# Colossians 1.15-17 **Book:** [Colossians](/codex/colossians/) · NASB95 ## Verse > He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17, NASB95) ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **NASB95** ([NASB95](/codex/nasb95/)) > 13. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. > > **15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.** > > 18. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, (Colossians 1:13-19, NASB95) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Paul (with Timothy, 1:1), writing from imprisonment (4:3, 4:18), likely the Roman house arrest of Acts 28 (early AD 60s), though the Caesarean and Ephesian imprisonment hypotheses retain modern defenders. - **Audience:** the church at Colossae, a small inland city in Phrygia (modern Turkey), founded not by Paul directly but probably by Epaphras (1:7). The community faces a syncretistic teaching that diminishes Christ's supremacy by inserting angelic mediators, ascetic practices, and ritual observances between believers and God (cf. 2:8-23). Paul's response is a maximally exalted Christology. - **Location and time period:** likely written from Rome, c. AD 60-62. The passage is widely recognized as a **Christ-hymn**, possibly pre-Pauline, showing structural balance and elevated diction, though the question of whether Paul is composing or quoting an existing liturgical fragment is debated (Eduard Lohse, Peter T. O'Brien, Douglas Moo). Either way, Paul deploys it as the doctrinal load-bearing answer to the Colossian heresy. ## Theological reading The passage is **the New Testament's most concentrated cosmic Christology**, packing pre-existence, divine identity, agency in creation, and ongoing cosmic sustenance into three verses. Three theses: 1. **"The image of the invisible God" (*eikōn tou theou tou aoratou*), Christ as the perfect manifestation of the Father.** *Eikōn* in this context is far stronger than "picture" or "likeness." In Hellenistic philosophical usage and in Wisdom literature (Wisdom 7:26, Wisdom as "image of His goodness") it denotes a manifestation that *makes the invisible visible* by sharing its essence. To see the *eikōn* is to see what the original is. John 1:18 ("No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him") and John 14:9 ("He who has seen Me has seen the Father") give the same theology in narrative form. The Father is *aoratos*, invisible, transcendent, not directly accessible to creaturely vision; the Son is the visible *eikōn* who makes the Father knowable. This rules out any subordinationist reading on which the Son is a mere reflection or lesser deity: *eikōn* is essence-sharing, not derivation-by-degree. (See [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) for the dedicated single-verse hub on this clause.) 2. **"Firstborn of all creation" (*prōtotokos pasēs ktiseōs*), pre-eminence and pre-existence, NOT createdness.** This is the contested phrase, and Arian/Jehovah's Witness exegesis takes *prōtotokos* in a strictly temporal sense, Christ as the *first created being*. The Greek and the canonical context refute this: - **Lexical.** *Prōtotokos* in Hellenistic Greek and Septuagint usage carries a primary sense of *rank/status* (heir, sovereign), not bare temporal priority. Psalm 89:27 LXX uses *prōtotokon* of David: "I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth", David is not the first king ever born, but the supreme one. The same Septuagint use grounds Paul's choice of vocabulary. - **Grammatical.** *Pasēs ktiseōs* is a genitive of subordination ("firstborn *over* all creation") rather than a partitive ("firstborn *of* / *among* all creation"). The very next verse (v. 16) gives the decisive grammatical indicator with *hoti*, "*for* by Him all things were created", explaining *why* the Son is *prōtotokos*: because He is the agent through whom and for whom all things came into being. A created being cannot be the agent of all creation without being self-caused. - **Verse 17.** "He is *before* all things" (*pro pantōn*), temporal priority that places Him outside the *ktisis*, not within it. - **Patristic consensus.** Athanasius (*Contra Arianos* II.62-64) treats *prōtotokos* here as a title of *sovereignty*, not of being-created. Arius's contrary reading is the original occasion for the dogmatic distinction between *gennēthenta* (begotten) and *poiēthenta* (made) in the Nicene Creed. 3. **Universal agency and continuous sustenance, "all things have been created through Him and for Him…in Him all things hold together."** The Greek prepositions in v. 16 are layered: *en autō* (in / by Him), *di' autou* (through Him), *eis auton* (for / unto Him). Christ is the *sphere*, the *agent*, and the *goal* of creation. The threefold prepositional structure (*ek-dia-eis*) elsewhere in Paul (Romans 11:36) is reserved for God Himself; Colossians 1:16 deploys *en-dia-eis* of the Son. Verse 17b, *ta panta en autō synestēken* ("in Him all things hold together"), uses the perfect tense *synestēken* with present-stative force: the cosmos has been and remains constituted in Him. This is *concursus / conservatio*, moment-by-moment metaphysical sustenance, predicated of the Son. Hebrews 1:3 ("upholds all things by the word of His power") gives the parallel. The list of created things is exhaustive: heavens and earth, visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities. The last four terms refer to angelic powers, including the very angelic mediators the Colossian heresy was elevating between believers and God. Paul's point: *every* such being is *Christ's creation*, not Christ's peer. ## Patristic / scholarly note **Patristic.** Irenaeus (*Against Heresies* III.16) cites Col 1:15-17 against Gnostic emanationism: there is no chain of intermediaries between God and creation; the one Son is both fully God and the direct agent of all creation. Athanasius (*Contra Arianos* II) makes Col 1:15-17 the load-bearing OT-NT proof text for the Son's full deity, devoting extended exegesis to *prōtotokos* and *eikōn*. [Cyril of Alexandria](/codex/cyril-of-alexandria/) (*Thesaurus*) reads *eikōn* as essence-sharing (not mere similarity), grounding the *homoousios*. Augustine (*De Trinitate* VI.10) reads the passage as foundational to Trinitarian doctrine. **Reformation.** Calvin (*Commentary on Colossians*, 1548) treats *prōtotokos* as denoting "His rank, that He is the first-born," explicitly refuting any Arian temporal reading. He emphasizes that v. 16's *hoti* is the interpretive key, the Son is *prōtotokos* precisely *because* He is the Creator. Owen (*Christologia*, 1679) treats Col 1:15-20 alongside John 1:1-18 and Heb 1:1-4 as the three pillars of the NT's high Christology. **Modern conservative scholarship.** Peter T. O'Brien (*Colossians, Philemon* WBC, 1982) gives the standard exegesis arguing *prōtotokos* is a title of sovereignty against Arian readings. F. F. Bruce (*Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians* NICNT, 1984) treats the Christ-hymn as the doctrinal hinge of the letter. Douglas J. Moo (*Colossians and Philemon* PNTC, 2008) carefully exegetes the prepositional structure of v. 16 and its implications for Christ's divine identity. N. T. Wright (*Colossians and Philemon* TNTC, 1986) reads the hymn as Paul's deliberate restructuring of Jewish Wisdom traditions around the crucified and risen Christ. Richard Bauckham (*Jesus and the God of Israel*, 2008) treats Col 1:15-17 as a key text in NT divine-identity Christology, Christ is included within the unique creator-identity of YHWH while remaining personally distinct. **Christ-hymn debate.** Eduard Lohse (*Colossians and Philemon* Hermeneia, 1971) treats the passage as a pre-Pauline hymn that Paul has redacted. O'Brien and Moo are more cautious, the rhetorical features could equally arise from Paul's elevated style. The doctrinal weight does not depend on the resolution. **Tensions.** - **Jehovah's Witness / Arian readings** insert "[other]" in the NWT translation: "by him all [other] things were created", a translation choice with no Greek warrant, made to preserve the Arian reading of *prōtotokos* as "first created." Mainstream scholarship (across confessional lines) rejects the insertion. - **Some patristic readings (Origen)** developed *prōtotokos* in a sense that Athanasius and the post-Nicene tradition deemed too close to subordinationism. The Nicene formula resolves the ambiguity in favor of eternal generation, not temporal priority. ## Connection to other passages - [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), the dedicated single-verse rich hub on the *eikōn / prōtotokos* clause; this hub treats the wider 15-17 cluster (agency, sustenance) without duplicating that work - [Hebrews 1.3](/codex/hebrews-1-3/), "the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power"; the closest NT parallel - [Hebrews 1.8-9](/codex/hebrews-1-8-9/), the Father addresses the Son as God; complementary chapter-1 high Christology - [John 1.1](/codex/john-1-1/), "and the Word was God"; pre-existence and divine identity - [John 1.3](/codex/john-1-3/), "All things came into being through Him"; agency in creation - [Philippians 2.5-11](/codex/philippians-2-5-11/), the descent and exaltation pattern of the same divine-cosmic Son - **Genesis 1:1**, the creation Christ is here said to have effected - **Wisdom 7:26**, Wisdom as *eikōn* of God's goodness; literary background - **Psalm 89:27**, David as *prōtotokos*; lexical precedent for sovereignty-sense - **Proverbs 8:22-31**, Wisdom present at creation; conceptual background (much-abused by Arians) - **Romans 11:36**, "from Him and through Him and to Him are all things"; the Pauline parallel applying the same triadic prepositions to God the Father - [1 Corinthians 8.6](/codex/1-corinthians-8-6/), "one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him"; same agency-in-creation predication - **Revelation 3:14**, Christ "the Beginning of the creation of God", another Arian-contested verse with parallel exegetical resolution ## Key words - G1504 - eikōn, *eikōn* (image), visible manifestation of the invisible essence - G4416 - prōtotokos, *prōtotokos* (firstborn), title of sovereignty, not of being-created - [G2937 - ktisis](/codex/g2937-ktisis/), *ktisis* (creation), what the Son is *over*, not part of - G4921 - synistēmi, *synistēmi* (hold together / cohere), perfect-stative, continuous metaphysical sustenance - *G0517 - aoratos*, *aoratos* (invisible), what the Father is, until manifested in the *eikōn* ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [100 Questions for Evolutionists](/codex/100-questions-for-evolutionists/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [AI Consciousness Proves Mind Is Computation (Defeater)](/codex/ai-consciousness-proves-mind-is-computation-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Anointing Implies Subordination Objection Defeater](/codex/anointing-implies-subordination-objection-defeater/) - [Anselms Four-Dimensionalist Eternity](/codex/anselms-four-dimensionalist-eternity/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Anyone Who Affirms Universals Must Affirm God](/codex/anyone-who-affirms-universals-must-affirm-god/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Aquinas Five Ways](/codex/aquinas-five-ways/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Argument from Consciousness](/codex/argument-from-consciousness/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Argument from Cosmology (Guillen)](/codex/argument-from-cosmology-guillen/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Argument from Intelligibility](/codex/argument-from-intelligibility/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Argument from Mathematics (Guillen)](/codex/argument-from-mathematics-guillen/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Argument from Origin of Life](/codex/argument-from-origin-of-life/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Argument from the Beauty-Mathematics Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-beauty-mathematics-convergence/) - [Argument from the Continuance of Being](/codex/argument-from-the-continuance-of-being/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Argument from the Genetic Code](/codex/argument-from-the-genetic-code/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Argument from the Impossibility of an Actual Infinite Past](/codex/argument-from-the-impossibility-of-an-actual-infinite-past/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Argument from the Mirror-Recognition Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-mirror-recognition-convergence/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Argument from the One-and-the-Many Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-one-and-the-many-convergence/) - [Argument from the Pre-Given Logos](/codex/argument-from-the-pre-given-logos/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Argument from the Question-Asking Asymmetry](/codex/argument-from-the-question-asking-asymmetry/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Argument from the Reality of Mathematical Infinity](/codex/argument-from-the-reality-of-mathematical-infinity/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Argument from the Suns Origin](/codex/argument-from-the-suns-origin/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Argument from the Trans-Instinctual Agency Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-trans-instinctual-agency-convergence/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Argument from the Universal Imagination Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-universal-imagination-convergence/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Cambrian Explosion Argument](/codex/cambrian-explosion-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Common Design vs Common Descent Argument](/codex/common-design-vs-common-descent-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Contingency Argument](/codex/contingency-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Convergent Evolution as Design Signal Argument](/codex/convergent-evolution-as-design-signal-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Did Jesus Send Muhammad Dilemma Argument](/codex/did-jesus-send-muhammad-dilemma-argument/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Divine Hiddenness Objection Defeater](/codex/divine-hiddenness-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Edge of Evolution Argument](/codex/edge-of-evolution-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Fifth Way - Teleology](/codex/fifth-way-teleology/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Fine-Tuning Argument](/codex/fine-tuning-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [First Way - Motion](/codex/first-way-motion/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Hofweber Internalist Deflationism Objection Defeater](/codex/hofweber-internalist-deflationism-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Interdependency Argument](/codex/interdependency-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Irreducible Complexity Argument](/codex/interdependency-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Jesus Has a God Therefore Not God Objection Defeater](/codex/jesus-has-a-god-therefore-not-god-objection-defeater/) - [Jesus Never Claimed to Be God Objection Defeater](/codex/jesus-never-claimed-to-be-god-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Kalam Cosmological Argument](/codex/kalam-cosmological-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Manuscript Variants Bible Corruption Objection Defeater](/codex/manuscript-variants-bible-corruption-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Meta-Ontological Argument for Theism](/codex/meta-ontological-argument-for-theism/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Miller-Urey Reframe Argument](/codex/miller-urey-reframe-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Molecular Machines Argument](/codex/molecular-machines-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Necessary Being is an Intelligent Mind](/codex/necessary-being-is-an-intelligent-mind/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Necessity of the Incarnation](/codex/necessity-of-the-incarnation/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Orphan Genes Argument](/codex/orphan-genes-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Paul Invented Christianity Objection Defeater](/codex/paul-invented-christianity-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Performative Self-Refutation of Atheist Denial](/codex/performative-self-refutation-of-atheist-denial/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Phylogenetic Incongruence Argument](/codex/phylogenetic-incongruence-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Protein Sequence Space Argument](/codex/protein-sequence-space-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Quinean Rejection of Modal Logic Objection Defeater](/codex/quinean-rejection-of-modal-logic-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [RNA World Failure Argument](/codex/rna-world-failure-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Satanic Fabrication Objection Defeater](/codex/satanic-fabrication-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Second Way - Efficient Causality](/codex/second-way-efficient-causality/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Signature in the Cell Argument](/codex/signature-in-the-cell-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Six Day Creation Falsified Objection Defeater](/codex/six-day-creation-falsified-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Specified Complexity Argument](/codex/specified-complexity-argument/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Stealing from God Argument](/codex/stealing-from-god-argument/) - [Third Way - Contingency](/codex/third-way-contingency/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Trinity Invented at Nicaea Objection Defeater](/codex/trinity-invented-at-nicaea-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Unitarian Oneness Binitarian Objection Defeater](/codex/unitarian-oneness-binitarian-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Universal Probability Bound](/codex/universal-probability-bound/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) **Concepts:** - [Access and Phenomenal Consciousness](/codex/access-and-phenomenal-consciousness/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Angels](/codex/angels/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Are There Other Gods](/codex/are-there-other-gods/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Arianism](/codex/arianism/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Biblical Dignity](/codex/biblical-dignity/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Big Bang](/codex/big-bang/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Christ is God](/codex/christ-is-god/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Christ Was Made (Misread Proof-Texts)](/codex/christ-was-made-misread-proof-texts/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/), [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Christianity](/codex/christianity/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Christology](/codex/christology/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Christs Deity](/codex/christs-deity/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Communicatio Idiomatum](/codex/communicatio-idiomatum/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Concurrentism](/codex/concurrentism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Conservation Laws](/codex/conservation-laws/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Divine Providence](/codex/divine-providence/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Father-Son Authority Asymmetry](/codex/father-son-authority-asymmetry/) - [Foreknowledge vs Causation](/codex/foreknowledge-vs-causation/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Genesis Hermeneutics](/codex/genesis-hermeneutics/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Hypostatic Union](/codex/hypostatic-union/), via [Colossians 1.15-19](/codex/colossians-1-15-19/) - [Idealism](/codex/idealism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Imago Dei](/codex/genesis-1-27/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Incarnation](/codex/incarnation/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Islamic Dilemma](/codex/islamic-dilemma/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Jehovahs Witnesses](/codex/jehovahs-witnesses/) - [Kalimatullah](/codex/kalimatullah/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Law of Non-Contradiction](/codex/law-of-non-contradiction/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Laws of the Universe as Witness to Design](/codex/laws-of-the-universe-as-witness-to-design/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Lesson 2.4, Christology in One Lesson](/codex/lesson-2-4-christology-in-one-lesson/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Lesson 4.5, Comparative Religion Engagement](/codex/lesson-4-5-comparative-religion-engagement/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Logos Christology](/codex/logos-christology/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Mathematical Intelligibility of Nature](/codex/mathematical-intelligibility-of-nature/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Miaphysitism vs Dyophysitism](/codex/miaphysitism-vs-dyophysitism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Mormonism](/codex/mormonism/) - [Occasionalism](/codex/occasionalism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Old Testament Christology](/codex/old-testament-witness-to-the-deity-of-christ/) - [Old Testament Witness to the Deity of Christ](/codex/old-testament-witness-to-the-deity-of-christ/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [One and the Many Problem](/codex/one-and-the-many-problem/) - [Oneness Pentecostalism](/codex/oneness-pentecostalism/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.15-19](/codex/colossians-1-15-19/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Origins and Cosmology](/codex/origins-and-cosmology/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [Panentheism](/codex/panentheism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Pantheism](/codex/pantheism/) - [Pre-Pauline Creeds](/codex/pre-pauline-creeds/) - [Process Theism](/codex/process-theism/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Tahrif](/codex/tahrif/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Trinity vs Oneness vs Modalism vs Arianism](/codex/trinity-vs-oneness-vs-modalism-vs-arianism/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.15-19](/codex/colossians-1-15-19/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Water and Life](/codex/water-and-life/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Young's Literal Translation](/codex/ylt/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [Zero and the Metaphysics of Nothing](/codex/zero-and-the-metaphysics-of-nothing/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) **People:** - [Avery Austin (God Logic)](/codex/avery-austin-god-logic/) - [Bart Ehrman](/codex/bart-ehrman/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Larry Hurtado](/codex/larry-hurtado/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Paul the Apostle](/codex/paul-the-apostle/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) **Lexicon:** - [G1504 - eikon](/codex/g1504-eikon/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [G2936 - ktizo](/codex/g2936-ktizo/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [G2937 - ktisis](/codex/g2937-ktisis/) - [G3956 - pas](/codex/g3956-pas/) - [G4416 - prototokos](/codex/g4416-prototokos/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [G5287 - hypostasis](/codex/g5287-hypostasis/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [H0120 - adam](/codex/h0120-adam/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [H1060 - bechor](/codex/h1060-bechor/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [H1697 - dabar](/codex/h1697-dabar/), via [Colossians 1.16-17](/codex/colossians-1-16-17/) - [H6754 - tselem](/codex/h6754-tselem/), via [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) - [H7218 - rosh](/codex/h7218-rosh/), via [Colossians 1.15-18](/codex/colossians-1-15-18/) **Guides:** - [02 Faith and Worldview](/codex/02-faith-and-worldview/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) **Passages:** - [1 Corinthians 8.6](/codex/1-corinthians-8-6/) - [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Hebrews 1.3](/codex/hebrews-1-3/) - [Philippians 2.5-11](/codex/philippians-2-5-11/) --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_