Colossians

[MH84]

Hi, can somebody explain this from the Catholic perspective especially the bolded part thanks.

{1:12} Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:
{1:13} Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,
{1:14} In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins:
{1:15} Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:{1:16} For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him.
{1:17} And he is before all: and by him all things consist.
(www.sacredbible.org)

What did St. Paul mean by creature? Also do you think that with “All things were created by him and in him” he was talking about Jesus, if so this is a great apologetic scripture reference.

 

[DallasCatholic]

Hi, can somebody explain this from the Catholic perspective especially the bolded part thanks.

{1:12} Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:
{1:13} Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,
{1:14} In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins:
{1:15} Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:{1:16} For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him.
{1:17} And he is before all: and by him all things consist.
(www.sacredbible.org)

What did St. Paul mean by creature? Also do you think that with “All things were created by him and in him” he was talking about Jesus, if so this is a great apologetic scripture reference.

The NAB translates line 15 as “The first born of all creation.”

The DRB uses a translation similar to yours. Here is the commentary on line 15:
15 “The firstborn”… That is, first begotten; as the Evangelist declares, the only begotten of his Father: hence, St. Chrisostom explains firstborn, not first created, as he was not created at all, but born of his Father before all ages; that is, coeval with the Father and with the Holy Ghost.

hth.

 

[Todd_Easton]

The phrase “first-born of every creature” may refer to Proverbs 8:22, where Wisdom says, “The LORD begot me, the firstborn of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago.” (NAB) The accompanying footnote says:8,22-31: Wisdom is of divine origin. It is here represented as a being who existed before all things (22-26) and concurred with God when he planned and executed the creation of the universe, adorned it with beauty and variety, and established its wonderful order (27-30). Here that plurality of divine Persons is foreshadowed which was afterward to be fully revealed when Wisdom in the Person of Jesus Christ became incarnate.Though the context does not seem to support this quite as well, the phrase “first-born of every creature” may not refer to the first in order of birth but to the first in order of privileged position, similar to the way the LORD refers to King David in Psalm 89:21, 28: “I have chosen David, my servant…I myself make him firstborn, Most High over the kings of the earth.” Thus, St. Paul would be indicating the exaltation of Jesus Christ’s human nature to the most privileged position of all creatures.