# Colossians 1.16-17 **Book:** [Colossians](/codex/colossians/) · NASB95 ## Verse > 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 1:16-17, NASB95) ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **NASB95** ([NASB95](/codex/nasb95/)) > in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 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.** > > 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. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him. (Colossians 1:14-19, NASB95) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Paul the Apostle. - **Audience:** the Colossian church (cf. [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) / [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) / [Colossians 2.9](/codex/colossians-2-9/) for fuller setting). - **Location:** Paul writing from Roman imprisonment, c. AD 60-62. - **Time period:** c. AD 60-62. ## Theological reading The verse-pair extends the cosmic Christology of [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/) / [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) with **two additional Christological claims** that the individual-verse hubs don't fully treat. v. 17 is especially load-bearing. ### v. 16 (already covered in detail at [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/)) Recap: Christ is the agent through whom *all things* were created (visible / invisible / thrones / dominions / rulers / authorities). The five-fold qualification of *ta panta* eliminates any Arian-Watchtower reduction. ### v. 17, the two new claims **1. "He is before all things."** *Autos estin pro pantōn*. Two senses: - **Temporal priority**, Christ exists *before* (chronologically prior to) all things. This is pre-existence. - **Rank priority**, Christ is *over* (in rank above) all things. Christ is preeminent. The Greek *pro* + genitive can carry both senses; most commentators (Bruce, O'Brien, Moo) read both as operative simultaneously. Christ is *temporally prior to* and *rank-over* all created things. The construction *autos estin* with present indicative *estin* echoes the divine self-naming construction. Compare [John 8.58](/codex/john-8-58/)'s *egō eimi*. Christ *is*, eternal-present existence, before all creation. **2. "In Him all things hold together."** *En autō ta panta synestēken*. The verb *synestēken* (perfect of *synistēmi*) literally means "to stand-together." Christ: - *Created* all things (v. 16), the past act - *Sustains / holds together* all things (v. 17b), the present, ongoing act This is the doctrine of **divine providence** through Christ. The cosmos does not run on autonomous physical laws independent of Christ; rather, Christ *actively maintains* every moment of physical existence. Hebrews 1:3 parallel: "He upholds all things by the word of His power" (*pherōn ta panta tō rhēmati tēs dynameōs autou*). The implications: - **No deism.** God / Christ is not a distant clockmaker who wound up the universe and walked away. Christ *moment-by-moment sustains* reality. - **No autonomy of physical laws.** What we call "physical laws" are descriptions of Christ's regular sustaining activity. Christ's faithful providence, not impersonal physical necessity, is the metaphysical foundation of nature's regularity. - **The contingency of the universe.** Reality is not self-existent; it depends on Christ's ongoing sustaining. If Christ ceased to sustain, reality would cease. ## Cosmic Christology, the four-fold claim Combining vv. 15-17 yields a four-fold cosmic Christology: 1. **Christ is the *image* of the invisible God** (v. 15a), He makes visible the otherwise-invisible Father. 2. **Christ is *preeminent over* all creation** (v. 15b, *prōtotokos*, see [G4416 - prototokos](/codex/g4416-prototokos/)). 3. **Christ is the *agent* of creation** (v. 16), *all things* were made through Him. 4. **Christ is the *sustainer* of creation** (v. 17b), *all things hold together* in Him. This is the most concentrated cosmic-Christological statement in Scripture. With [Hebrews 1:3](/codex/hebrews-1-3/) and [John 1.1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/), it grounds the doctrine that Christ is the **active, eternal, divine Lord** of all reality, not a creature within reality. ## Apologetic significance The verses anchor: 1. **The cosmological argument's Christological completion**, Christ as the personal-Mind cause of cosmic existence. See [Kalam Cosmological Argument](/codex/kalam-cosmological-argument/). 2. **Anti-deism**, Christ actively sustains every moment of reality. 3. **Anti-naturalism / anti-materialism**, physical laws are not autonomous; they are the regular pattern of Christ's sustaining providence. 4. **Anti-pantheism**, Christ is *distinct from* creation (He is "before" / "over" creation), not *identical to* creation. He sustains it as Creator-Lord, not as reality's substance. 5. **Anti-Arian / anti-Watchtower Christology**, Christ is "before all things", therefore He is not part of the *all things* He created. He is in a different ontological category. ## Patristic / scholarly note Athanasius (*Discourses Against the Arians* II.62-64, c. AD 358) cites both verses as anti-Arian proof: a creature cannot create *all things* and cannot sustain *all things*. Origen (*Commentary on John* I.18, II.6, c. AD 230) develops the cosmic-sustaining role of the Logos extensively. Augustine (*De Trinitate* 6.10) and Aquinas (*ST* I, q.104, "Of the Preservation of Creatures by God") develop the doctrine of *concursus* / *conservatio*, God's continuous providential sustaining, directly from these verses. Modern conservative scholarship: F. F. Bruce (*Colossians* NICNT, 1984); Doug Moo (*Colossians and Philemon* PNTC, 2008); G. K. Beale and David Campbell (*Colossians*, 2015); Murray Harris (*Colossians and Philemon*, 1991). All defend the strong cosmic-Christology reading. The verse is also engaged by John Polkinghorne (*The Faith of a Physicist*, 1994) and Alister McGrath (*A Scientific Theology*, 3 vols., 2001-03) in dialogue between physics and Christology, Christ as the divine Logos *who upholds* the lawlike regularity that science describes. ## Connection to "intelligent design" apologetic The verses' affirmation that "all things hold together in Him" undergirds the broader teleological-design apologetic. Reality's lawlike regularity, intelligibility (the universe is mathematically describable; see [Argument from Intelligibility](/codex/argument-from-intelligibility/)), and apparent fine-tuning (see [Fine-Tuning Argument](/codex/fine-tuning-argument/)) are not metaphysical brute facts; they are the recognizable signatures of a personal-divine sustaining intelligence, Christ. ## Key words - [G4416 - prototokos](/codex/g4416-prototokos/), *prōtotokos* (firstborn / preeminent), v. 15 - [G1504 - eikon](/codex/g1504-eikon/), *eikōn* (image), v. 15 - [G2937 - ktisis](/codex/g2937-ktisis/), *ktisis* (creation), vv. 15, 16 - [G2936 - ktizo](/codex/g2936-ktizo/), *ktizō* (create), vv. 15, 16 - [G3956 - pas](/codex/g3956-pas/), *pas* / *ta panta* (all things) - G4921 - synistemi, *synistēmi* (hold together / sustain), v. 17 ## Connection to other passages - [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), image / firstborn - [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/), creation through Christ - [Colossians 2.9](/codex/colossians-2-9/), all the fullness of Deity - [John 1.1-3](/codex/john-1-1-3/), Johannine cosmic-Christology parallel - Hebrews 1:3, "upholds all things by the word of His power" - 1 Corinthians 8:6, "one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him" - [Genesis 1.1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), creation framework - [Argument from Intelligibility](/codex/argument-from-intelligibility/), [Fine-Tuning Argument](/codex/fine-tuning-argument/), [Kalam Cosmological Argument](/codex/kalam-cosmological-argument/) ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [100 Questions for Evolutionists](/codex/100-questions-for-evolutionists/) - [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/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [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/) - [Argument from Consciousness](/codex/argument-from-consciousness/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Argument from Cosmology (Guillen)](/codex/argument-from-cosmology-guillen/) - [Argument from Intelligibility](/codex/argument-from-intelligibility/) - [Argument from Mathematics (Guillen)](/codex/argument-from-mathematics-guillen/) - [Argument from Origin of Life](/codex/argument-from-origin-of-life/) - [Argument from the Beauty-Mathematics Convergence](/codex/argument-from-the-beauty-mathematics-convergence/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [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/) - [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 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 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/) - [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/) - [Common Design vs Common Descent Argument](/codex/common-design-vs-common-descent-argument/) - [Contingency Argument](/codex/contingency-argument/) - [Convergent Evolution as Design Signal Argument](/codex/convergent-evolution-as-design-signal-argument/) - [Did Jesus Send Muhammad Dilemma Argument](/codex/did-jesus-send-muhammad-dilemma-argument/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Edge of Evolution Argument](/codex/edge-of-evolution-argument/) - [Fifth Way - Teleology](/codex/fifth-way-teleology/) - [Fine-Tuning Argument](/codex/fine-tuning-argument/) - [First Way - Motion](/codex/first-way-motion/) - [Hofweber Internalist Deflationism Objection Defeater](/codex/hofweber-internalist-deflationism-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Interdependency Argument](/codex/interdependency-argument/) - [Irreducible Complexity Argument](/codex/interdependency-argument/) - [Jesus Has a God Therefore Not God Objection Defeater](/codex/jesus-has-a-god-therefore-not-god-objection-defeater/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/), [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [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/) - [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/) - [Miller-Urey Reframe Argument](/codex/miller-urey-reframe-argument/) - [Molecular Machines Argument](/codex/molecular-machines-argument/) - [Necessary Being is an Intelligent Mind](/codex/necessary-being-is-an-intelligent-mind/) - [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/) - [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/) - [Protein Sequence Space Argument](/codex/protein-sequence-space-argument/) - [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/) - [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/) - [Signature in the Cell Argument](/codex/signature-in-the-cell-argument/) - [Six Day Creation Falsified Objection Defeater](/codex/six-day-creation-falsified-objection-defeater/) - [Specified Complexity Argument](/codex/specified-complexity-argument/) - [Stealing from God Argument](/codex/stealing-from-god-argument/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [Third Way - Contingency](/codex/third-way-contingency/) - [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 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Universal Probability Bound](/codex/universal-probability-bound/) **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/) - [Big Bang](/codex/big-bang/) - [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/) - [Christianity](/codex/christianity/) - [Christology](/codex/christology/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Christs Deity](/codex/christs-deity/), via [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/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [Foreknowledge vs Causation](/codex/foreknowledge-vs-causation/) - [Genesis Hermeneutics](/codex/genesis-hermeneutics/) - [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/) - [Incarnation](/codex/incarnation/) - [Islamic Dilemma](/codex/islamic-dilemma/), via [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [Jehovahs Witnesses](/codex/jehovahs-witnesses/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [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/) - [Miaphysitism vs Dyophysitism](/codex/miaphysitism-vs-dyophysitism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Mormonism](/codex/mormonism/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [Occasionalism](/codex/occasionalism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Old Testament Christology](/codex/old-testament-witness-to-the-deity-of-christ/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [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 1.15-19](/codex/colossians-1-15-19/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [Origins and Cosmology](/codex/origins-and-cosmology/) - [Panentheism](/codex/panentheism/), via [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Pantheism](/codex/pantheism/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/) - [Pre-Pauline Creeds](/codex/pre-pauline-creeds/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/), [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/) - [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 1.15-19](/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/) - [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/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/), [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [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:** - [G2936 - ktizo](/codex/g2936-ktizo/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [G2937 - ktisis](/codex/g2937-ktisis/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [G3956 - pas](/codex/g3956-pas/), via [Colossians 1.15-17](/codex/colossians-1-15-17/), [Colossians 1.15-20](/codex/colossians-1-15-20/), [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/), [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [G4416 - prototokos](/codex/g4416-prototokos/), via [Colossians 1.16](/codex/colossians-1-16/) - [H1060 - bechor](/codex/h1060-bechor/) - [H1697 - dabar](/codex/h1697-dabar/) - [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:** - [Colossians 1.17](/codex/colossians-1-17/) - [Colossians 1.18](/codex/colossians-1-18/) --- _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)_