The following is from “Chapter 3: The Firstborn” of John A. Tvedtnes, Joseph Smith and the Ancient World:
John Chrysostom (ca. AD 347-407)
argued that the title “Firstborn” in Colossians merely indicates that Jesus
existed before everything else; see his Homily 3 on Colossians 1:15-18,
in Paul Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series
(reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 13:270-1. By the time of the council
of Sardica in A.D. 343-4 or 347, the term had been redefined. The synodical
letter issued by the council declares that “We confess an Only-begotten and a
Firstborn; but that the Word is only-begotten, who ever was and is in the
Father. We use the word firstborn with respect to His human nature. But He is
superior (to man) in the new creation (of the Resurrection), inasmuch as He is
the Firstborn from the dead.” Theodoret (ca. AD 393-457), Ecclesiastical
History 2.6, in Paul Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,
Second Series (reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 3:71. These contradict
earlier statements and demonstrate the kinds of changes that were introduced
during the period of apostasy.
