Re: EIKWN

Somi Chuhon (kittycat@uniserve.com)
Sat, 19 Oct 1996 13:43:32 -0700

At 06:15 PM 10/19/96 +0100, you wrote:
>*Subject: Re: firstborn in Col 1.15*
>*You cannot make an image of that which is invisible*
>
>Lee,
> I agree entirely with you that neither you, nor anyone else, can
>make an image of the invisible God. The idea in Col 1.15 is surely,
>however, that God himself has made an image of himself. The visible
>image of God originates from the invisible God. Grammatically, TOU QEOU
>is a genitive of source. Although we human beings could not have
>conceived an image of the invisible God, He has chosen to do what human
>wisdom could not have anticipated - make himself, the invisible God,
>visible in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul puts across
>the same idea in I Corinthians 1.18-2.5 which ends with the words,
>*that your faith might rest not in the wisdom of men but in the power of
>God*.
>--
>Brian E. Wilson
>

Question to consider (that ties in with your answer here): Does eikwn HAVE
to mean an exact representation here? There is another word for that used
in Hebrews 1, charakter (where we get our English word, character). I
wonder if the use of the word eikwn, "image" is trying to tell us something
about Christ's supremacy over man and every other created being rather than
equality with God. (This is not to say that Christ is not equal with God.
I'm just questioning whether the purpose of this passage is to express this.
There are other passages which do that.)

Somi.
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For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future,
nor any other powers,
neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to seperate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38,39
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