Kermit Zarley, author of The Restitution of Jesus Christ, wrote
the following about Col 1:16 in a blog post, “The
Bible Does Not Say God Created the Angels”:
First, the Greek text of Colossians 1.16
has tois ouranois. It can be translated either “the heavens”
or “(the) heaven.” I think it is rightly translated “the heavens” in the NASB
and wrongly translated “heaven” here in the NRSV as well as the NIV and ESV.
These latter three versions translating it “heaven” makes it refer to the
heaven where God and angels dwell. On the contrary, whenever “(the) heaven(s)
and (the) earth” are mentioned together in the Bible, this phrase refers to
everything in the universe besides the earth as “the heavens.” In that
case shamayim/ouranos should be translated in the
plural. Thus, Colossians 1.16 does not mean God created everything in the
heaven where he and angels dwell. It doesn’t say anything about that.
Second, it is unlikely that the
twice-mentioned expression “all things” in Colossians 1.16, which is panta in
the Greek text, refers to angels. For instance, most modern Bible versions
translate archai in v. 16 as “rulers,” which would indicate
persons such as humans or angels. But archai here can be
translated “principalities” or the like, as the KJV does, which does not
indicate personalities but rather the realm of rule of personalities. This
corresponds better to the two previous nouns in the Greek text, which are thronoi and kuriotetes,
here translated “thrones” and “dominions” respectively, because they do not
indicate personalities either. The same issue arises concerning the last of
these four Greek nouns, exousia, which are here in the NRSV and in
the KJV translated as “powers.” The NASB, NIV, and ESV here translate it “authorities,”
indicating personalities. But it also can be translated “powers,” as it is here
in the NRSV and the KJV, which does not indicate personalities. Thus, all four
nouns are better understood as referring to position rather than person.
Third, the final words “for him” in
Colossians 1.16 mean that everything God created during the creation period
described in Genesis 1 was for Jesus. If that includes the angels, of which
there are two types—God’s angels and Satan’s angels—then we must understand
Paul to be saying that Satan’s angels were created for Jesus,
that is, that they belong to him, which is ludicrous and therefore must be
incorrect.
For my "take" on Col 1:15-20, see the section entitled Jesus as the "spirit brother" of Satan in my article, Refuting Jeff Durbin on "Mormonism"
