Re: PRWTOTOKOS (was col 1:15 greek help)

From: Jonathan Robie (jonathan@texcel.no)
Date: Sat Nov 07 1998 - 19:56:59 EST


At 02:19 PM 11/7/98 -0800, Edgar Foster wrote:
>---Jonathan Robie wrote:
>
>>However, in Colossians 1:16, when it says EN AUTW EKTISQH TA
>>PANTA..., AUTW seems to clearly point to Jesus as being the
>>one in whom all things were created, in heaven or on earth, things
>>seen and things unseen... (I find it a bit of a stretch to say
>>that AUTW refers to God rather than to Jesus since the predominant
>>subject at the time this clause rolls around is Jesus, who
>>is also the subject last referred to.)
>
>One thing that cannot be overlooked here is the hOTI clause in 1:16.
>hOTI explains WHY the LOGOS is called PRWTOTOKOS
>PASHS KTISEWS in 1:15. He is PRWTOTOKOS because EN AUTWi EKTISQH TA
>PANTA. Now while Col. 1:16 may seem to imply that
>Jesus is to be excluded from creation via his activites as Creator, it
>is wise to pay attention to the Pauline employment of
>prepositions in this verse. For one, EN AUTWi does not have to mean
>that Christ created "all things." It can simply mean that
>God used Christ to share in the creation of TA PANTA. EN can be used
>in an instrumental sense (Cf. 2 Cor. 5:19).

Yes, I have also been reading this as an instrumental EN, but if "all
things" were created by means of Jesus (instrumental EN), then Jesus does
not belong to the class of "all things" that were created.
 
>All of this is to say that hO LOGOS being termed PRWTOTOKOS in Col.
>1:15 does not have to imply that Jesus is ISA QEW.

I don't think anybody has said that PRWTOTOKOS is a synonym for God.

Jonathan
___________________________________________________________________________

Jonathan Robie jwrobie@mindspring.com

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