tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13958708.post7693775586106135789..comments2024-03-28T22:55:23.525-07:00Comments on Foster's Theological Reflections: Colossians 2:9-"dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead"Edgar Fosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280475259670777653noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13958708.post-66499570588902321482017-04-09T20:09:19.019-07:002017-04-09T20:09:19.019-07:00From Solomon Landers, back in the day:
Actually, ...From Solomon Landers, back in the day:<br /><br />Actually, the noun at Col. 2:9 is QEOTHS (feminine), an abstract noun <br />for QEOS, and QEOTHTOS is the genitive singular feminine construct as <br />used in the sentence: "fullness OF THE divinity/divine quality, etc. <br />"Godhead" is a funny-looking word in English, since it really means <br />"God-hood," not God's "head." And, of coures [sic], God-hood is just <br />another way of saying "divinity."<br /><br />Many current scholars find no textual difference in meaning between <br />QEOTHS and QEIOTES (divinity). See The Anchor Bible: Colossians, by <br />Markus Barth and Helmut Blanke (Doubleday, 1994), pp. 312 and 363; <br />also volume 3 of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by <br />Kittel, page 119.<br /><br />"Abstract nouns by their very nature focus on a quality." (Wallace, <br />Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 226. The NWT thus translates: <br />"Because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality <br />[QEOTHTOS] dwells bodily." Or, as a note in Kittel reads, "The hEIS <br />QEOS [One God] of the OT has attracted to Himself all divine power in <br />the cosmos, and on the early Christian view He has given this<br />fullness of power to Christ as the Bearer of the divine office."<br /><br />Solomon LandersEdgar Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280475259670777653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13958708.post-62908247313852532402017-04-09T20:04:03.988-07:002017-04-09T20:04:03.988-07:00Hi Kaz,
That seems like a good/plausible connecti...Hi Kaz,<br /><br />That seems like a good/plausible connection between the divine quality/divinity indwelling Christ bodily and God dwelling in the temple. There are lots of things that could be fleshed out here, for example how did God dwell in the temple or how does Jehovah dwell in the Christian temple (the congregation)? But I think it's hard for Trinitarians to deny that God dwelt in the ancient temple without that structure being ontologically divine, as you say. One point for consideration is that col. 2:9 seems to be about deity/divinity itself indwelling Christ, not God himself per se. So I agree with you that the qualities are said to dwell in Christ. Edgar Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280475259670777653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13958708.post-29969824547112821692017-04-09T08:19:50.096-07:002017-04-09T08:19:50.096-07:00Hi Edgar,
I don't claim to "know" w...Hi Edgar,<br /><br />I don't claim to "know" what Col. 2:9 means precisely, but I've long felt that the reference to God's "dwelling" in the temple may give us the most important clue. I've asked a number of Trinitarians the following question, and so far no one has offered an answer:<br /><br />If God can "dwell" on a mountain or in a Temple yet the mountain and temple aren't ontologically divine, then why couldn't He dwell in a man or a spirit being yet the man or spirit being not be ontologically divine? <br /><br />Granted, Paul didn't say that "QEOS" dwells in Christ, but is it possible that Paul was nevertheless thinking in 'image' categories at 2:9? In other words, God can dwell on a mountain or in a temple, but those locations can't "image" Him. However, God can cause his characteristics (love, power, wisdom, etc.) to dwell in a person thereby allowing that person "image" him perfectly. <br /><br />I personally doubt that this verse is affirming the "deity" of Christ, and I suspect that those who choose to see such later ideas in the text are doing so precisely because their theological presuppositions are the very context or 'grid' within which they interpret all such sayings. <br /><br />~KazAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com