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WHO DO MEN SAY THAT I AM?
THE SUBLIME CHRISTOLOGY OF COLOSSIANS 1:15-20
By Cky J. Carrigan (Fall 1997)
PRECIS
This is a brief theological analysis of the person and work of Christ taken from Colossians 1:15-20. It evaluates the extent to which this passage asserts the full humanity and full deity of Christ together with His work as Revealer and Lord of creation and re-creation.1
INTRODUCTION
Perhaps no other text in the Pauline corpus matches the literary beauty, Christological candor, or semantic density of Colossians 1:15-20. C. F. D. Moule calls it "perhaps the most striking of all the Pauline expressions of conviction as to the status of Christ."2 H. C. G. Moule writes, "Every clause is pregnant of Divine truth and the whole teaches with majestic emphasis the great lesson that the Person is all-important to the Work, the true Christ to the true salvation."3 John R. W. Stott describes this passage as "a sublime statement of the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ."4 And E. Y. Mullins calls it "the most comprehensive and exhaustive statement of Paul's estimate of Jesus Christ to be found anywhere in his Epistles."5
In one hundred twelve Greek words, the Apostle Paul splendidly describes the four essential aspects of the person and work of Christ: He is God and Ideal-Man, and He is Revealer and Lord.6 This text in the context of Scripture en toto offers a sufficient amount of evidence to demonstrate confidently that Jesus Christ is fully divine and fully human with respect to His person. The text also demonstrates that He is the perfect Revealer of God and Lord of creation and re-creation with respect to His work. In other words, on the strength of this one text interpreted in light of all Scripture it can be shown that Jesus Christ is God, Ideal-Man, Revealer, and Lord of all creation. Six key phrases will be examined in order to discover to what extent they support the above claims about the person and work of Christ.
CHRIST: THE VISIBLE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD
15a Who is the image of the image (eikon) of the invisible God
Eikon 8 is used twenty-three times in the New Testament and two times with tou theo.9 When it occurs in the Septuagint it translates five Hebrew words, but tselem is the chief Hebrew word behind eikon.10 Eikon generally means "likeness." C. Moule observes, however, that the context makes it is clear that Paul has applied eikon here "in a unique way."11
The Greeks used eikon to mean an "artistic representation" in the strict sense, and a "mental image" in the metaphorical sense. In the sense of a "copy" eikon means a "living image," a "likeness," an "embodiment" and a "manifestation." Gerhard Kittel remarks,
All the emphasis is on the equality of the eikon with the original. . . The being of Jesus as image is only another way of talking about His being as the Son.12
J. B. Lightfoot sees two aspects of meaning in eikon representation and manifestation.13 For H. Moule, eikon connotes similarity, representation, derived likeness, and manifestation. He writes, "The Lord Christ, in the mystery of His Person and Natures, is not only a Being resembling God, but God Manifest."14 And F. F. Bruce interprets eikon in the following way:
To call Christ the image of God is to say that in Him the being and nature of God have been perfectly manifested--that in Him the invisible has become visible.15
Murray J. Harris admits that the meaning of eikon is not fixed outside its context, but in this context it refers to exact likeness. He suggests eikon could possibly range in meaning "from a partial or superficial resemblance to a complete or essential likeness. Given 1:19; 2:9, eijkw;n signifies that Jesus is an exact, as well as a visible, representation of God."16 Otto Flender defines eikon in a way that depicts exact likeness as well. He writes, "There is no difference here between the image and the essence of the invisible God. In Christ we see God."17
Oscar Cullmann links eikon with morphe as equivalent Pauline terms that express the deity of Christ.18 He also links these Pauline terms with the lovgo" of John.19 He writes, "The designation 'image of God' (Col. 1.15) . . . implies Jesus' deity just as clearly as does the title lovgo" in John 1.1."20
While several lexicographers and commentators define eikon in a way that emphasizes the deity of Christ, others see its value for asserting the humanity of Christ as well.21 C. Moule makes such a connection between 15a and the humanity of Christ: "If Man is 'in the image of God' . . . then so is Christ par excellence. He is the perfect likeness of God."22
N. T. Wright also makes a clear defense for the complete humanity and deity of Christ on the basis of 15a. He asserts that this text "refers to the exalted man, but identifies him with the pre-existent Lord." He writes,
The true humanity of Jesus is the climax of the history of creation, and at the same time the starting-point of the new creation. From all eternity Jesus had, in his very nature, been the 'image of God', reflecting perfectly the character and life of the Father. It was thus appropriate for him to be the 'image of God' as man. . . . The doctrine of incarnation which flows from this cannot, by definition, squeeze either 'divinity' or 'humanity' out of shape.23
The evidence suggests that the eikon phrase of 15a means that Jesus Christ is the uniquely visible, humanly divine, exactly equal representation and manifestation of God, who cannot otherwise be seen by mortal men. This being the case, Christ Himself and no other is the perfect revelation of what God and ideal-man are like. For in His humanity Jesus is exactly like pre-Fallen Adam who was made in the image of God. And in His deity Jesus is exactly like God who made Adam in His image. Since Christ is God then it follows that He is Lord-Creator over all creation. And since He is both God and the Ideal-man then it follows that He is the perfect mediator between the Creator and fallen creation. He is also therefore, Lord-Recreator of fallen creation.
CHRIST: THE FIRSTBORN--PRIOR TO AND PRIORITY OVER--ALL CREATION24
15b (who is) the firstborn over all creation25
Prototokos is used rarely outside the Bible and does not occur at all prior to the Septuagint.26 Of about 130 occurrences in the Septuagint, many stress the relative importance of the firstborn. It is often used in the Old Testament to reflect a special position with reference to God, or supremacy of rank. Prototokos occurs eight times in the New Testament in the singular and each time it is used exclusively with reference to Jesus Christ.27
According to Wilhem Michaelis, the expression of 15b "does not simply denote the priority in time of the pre-existent Lord." On the basis of v. 16, "Christ is the Mediator at creation to whom all creatures without exception owe their creation. . . . It cannot be saying at the same time that He was created as the first creature."28 Karl H. Bartels asserts,
As a title of honour for Jesus, prototokos expresses more clearly than almost any other the unity of God's saving will and acts. . . . Creator and Redeemer are one and the same. . . . In the man Christ Jesus, the prototokos, God has brought his divine power and glory to its climax (Col. 1:19f.).29
C. Moule admits that without a context it might be natural to understand prototokos with the Arians: describing Christ as the eldest among created things. But this interpretation is "inconsistent" with v. 16 and following. For Moule, prototokos incorporates both time and supremacy with "a little more to be said in favour" of supremacy.30
Others join C. Moule by appropriating both ideas of time and rank to this prototokos phrase. F. F. Bruce suggests that this use of prototokos speaks of Christ's pre-existence and cosmic activity in creation. " Prototokos with the genitive has the same force that protos with the genitive has in John 1:15,30: it denotes not only priority but primacy."31 Wright also interprets this phrase as an expression of priority of time and supremacy of rank, together with H. Moule, Lightfoot, Harris and Curtis Vaughan.32 H. Moule suggests that prototokos denotes priority of existence, so that "the Son appears as antecedent to the created Universe" and denotes Lordship over all creation by His "right of eternal primogeniture."33
Richard Melick, however, and G. B. Caird prefer to interpret this prototokos phrase without reference to time. Melick writes, "Therefore the point is that Jesus is the firstborn (preeminent) with reference to the creation just as Paul argued that Jesus was preeminent "out of the dead.""34 And Caird asserts that prototokos in both occurrences denotes "status and sovereignty" with no sense of "temporal priority."35
The evidence suggests that this prototokos phrase as amplified by verse 16 means that Jesus Christ exclusively enjoys a special title of honor and a special relationship with God. As prototokos over all creation, Christ is the uncreated Creator.36 He is prior in time to all creation and He is the supreme Lord over all creation.37 Christ is prior to and exercises priority over the entire cosmos. He reigns over all creation with the highest possible status and sovereignty because He is its Creator ex nihilo.38
If Christ creates then Christ is God because only God creates ex nihilo. His work as Creator is extremely strong evidence for His deity. And since creation is a visible manifestation of the Creator's person and work, then Christ's work of creation is a profound demonstration that He is also the perfect revealer of what God who cannot be seen is like.
Man does not create however. So this phrase may not be used as evidence for the humanity of Christ. And the redemptive work of Christ is not yet in view (see v. 18) so this occurrence of prototokos may not serve to support directly Jesus' role as Lord over the new creation.
CHRIST: BEFORE--PRIOR TO AND PRIORITY OVER--ALL THINGS
17a He is before all things39
Pros is a very common preposition that means "before," "in front of," or "at" with reference to place.40 It can also mean "before" with reference to time. And pros may mean "above" with reference to precedence, rank, or advantage. It is more commonly used with reference to place or time.41 According to Herbert Preisker and Siegfried Schulz this use of pros means:
Christ existed "before all things," . . . The pre-existence of Christ here is not a speculative theologoumenon but a dynamic expression of the unrestricted world dominion of [Christ].42
Some writers find only a temporal quality in this expression and others find only supremacy, while still others find elements of both. For example, Lightfoot and Hendriksen ascribe only a "temporal priority" to this phrase while Caird asserts "the absolute and universal priority [in rank] of Christ" on the basis of the present tense verb. Caird writes, "We are not told that Christ existed before the world began, but that he is before all things."43 And Harris, with Vaughan, and Wright find both aspects of time and rank with rank as the more prominent concept.44
C. Moule notes four possible interpretations in consideration of the possible dual meaning of the preposition and the presence of the verb ejstin with pros -- "he exists before," "he exists as supreme over," "he is before," and "he is supreme over." Moule prefers "he exists before" which would make him an advocate of pros interpreted with reference only to time.45
Perhaps the pros expression is designed to compliment and reinforce 15b-16 in the context of Christ's work as Lord of creation. It basically makes the same claim as the prototokos phrase of 15b but emphasizes the pre-existence of Christ slightly more. While the prototokos of 15b apparently stresses the idea of rank but includes indirectly the aspect of time, the pros phrase here apparently stresses the idea of priority in time but includes indirectly the aspect of rank.
The evidence suggests that the pros phrase of 17a means that Christ exists before [in time] everything created, therefore it follows that He ranks supremely over all He creates. Jesus Christ is the exclusive Lord of creation. Only God creates ex nihilo, so Christ is God. And creation manifests the Creator, so He is Revealer of God. But this phrase like 15b remains quiet on the matter of Christ's humanity and His role in re-creation.
CHRIST: THE FIRSTBORN--PRIOR TO ALL OTHERS--IN THE RESURRECTION
18c (who is) the firstborn from the dead46
The semantic possibilities are basically the same for prototokosin 18c as in 15b for the same reasons offered above, but the immediate context reshapes the interpretation of this phrase. Prototokos may denote priority with reference to time, or rank, or both. In 15b, prototokos refers to "all creation," but 18c refers to "from the dead." Whereas the former occurrence had to do with Christ's Lordship over creation this occurrence has to do with His Lordship over re-creation. In other words, Christ is depicted as the One who ranks first above the entire creation in 15b because he is Creator. But, in this phrase with the aid of 18a and 18b, Christ is depicted as the One who ranks first above the entire re-creation, or what H. Moule calls "the whole spiritual creation."47
Melick and Caird find no reference to time in this occurrence.48 Harris finds only a reference to time here.49 Wright finds both concepts without a predominance of either.50 And Vaughan finds both time and supremacy here but the precedence of time is more prominent to him in 18c while the supremacy of rank is more prominent in 15b.51
There is a thematic connection between the two occurrences of prototokos in their two different contexts. Lightfoot sees here a "parallelism between Christ's relations to the Universe and to the Church."52 And Moule expresses these two themes as "creation" in 15b and "re-creation" in 18c. He calls this "a striking instance of how 'cosmology' and 'soteriology' are interlaced."53
Within this phrase lies a very strong affirmation of the humanity of Christ that has gone virtually unnoticed. This affirmation is found strategically placed among some of the strongest affirmations of His deity. If Christ is the firstborn from the dead, then He arose. And if He arose, then He died. And if He died, then He is mortal. And if He is mortal, then He is man. God does not die, God alone is immortal, that is, He alone is essentially unable to die.
Colossians 1:15-20 makes a very strong claim, therefore, for the immortality and mortality of Christ, which is no more or less a mystery than the simultaneous co-existence of the deity and humanity of Christ.
CHRIST: THE HUMAN OCCUPANT OF EVERY DIVINE ATTRIBUTE
19 all the fullness to dwell54
The basic meaning of pleroma and katoikesai is "fullness" and "to dwell."55 But, there is some question about the theological meaning of this phrase. What does it mean that all the fullness dwells in Christ? Gerhard Delling suggests that this pleroma means "the fullness of the divine being." He adds,
The pleroma statements in Colossians present the full unity of the person and work of God and Christ, yet in such a way that neither distinctness of person nor monotheism is imperiled.56
Stott posits that pleroma is the "indissoluble link" between the person and work of Christ and Guthrie claims that it is the "totality of God's perfection." Charles Hodge has it meaning "the plentitude of divine blessings" which in his own estimation is "very different" from the meaning in 2:9: "filled with the fullness of the Godhead." And Millard Erickson finds this phrase as a testimony to "genuine incarnation" which to him is "more than functional deity."57
Lightfoot renders to pleroma as "the plentitude" which denotes "the totality of the Divine powers and attributes," and katoikesai as "should have its permanent abode." And C. Moule concludes that Christ contains and represents "all that God is."58
On the basis of the evidence, this phrase in its context (esp. 15) may be thusly defined: the totality of God's attributes and powers abide permanently in the Second Adam who is the exact likeness of both God and Ideal-man.
CHRIST: THE HUMANLY DIVINE RECONCILOR-MEDIATOR OF ALL CREATION
20a through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself59
The key term in this phrase is apokatalaxai.60 Its root is apokatalasso and is not found prior to the New Testament or outside Ephesians and Colossians. According to Friedrich Buchsel, the meaning and use of apokatalasso is "basically the same as those of katalasso" which "denotes a transformation or renewal of the state between God and man, and therewith of man's own state." The usage in 20a may be taken to mean,
The beings created in Christ (1:16) have found in Him their Head (2:10), so that the reconciliation of all things leads to their subjection to Christ, even though it does not consist in it.61
Leon Morris suggests that this use of apokatalaxai "takes on a cosmic aspect" of meaning, which together with other reconciliation terms affirm "peacemaking" and "substitutionary atonement." And according to Lightfoot, this phrase implies a "restitution" unto the Father on behalf of the whole universe: material and spiritual.62
On the basis of the evidence, Jesus is the peacemaking agent of reconciliation between God and fallen creation, and between God and fallen man, on the basis of His substitutionary death on the cross. He is the perfect mediator between God and man because He is both God and man. And He is the perfect mediator between God and creation because He is both Creator of creation (16-17b) and an inhabitant of creation who takes His flesh from Mary, a daughter of creation (15a, 18c, 19). Therefore, Christ is Lord over creation and re-creation.
CONCLUSION
There is an abundance of evidence in Colossians 1:15-20 interpreted in light of Scripture en toto to assert confidently all four essential aspects of the person and work of Christ. Jesus Christ is fully divine and fully human with respect to His person, and Christ is the perfect Revealer of God and Lord of all creation and re-creation with respect to His work. Of the six key phrases presented here, perhaps as few as four of them are necessary to defend thoroughly this thesis. In order of relative importance to the thesis the four most key phrases are: the eijkw;n phrase, both prototokos phrases and the apokatalaxai phrase.
Person: Unique Full Deity
The two strongest witnesses in this passage for the unique full deity of Christ may be found in the eikon and prototokos phrases of 15.These two phrases paint a glorious picture of Christ that depicts Him as the unique, eternal, visible, representation and manifestation of God who is otherwise unobservable. Christ is exactly equal to God and exactly like God, so exactly equal to and like God that He does what only God can do. He creates ex nihilo. Additionally, Christ is so exactly equal to and like God that He is what only God can be, a necessary being. Christ necessarily exists eternally. For to be exactly like God is to be necessarily and to be necessarily is to be eternally. And Christ is so exactly related to God that He is called only what God may be called, the eikon tou theou aoratou and the prototokos paseos ktiseos.
Person: Unique Full Humanity
The two strongest evidences in this passage for the unique full humanity of Christ also lie in the eikon of 15a and in the second occurrence of prototokos (18c). These expressions describe Christ as the full revelation of true humanity, as Man par excellence and as the Ideal-Human who is created in the image of God. As the Firstborn from the dead, Christ is fully human on the basis of His dying and fully human, as well, on the basis of His bodily resurrection.63
Work: Unique Perfect Revealer of God's Essential Nature
The eikon and prototokos phrases in v. 15 harbor the strongest proof for the revealing work of Christ in this passage. As an exact visible representation of what God who can not otherwise be observed is like, Jesus Christ is the ultimate revealer of who God is and what God does. What makes Christ the perfect revealer is that He shares attributes with both God and Man-in-the-image-of-God. He is, in one person, both Creator ex nihilo and Inhabitant of His creation. He occupies two realms: the realm of God and the realm of man. And Christ reveals God to man, in his created realm, what Creator-God of another fundamentally different realm is like.
Work: Absolute Lord Creator of All Creation Ex Nihilo
Prwtovtoko" in v. 15, especially amplified by pro; phrase in v. 17, offers perhaps the strongest testimony of the work of Christ as Lord of creation in this passage. This phrase depicts Christ as supreme over the creation that He creates ex nihilo. And it follows necessarily that whatever He creates, He is prior to in time. Christ is the uncreated and unprocreated Creator over His creation.64 But His special creation, man, fell prey to temptation. Man's sin brought a curse on all creation and creation stood in desperate need of re-creating or reconciliation.
Work: Unique and Efficient Re-Creator
The strongest evidences in this passage for the redeeming work of Christ as efficient reconciler of creation, or in other words efficient LORD-Re-Creator, are found in the ajpokatallavxai phrases (v. 20a) and the phrase of 18c. Jesus Christ is the efficient peacemaking mediator between God and fallen man, and between God and fallen creation because He is both God and man, Creator and Inhabitant of creation. Christ makes this peace with God on behalf of all creation by His substitutionary death on the cross. He makes recreation-reconciliation possible through His shed blood, and He models re-creation through His resurrection.
Now, who do I say that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is? I confidently declare it is true, certainly true, even ultimately true that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God! He is the Image of the invisible God, the Firstborn over all creation, the Firstborn from the resurrection and the Reconciling One of all things. He is my God, my Ideal-Man, my Revealer and my Lord. May He become yours. Open your eyes and see Him clearly. Open your hearts and serve Him fully.
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Figure 2, Expanded Paraphrase Translation of Col. 1:15-20
1:15 This one who redeemed us is the exact and visible expression of the God whom no one can see. Being the image of God, he is also the firstborn--prior to all creation and supreme over it, 16 because it was in his person that all things in heaven and on earth were once created, things that can be seen by the human eye, and those things that cannot be seen, whether they be the angelic occupants of heavenly thrones or super-natural beings who exercise dominion or rule or authority--all these things were created, and now exist, through him and for him. 17 He--and no one else--is before everything in time and rank, and it is in his person and by his agency that all things hold together and are sustained. 18 What is more, he himself is the head of his body, which is the Church. This is because he is its cause and the source of its life, and also because as the firstborn he was the first person to rise from the dead to immortality, and as a result he himself became preeminent and peerless in every realm. 19 All this is true of Jesus because it was God's choice and pleasure to have all divine attributes and powers reside in Jesus 20 and to reconcile the whole universe to himself through him by making peace through the blood Jesus shed on the cross--to reconcile all things through him alone, whether they be things on earth or things in heaven.
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1The terms "creation" and "re-creation" will have technical meanings in this essay. Creation denotes the work of the Genesis event. Re-creation denotes the work begun at the Calvary event.
2C. F. D. Moule, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and to Philemon, Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1957), 58.
3H. C. G. Moule, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902), 76.
4John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove InterVarsity Press, 1986), 195.
5E. Y. Mullins, Studies in Colossians (Nashville: The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1935), 48.
6 See Figure 1 for mechanical flow and Greek text. See Figure 2 for expanded translation.
7hos estin eikon tou theou aoratou, "Who is the image of the invisible God."
8eijkw;n (eikon), meaning "image."
9See Col. 1:15 and 2 Cor. 4:4 for use of eijkw;n tou' qeou'.
10Otto Flender, "Image," The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, Colin Brown editor (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 287. Hereafter, NIDNTT.
11C. F. D. Moule, 63.
12Gerhard Kittel, " eijkw;n," Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 2, editor Gerhard Kittel, translator Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1965), 395. Hereafter, TDNT.
13J. B. Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon (London: MacMillan, 1875), 211.
14H. Moule, 77.
15F. F. Bruce, "The 'Christ Hymn' of Colossians 1:15-20," Bibliotheca Sacra (April-June 1984): 101.
16Harris, 43.
17Otto Flender, 288.
18 morfh/' (morphe), meaning "form" (Phil. 2:6).
19 lovgo" (logos), meaning "word."
20Oscar Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament, trans. Shirley Guthrie and Charles Hall (Philadelphia: Westminster), 311.
21See also G. B. Caird, 177f.
22C. Moule, 62.
23N. T. Wright, The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1986), 70.
24Here, the term "prior to" expresses the category of time and "priority over" expresses the category of status.
25 (hos estin) prototokos pases ktiseos, "Who is the firstborn over all creation."
26 prwtovtoko" (protokos), meaning "firstborn."
27Wilhelm Michaelis, " prwtovtoko"," TDNT, 6:871-881.
28Ibid., 878.
29Karl H. Bartels, NIDNTT, 1:669.
30C. F. D. Moule, 64-65.
31F. F. Bruce, "Hymn," 101-102.
32Wright, 71; Lightfoot, 211-212; Harris, 43, 53; Curtis Vaughan, Colossians and Philemon, Bible Study Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980), 38-39. Vaughan stresses the idea of supremacy over priority in time.
33H. Moule, 77.
34Richard R. Melick, Jr., Philippians, Colossians, Philemon. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1991), 217.
35G. B. Caird, Paul's Letters from Prison: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, The New Clarendon Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976), 176.
36If Paul believed Christ was a created being or a being with origins as the Arians suggest, then Paul had available to him the terms prwtovktisto" (first-created) or prwtovplasto" (first-formed). Murray, 44.
37Christ is prior in time to creation at least on the grounds that He is its Creator if not on the basis of the meaning of the word prwtovtoko", but "prior to in time" is probably not the predominant meaning of this phrase.
38ex nihilo means "from nothing."
39autos estin pro panton, "He is before all things."
40pro; (pro), meaning "before."
41Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Christian Literature, 5th ed., translated and augmented William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich and Fredrick W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 701-702. Hereafter, BAGD.
42Herbert Preisker and Siegfried Schulz, "pro;," TDNT, 6:687.
43Lightfoot sees this phrase as an expression of "absolute pre-existence" in time (221-222). Hendriksen, 74; Caird, 179.
44Harris, 47; Wright, 72; Vaughan, 40-41.
45C. Moule, 66-67.
46 (hos estin) prototokos ek ton nekron, "Who is firstborn from the dead."
47H. Moule, 82.
48Melick, 217, 222; Caird, 117.
49Harris, 48.
50Wright, 74.
51Vaughan, 42; Cf. 38-39.
52Lightfoot, 224.
53C. Moule, 69.
54pan to pleroma katoikesai, "All the fullness to dwell."
55According to BAGD, plhvrwma may denote: that which fills or fills up; that which is full; that which is brought to fullness or completion as in a full number, or the sum total of fullness, or superabundance (Col. 1:19); fulfilling or fulfillment; or the state of being full; 672.
56Gerhard Delling, TDNT, Abr., 870.
57Stott, 157. Guthrie, 400. Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (n.d., reprint, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1986), 516. Millard J. Erickson, The Word Became Flesh (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991), 231.
58Lightfoot, 225. C. Moule, 164-169, esp. 169.
59di autos apokatallaxai ta panta eis auton," Through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself."
60ajpokatallavxai (apokatallaxai), meaning "to reconcile."
61Friedrich Buchsel, TDNT, 258, 253, 259.
62Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1965), 218, 237, 249-250. Lightfoot, 226.
63The hypostatic union of the two natures in the one Person, Christ, is not in view in this present essay, but consider the following brief remarks. The fully divine and fully human natures of Christ are fundamentally distinct and uniquely unified in one Person. This proposition is not derived from one biblical proposition, but is, however, a necessary derivation of the assertion of the unique full deity and unique full humanity of Christ. Full divinity and full humanity are two fundamentally distinct kinds of being. Only Jesus Christ is fully both. The exact relationship between these two fundamentally distinct natures in one person is a profound mystery, but cogent thinking and biblical thinking demand an isolation of certain incorrect descriptions of this relationship. Ancient incorrect descriptions include Apollonarianism, Nestorianism and Eutychianism. Modern incorrect descriptions include the Latter-day Saint view that collapses the fundamental distinction between deity and humanity.
64 The term "unprocreated" is used here to isolate the Latter-day Saint doctrine of the procreated origin of Jesus Christ, that is, that Jesus was sired by the Heavenly Father in the same way human children are sired by their human fathers. See Ezra Taft Benson, Come Unto Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Press, 1983), 4; The Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual: Religion 231 and 232 (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1986), 9.