirm that "each nature is complete in itself." Be that as it may, by what logic is it possible for a nature that cannot be tempted to be united with a nature that can be tempted, or for a nature that can grow in favor with God? The Monophysites and the Nestorians had more respect for logic than the orthodox, as did the Docetists and the Ebionites before them, as do those liberals who deny the incarnation today. It is not without some justification that Paul Tillich speaks of the "inescapable contradictions and absurdities into which all attempts to solve the Christological problem in terms of the two-nature theory were driven."
One has to understand that traditional Trinitarian theologies require one to accept a logical and mathematical problem. Consider the following, which are accepted by the Trinitarians:
Jesus = God
Father = God
Spirit = God
Jesus is not the person of the Father; the Father is not the person of the Spirit; the Spirit is not the person of the Son
Numerically, there is only one God
God = Father, Son, and Spirit
To put it the above in another way, to help people understand the illogical nature of creedal Trinitarianism (with "x" representing "God"):
Jesus = x
Father = x
Spirit = x
Numerically, there is only one x
God (x) = Father (x) plus Son (x), plus Spirit (x)
Bowman wants us to believe that the Trinity is part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (I disagree and believe he is condemned under Gal 1:6-9). For it to be true, it must be consistent with logic. However, notice the following admissions:
John H. Fish III, a Trinitarian, in an article entitled, “God the Son," wrote the following as an admission of the illogical nature of the Trinity:
Theologically it is correct to say that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. But these statements cannot be reversed. We cannot say God is the Father, because that would omit the Son and the Holy Spirit. Nor can we say God is the Son, or God is the Holy Spirit. (John H. Fish III, "God the Son", Emmaus Journal Volume 12, 2003 (1) (34), Dubuque, IA: Emmaus Bible College).
To transpose this admission from theological to mathematical language, it is the equivalent of saying while 3=1+1+1, 1+1+1 does not equal 3, which is utterly absurd. Also, Fish's claim means one cannot say that any singualr person of the Tri-une being is God (e.g., "God is the Father"), notwithstanding passages such as 1 Tim 2:5 and 1 Cor 8:4-6 that predicate "God" upon the person of the Father.
This is echoed by John V. Dahms in his article, "How Reliable is Logic?" (Journal of Evangelical Theology 21/4 [December 1978] 369-80); on p.373, Dahms (another Trinitarian) makes this startling confession (comment in square brackets mine for clarification):
The orthodox doctrine of the incarnation [read: Hypostatic Union] also provides a problem for those who insist that logic is universally applicable. how can there be two natures but only one person, especially if it be remembered that the debate over monothelitism led to the conclusion that the two-natures doctrine implies that Jesus Christ had two wills? That one person can have two wills would seem to be contrary to the law of contradiction. Of course there are "conservatives" who declare that in Christ "there are not two wills, one Divine and one human." One suspects that the law of contradiction has inspired such a judgment, though one wonders whether they are not violating the same law when they continue to affirm that "each nature is complete in itself." Be that as it may, by what logic is it possible for a nature that cannot be tempted to be united with a nature that can be tempted, or for a nature that can grow in favor with God? The Monophysites and the Nestorians had more respect for logic than the orthodox, as did the Docetists and the Ebionites before them, as do those liberals who deny the incarnation today. It is not without some justification that Paul Tillich speaks of the "inescapable contradictions and absurdities into which all attempts to solve the Christological problem in terms of the two-nature theory were driven."
One has to understand that traditional Trinitarian theologies require one to accept a logical and mathematical problem. Consider the following, which are accepted by the Trinitarians:
Jesus = God
Father = God
Spirit = God
Jesus is not the person of the Father; the Father is not the person of the Spirit; the Spirit is not the person of the Son
Numerically, there is only one God
God = Father, Son, and Spirit
To put it the above in another way, to help people understand the illogical nature of creedal Trinitarianism (with "x" representing "God"):
Jesus = x
Father = x
Spirit = x
Numerically, there is only one x
God (x) = Father (x) plus Son (x), plus Spirit (x)
What about LDS theology?
In the second edition of The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford University Press, 2014), we read the following note on page 419:
Most High, or “Elyon,” is a formal title of El, the senior god who presided over the divine council in the Ugaritic literature of ancient Canaan. The reference thus invokes, as do other biblical texts, the Near Eastern convention of a pantheon of gods ruled by the chief deity (Pss. 82:1; 89:6-8). Israelite authors regularly applied El’s title to Israel’s God (Gen. 14:18-22; Num. 24:16; Pss. 46:5; 47:3). [with reference to the variant in the DSS “number of the gods”] makes more sense. Here, the idea is that the chief god allocates the nations to lesser deities in the pantheon. (A post-biblical notion that seventy angels are in charge of the world’s seventy nations echoes this idea.) Almost certainly, the unintelligible reading of the MT represents a “correction” of the original text (whereby God presides over other gods) to make it conform to the later standard of pure monotheism: There are no other gods! The polytheistic imagery of the divine council is also deleted in the Heb at 32:42; 33:2-3, 7.
Other texts could be discussed, such as 1 Cor 8:4-6, which sums up the LDS perspective rather well--there is, to us, One God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ (cf. Deut 6:4; Eph 4:5-6), but such does not preclude other beings who can correctly be called "god" having true existence and being in the midst of God--in fact, such is required by the biblical data when one takes a pan-canonical approach to theology and the Bible (just as one example, take Psa 29:1 "A psalm of David. Ascribe to the Lord, o divine beings [Heb: בְּנֵ֣י אֵלִ֑ים beni-elim], ascribe to the Lord glory and strength" [1985 Tanakh, Jewish Publications Society]).Both the Latter-day Saint and biblical understanding of this issue can be best summed up in the as "kingship monotheism":
Kingship MonotheismThere are many gods, but all of the gods are subordinate to a Most High God to whom the gods give ultimate honour and glory and without whose authority and approval they do not act in relation to the world. (Blake Ostler, Of God and Gods [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2008], p. 43).
Also, logically, one has to conclude a plurality of Gods, unless one wishes to explicitly reject at least one of premises a-c from the following:
A. There are at least three divine persons.
B. Every divine person is God
C. If every a = b, there cannot be fewer B's than A's
D. Conclusion: There are at least three Gods.
On Psa 82:6, perhaps one of the most popular texts Latter-day Saints cite in favour of this doctrine, consider the following comments from three Evangelical Protestant scholars in a recent commentary:
Psalm 82: King of the Gods Psalm 82 places the modern reader in a very unfamiliar world. Modern thinkers hold to a monotheistic theology, meaning there is only one god and the gods of others simply do not exist. Ancient Israel did not have the same definition of monotheism. Indeed, for them not only did other gods exist, but these gods were active in the world. This psalm gives us a window on the assembly of the gods, a place where the gods are gathered to make decisions about the world. This council is part of the greater ancient Near Eastern mythology and would be a familiar image to ancient Israelites. A multitude of texts demonstrate this belief, e.g. Exod. 20:3-6; Deut. 4:15-20; josh. 24:14-15. In addition, many prophetic texts extol the people to love God alone and not go after other gods, e.g., Jer. 8:19; Hos. 11:2. In later texts, the theology seems to move more toward an exclusive monotheism; see. Isa. 41:21-24 . . . Verses 6-7 place the gods on equal footing with the humans. They have lost their immortality, hence their god status. This ability for the Go of Israel to demote the others speaks of the power of the king of the council. The king alone can control all of the other gods. This divine trial also demonstrates the fairness of Israel’s god. This god is not capricious, but sentences the other gods for their refusal to act in ways that reflect the values of God’s kingdom . . . [Psalm 89:5-8] set the state in the heavenly council. In vv.5 and 8, God is praised by the heavens for God’s faithfulness, and this certainly continues the theme of vv.1-4 while also broadening God’s faithfulness to the whole world. The questions in v.6 are rhetorical, just as in Isa. 40:18 and Pss. 18:31 and 77:13, followed by the declaration of God’s clear supremacy among the gods (v.7). God is not only the God of Israel but is the chief god of the council, and all others bow before the Lord. [2] See 1 Kgs. 22:19-23; Job 1:6-12; Zech. 1:7-17. See Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, pp. 177-90. The Gilgamesh Epic is a story that concerns Gilgamesh’s quest for immortality that will make him a god, indicating the importance of immortality in ancient myth. (Nancy Declaissé-Walford, Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth Laneel Tanner, The Book of Psalms [New International Old Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2014], 641, 642, 680).
In the second edition of The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford University Press, 2014), we read the following note on page 419:
Most High, or “Elyon,” is a formal title of El, the senior god who presided over the divine council in the Ugaritic literature of ancient Canaan. The reference thus invokes, as do other biblical texts, the Near Eastern convention of a pantheon of gods ruled by the chief deity (Pss. 82:1; 89:6-8). Israelite authors regularly applied El’s title to Israel’s God (Gen. 14:18-22; Num. 24:16; Pss. 46:5; 47:3). [with reference to the variant in the DSS “number of the gods”] makes more sense. Here, the idea is that the chief god allocates the nations to lesser deities in the pantheon. (A post-biblical notion that seventy angels are in charge of the world’s seventy nations echoes this idea.) Almost certainly, the unintelligible reading of the MT represents a “correction” of the original text (whereby God presides over other gods) to make it conform to the later standard of pure monotheism: There are no other gods! The polytheistic imagery of the divine council is also deleted in the Heb at 32:42; 33:2-3, 7.
Other texts could be discussed, such as 1 Cor 8:4-6, which sums up the LDS perspective rather well--there is, to us, One God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ (cf. Deut 6:4; Eph 4:5-6), but such does not preclude other beings who can correctly be called "god" having true existence and being in the midst of God--in fact, such is required by the biblical data when one takes a pan-canonical approach to theology and the Bible (just as one example, take Psa 29:1 "A psalm of David. Ascribe to the Lord, o divine beings [Heb: בְּנֵ֣י אֵלִ֑ים beni-elim], ascribe to the Lord glory and strength" [1985 Tanakh, Jewish Publications Society]).Both the Latter-day Saint and biblical understanding of this issue can be best summed up in the as "kingship monotheism":
Kingship MonotheismThere are many gods, but all of the gods are subordinate to a Most High God to whom the gods give ultimate honour and glory and without whose authority and approval they do not act in relation to the world. (Blake Ostler, Of God and Gods [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2008], p. 43).
Also, logically, one has to conclude a plurality of Gods, unless one wishes to explicitly reject at least one of premises a-c from the following:
A. There are at least three divine persons.
B. Every divine person is God
C. If every a = b, there cannot be fewer B's than A's
D. Conclusion: There are at least three Gods.
On Psa 82:6, perhaps one of the most popular texts Latter-day Saints cite in favour of this doctrine, consider the following comments from three Evangelical Protestant scholars in a recent commentary:
Psalm 82: King of the Gods Psalm 82 places the modern reader in a very unfamiliar world. Modern thinkers hold to a monotheistic theology, meaning there is only one god and the gods of others simply do not exist. Ancient Israel did not have the same definition of monotheism. Indeed, for them not only did other gods exist, but these gods were active in the world. This psalm gives us a window on the assembly of the gods, a place where the gods are gathered to make decisions about the world. This council is part of the greater ancient Near Eastern mythology and would be a familiar image to ancient Israelites. A multitude of texts demonstrate this belief, e.g. Exod. 20:3-6; Deut. 4:15-20; josh. 24:14-15. In addition, many prophetic texts extol the people to love God alone and not go after other gods, e.g., Jer. 8:19; Hos. 11:2. In later texts, the theology seems to move more toward an exclusive monotheism; see. Isa. 41:21-24 . . . Verses 6-7 place the gods on equal footing with the humans. They have lost their immortality, hence their god status. This ability for the Go of Israel to demote the others speaks of the power of the king of the council. The king alone can control all of the other gods. This divine trial also demonstrates the fairness of Israel’s god. This god is not capricious, but sentences the other gods for their refusal to act in ways that reflect the values of God’s kingdom . . . [Psalm 89:5-8] set the state in the heavenly council. In vv.5 and 8, God is praised by the heavens for God’s faithfulness, and this certainly continues the theme of vv.1-4 while also broadening God’s faithfulness to the whole world. The questions in v.6 are rhetorical, just as in Isa. 40:18 and Pss. 18:31 and 77:13, followed by the declaration of God’s clear supremacy among the gods (v.7). God is not only the God of Israel but is the chief god of the council, and all others bow before the Lord. [2] See 1 Kgs. 22:19-23; Job 1:6-12; Zech. 1:7-17. See Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, pp. 177-90. The Gilgamesh Epic is a story that concerns Gilgamesh’s quest for immortality that will make him a god, indicating the importance of immortality in ancient myth. (Nancy Declaissé-Walford, Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth Laneel Tanner, The Book of Psalms [New International Old Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2014], 641, 642, 680).
James Dunn in his commentary on Colossians/Philemon offered this exegesis of Col 1:16:
The “in him” is the beginning of a sequence of prepositional phrases by means of which the creation of “all things” is described: “in him, through him, to him.” Such use of prepositions “from,” “by,” “through,” “in,” and “to” or “for” was widespread in talking about God and the cosmos. So particularly pseudo-Aristotle, De mundo 6: οτι εκ θεου παντα και δια θεου συνεστηκε; Seneca, Epistulae 65.8: “Quinque ergo causae sunt, ut Plato dicit: id ex quo, id a quo, id in quo, id ad quod, id propter quod”; Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.23: εκ σου παντα εν σοι παντα εις σε παντα; so also Philo, De cherubim 125-26: το υφ’ ου, το εξ ου, το δι’ ου, το δι’ ο; and already Paul (Rom. 11:36 and 1 Cor. 8:6, as partially also in Heb 2:10).
Once again, however, we may deduce that the primary influence is the Jewish Wisdom tradition, within which such language had been used of divine wisdom (Feuillet, Sagesse 206-11). So, e.g., Ps. 104:24 (LXX 103:24): “you made all things by wisdom (πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας),” a very close parallel; Prov. 3:19: “The Lord by wisdom (τη σοφια) founded the earth”; Wis. 8:5: “wisdom that effects all things (της τα παντα εργαζομενης)”; Philo, Quod deterius 54: “Wisdom, by whose agency the universe was brought to completion (δι’ ης απετελεσθη το παν)”; similarly Heres 199 and Fuga 109.
What does such language mean when applied to Messiah Jesus? Not, presumably, that the Christ known to his followers during his ministry in Palestine was as such God’s agent in creation; in the first century no less than the twentieth that would be to read imaginative metaphor in a pedantically literal way. It must mean rather that that powerful action of God, expressed by the metaphor of female Wisdom, in and through whom the universe came into being, is now to be seen as embodied in Christ, its character now made clear by the light of his cross and resurrection (1:18, 20). The subsequent desire to distinguish more clearly God as the final cause (εκ) from Wisdom/Christ as the means or agent (δια) is already evident in 1 Cor. 8:6 (cf. John 1:1-3), as it had been important in equivalent terms for Philo (De cherubim 125).
What of the least common of the three prepositions, the εις (“for, to”) in the last line of v. 16 (never used in such contexts in reference to Jewish Wisdom)? If the prepositional sequence was simply adapted from the wider philosophic usage it need not be indicative of eschatological purpose (9cf. Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 8:6, δι’ ον in Heb. 2:10). Even as christianized, the two strophes seem to be structured on a proctology/eschatology, old cosmos/new cosmos distinction, with the future eschatological emphasis limited to the second. Nevertheless, because of the hymn’s present context, the redemptive work also accomplished “in Christ” (1:14) is presented as the key that unlocks the mystery of the divine purpose. “In Christ” creation and redemption are one. In the cross and resurrection (1:18, 20) both past and future find the clue to their ultimate significance. (James D.G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon [New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1996], 91-92)
Compare this with what Dunn wrote in a very learned tome on Christology:
We must rather orient our exegesis of v. 16a more closely round the recognition that once again we are back with wisdom terminology—as perhaps Ps. 104.24 (103.24 LXX) makes most clearly:
Ps. 104.24 - πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας
Col 1.16 - ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα
What does this mean, to say that Christ is the creative power (= wisdom) of God by means of which God made the world? . . . This may simply be the writer’s way of saying that Christ now reveals the character of the power behind the world. The Christian thought certainly moves out from the recognition that God’s power was most fully and finally (eschatologically) revealed in Christ, particularly in his resurrection. But that power is the same power which God exercised in creating all things—the Christian would certainly not want to deny that. Thus the thought would be that Christ defines what is the wisdom, the creative power of God—he is the fullest and clearest expression of God’s wisdom (we could almost say its archetype). If then Christ is what God’s power/wisdom came to be recognized as, of Christ it can be said what was said first of wisdom—that ‘in him (the divine wisdom now embodied in Christ) were created all things’. In other words the language may be used here to indicate the continuity between God’s creative power and Christ without the implication being intended that Christ himself was active in creation. ‘He is before all things (προ παντων) . . .’ (v. 17). The exegete here has the same problem with προ as with πρωτοτοκος in v. 16b: it is intended in a temporal sense, or is it priority in the sense of superiority in status which is meant, or is a deliberate ambiguity intended? The following clause (‘in him all things hold together’) if anything supports the first (or third) alternatives and sets up once again wholly in the same Wisdom/Logos context of thought. In which case again probably we do not have a statement of Christ as pre-existent so much as a statement about the wisdom of God now defined by Christ, now wholly equated with Christ. (James D.G. Dunn, Christology in the Making: A New Testament Inquiry into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation [2d ed.; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1989], 190-91)
Jerry L. Sumney mirrors Dunn etl al. with the following:
Colossians 1:16 uses the prepositions en (“in”), dia (“through”), and eis (“for”), as 1 Cor 8:6 and Rom 11:36 uses dia and eis to speak of the relationship between Christ and the world. Colossians 1:16 does not, however, use the preposition ek (“out of, from”) to describe this relationship, through Paul does use it to speak of God’s relationship with the world in 1 Cor 8:6. Lohse understands this selection of prepositions to indicate that the writers of these texts see God as the source of creation, with Christ always as mediator of this act of God (50 n. 125). This is certainly the theological stance that the Colossian poem advocates, whether or not the particular prepositions are chosen to express it. The assertions in 1 Corinthians and Romans, that creation came into being through Christ demonstrate that this idea is not a late theological development. Already in the early 50s of the first century, Christians were thinking of Christ as a preexistent being through who God created the chaos. (Jerry L. Sumney, Colossians: A Commentary [New Testament Library; Louiseville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2008], 69)
Blake Ostler wrote the following about this text (and Heb 11:3, a related verse) showing it does not support creation out of nothing:
The view that the “invisible things” are not absolute nothing is also supported by Colossians 1:16–17:
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers—all things were created through him and for him. He exists before all things. (NJB)
In this scripture it seems fairly evident that the “everything invisible”includes things that already exist in heaven, such as thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers. Further, the invisible things are also created by God; yet the fact that they are invisible means only that they are not seen by mortal eyes, not that they do not exist. The reference to invisible things does not address whether they were made out of preexisting matter. However, 2 Corinthians 4:18 states that “the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (KJV). It is not difficult to see that Hebrews 11:3 neither expressly mentions creation out of nothing nor implicitly assumes it. The argument that the text must somehow implicitly assume creation of out nothing misinterprets the text and forces it with assumptions that are contrary to the meaning of “invisible things.” If anything, Hebrews 11:3 implicitly assumes creation of the earth out of a preexisting substrate not visible to us.
It should be noted that LDS theology does state that Christ is the creator, and often borrows the verbiage of this Christological hymn when speaking of His role in the creation (e.g., D&C 93:10; 3 Nephi 9:15; the 1916 First Presidency statement, "The Father and the Son”), and such is not limited to the "New Creation," but also to the Genesis creation, contra "Biblical Unitarians." I raise these issues, however, as many critics of LDS Christology have falsely stated that Col 1;15ff refutes "Mormon" theology which states that "biblical theology" presents Jesus as being the creator of the spirits of man as well as fallen angels (a category clearly not being reconciled to God, unless one wishes to embrace Origen's eschatology wherein Satan and the Demons, as mentioned previously, will receive eschatological salvation [!])
In Col 1:19, we read: "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him." Two aorists are used in this verse (ευδοκησεν [thought/pleased] and κατοικησαι [dwell]; cf. Col 2:9). If we go along with the trinitarian view, then at what point in time was God the Son filled with God's fullness, and was he God before this happened in their view? Such is consistent with LDS theology, such as the LDS interpretation of Phil 2:5-11, but at odds-end with Trinitarian theology.
Verse 18 reads; "And he is the head of the body, the church is the beginning of the firstborn of the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence." This is nonsense in light o the hypostatic union which states that Christ was "fully God" while incarnate, but only "veiled" his divinity (more on this later when we discuss Phil 2:5-11). However, this is part of a ινα clause in Greek, meaning that Christ became the "firstborn of the dead" in order that he might have the preeminent, or "supreme" (πρωτεύων). As one Greek scholar wrote:
The authority of Christ is the driving focus, as seen in the fact he is the agent in the creation of τὰ πάντα (1:16), which is to be taken in its most sweeping sense. His authority is implied further by the list of authorities and powers later in the verse. The πρὸ πάντων in 1:17 probably refers to authority and not priority in time is seen in the parallel καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ in 1:18. Bruce thinks that πρωτότοκος refers primarily to his preexistence. But while preexistence cannot be denied, rulership is the more important focus. (J. William Johnston, The Use of πας in the New Testament Studies in Biblical Greek [New York: Peter Lang, 2004], 177)
Maximillian Zerwick, a Jesuit New Testament scholar, echoed such sentiments:
287. In Col 1,16f St Paul establishes Christ’s universal primacy on the grounds ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα (aorist: historical fact). Christ is however not only the efficient cause (δι᾽ αὐτοῦ) but also the final cause (εἰς αὐτὸν) and as such is even more in the present (and future) than in the past; hence to describe this state of affairs Paul now uses the perfect: πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται,· and adds by way of conclusion πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν, a perfect expressing the fact that we and the universe have in Christ our subsistence, our internal cohesion, an intimate relation with one another and the universe—What Christ’s resurrection was for Paul, namely the beginning, once and for all, of the new αιων, which is ours, is well illustrated by his use of a perfect along with three aorists in 1 Cor 15,3: Christ died (απεθανεν) for our sins . . . and was buried (εταφη) and is risen (εγηγερται—but English has to use past instead of the perfect on account of the following “on the third day”) . . . . and He appeared (ωφθη) to Cephas.” (Maximillian Zerwick, Biblical Greek [trans. Joseph Smith; Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici, Rome, 1963], 97)
On a related issue, it is often argued by Trinitarians such as James White (see his debate with subordinationist Unitarian, Patrick Navas, in 2012) that Paul exhausts all the prepositions in Koine Greek to describe Jesus as the creator. However, this is not true--strikingly missing is the phrase εξ ου ("from whom"), used of the Father in 1 Cor 8:6, but never of Jesus. To understand the full force of the anti-Trinitarian implications of this issue for New Testament Christology, one will also have to exegete 1 Cor 8:4-6.
Here is the Greek followed by the NRSV translation (emphasis added):
Περὶ τῆς βρώσεως οὖν τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων, οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς θεὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς. καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶν λεγόμενοι θεοὶ εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτε ἐπὶ γῆς, ὥσπερ εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι᾽ αὐτοῦ.
Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth -- as in fact there are many gods and many lords -- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
There are a number of important points here—
Firstly, the term “God” is predicated of the Father, and it is to the exclusion of the Son. Trinitarianism, the significance of which was discussed earlier in this post.
Secondly, the “number” of God is said to be “one” (εἷς). In light of how the Father has θεος predicated upon his person to the exclusion of the Son, absolutising this verse as critics of LDS theology wish to do (e.g., Ron Rhodes; James Whit) et al. wish to do, this is a strictly Unitarian text, not Trinitarian. However, this is not an issue for Latter-day Saint Christology, as the term “God” is multivalent, as we recognise that the Father is the “one true God,” but there are (true) deities who can properly be called “God” (cf. Deut 32:7-9 [Dead Sea Scrolls]; Psa 29; 89; etc), something neither Unitarianism nor Trinitarianism in their various forms can tolerate.
Another refutation of the Trinity comes from that of logic. In 1 Cor 8:6, creation is said to be εκ (from) the Father, while it is said to be δια (through/by) the Son. Again absolutising this pericope in the way Trinitarians wish to do, let us examine how this pericope is another nail in the coffin of the claim that "the Trinity flows from every page of the Bible":
First Premise: If Jesus is God within the sense of Trinitarian Christology, all things would be made from (εκ) him.
Second Premise: All things were not made from (εκ) Jesus.
Conclusion: Jesus is not God within the sense of Trinitarian Christology.
This is perfectly logical reasoning, called modus tollens. Not only do Trinitarians have to go against careful, scholarly exegesis of the Bible, but also logic.
It should also be noted that many Trinitarian scholars argue that this text is not Trinitarian, but binitarian, with this pericope “proving” that Paul did not believe when he wrote 1 Cor 8:4-6, in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit(!)
Daniel Wallace, a leading Greek grammarian who is also Reformed/Trinitarian, in an interview in favour of the Trinity (which can be found here) admitted this:
He also wrote something very similar in an article published in an Evangelical journal, "Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 13/1 (2003), pp. 97-125 (online here):
Paul says, ‘Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live’ …What Paul does…I call it a primitive binitarian viewpoint. It’s not even quite trinitarian…I should probably clarify this for the listeners. I think there’s a progressive understanding in the New Testament about who Jesus is; and when Paul writes 1 Corinthians in the early 50s, I think he’s very clearly binitarian. I don’t know yet if he has understood the Trinity. My guess is he probably does not and those things get revealed a little bit later on. But here’s the thing.
He also wrote something very similar in an article published in an Evangelical journal, "Greek Grammar and the Personality of the Holy Spirit,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 13/1 (2003), pp. 97-125 (online here):
There is no text in the NT that clearly or even probably affirms the personality of the Holy Spirit through the route of Greek grammar. The basis for this doctrine must be on other grounds. This does not mean that in the NT the Spirit is a thing, any more than in the OT the Spirit (רוּחַ —a feminine noun) is a female! Grammatical gender is just that: grammatical. The conventions of language do not necessarily correspond to reality . . . One implication of these considerations is this: There is often a tacit assumption by scholars that the Spirit's distinct personality was fully recognized in the early apostolic period. Too often, such a viewpoint is subconsciously filtered through Chalcedonian lenses. This certainly raises some questions that can be addressed here only in part: We are not arguing that the distinct personality and deity of the Spirit are foreign to the NT, but rather that there is progressive revelation within the NT, just as there is between the Testaments . . . In sum, I have sought to demonstrate in this paper that the grammatical basis for the Holy Spirit's personality is lacking in the NT, yet this is frequently, if not usually, the first line of defense of that doctrine by many evangelical writers. But if grammar cannot legitimately be used to support the Spirit's personality, then perhaps we need to reexamine the rest of our basis for this theological commitment. I am not denying the doctrine of the Trinity, of course, but I am arguing that we need to ground our beliefs on a more solid foundation.
Unitarian apologist, Jaco Van Zyl, summed up the implications of this admission rather well in his response to Wallace's interview:
For Wallace to admit that NT writers did not understand the Trinity implies that later Fourth- and Fifth-Century Christians discerned and believed what “inspired” bible writers failed to believe. This argument is therefore no different from the claims made by the very ones Wallace and others are trying to help since the Jehovah’s Witnesses also proclaim that Jesus and the apostles didn’t know that Jesus would return in 1914 C.E., or that the first Christians did not know that the “great multitude” of Revelation 7:9 would be a second class of Christians gathered since 1935 with a different hope than the literal 144 000 anointed class of Revelation 14, etc.; there is absolutely no difference in argumentation. At least it can be safely said, considering Wallace’s admission, that the first Christians did not believe in the Trinity formulated in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries – that who and what God was to them was different from who God was to these first Christians. The implications of this admission are rather significant.
While much more could be said, the purpose of Col 1 is the preeminence and superiority of Jesus above everything else. Since the Christ-event was understood to be the ultimate purpose of all creation, all things were created and intended with the Christ-event in mind. Jesus' pre-eminence is shown in that he was intended before creation and demonstrated to be the firstborn of everything through His glorious resurrection. This could be seen in the locution in v.16, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως "firstborn of all creation," could be rendered as a genitive of subordination, "firstborn above all creation," as proposed by Daniel Wallace and other Greek grammarians (see Wallace's discussion of the genitive case in his Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament).
