Restitutio 612. Colossians 1.16: Old Creation or New Creation? (Sean Finnegan)
How should we understand the words, “in him all things were created” in Col 1.16? Although commonly taken to mean Christ created the universe, this view has contextual, structural, and exegetical problems. In what follows I’ll name six problems with old-creation readings before laying out why a new creation approach makes sense. I presented this talk at the 2025 Unitarian Christian Alliance (UCA) conference in Uxbridge, England. Scroll down to see the full-length paper, audio podcast, and full video.
For those listening to the audio, here’s a quick reference to Colossians 1.15-20
Strophe 1 (Col 1.15-18a)
15a who is (the) image of the invisible God, 15b firstborn of all creation 16a for in him were created all things 16b in the heavens and upon the earth, 16c the visible and the invisible, 16d whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities 16e all things have been created through him and for him 17a and he is before all things 17b and all things hold together in him 18a and he is the head of the body of the Church,[12]
Strophe 2 (Col 1.18b-20)
18b who is (the) beginning, 18c firstborn from the dead, 18d in order that he may be first in all things, 19 for in him was pleased all the fulness to dwell 20a and through him to reconcile all things in him, 20b making peace through the blood of his cross 20c whether the things upon the earth 20d or the things in the heavens
Here’s Randy Leedy’s New Testament Diagram
Here are the slides in the original PowerPoint format
Here are the slides converted to PDF
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To read the paper, simply scroll down or read it on Academia.edu.
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