Commentary on Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Thessalonians Timothy Titus and Philemon John Calvin (continued)
CHAPTER 1
creatures in heaven and in earth.
Colossians 1:18-20
Colossians 1:18-20
18. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence:
18. Et ipse est caput corporis Ecclesiae, ipse principium, primogenitus mortuis, ut sit in omnibus ipse primas tenens:
19. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 19. Quoniam in ipso placuit omnem plenitudinem inhabitare. 20. And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
20. Et per ipsum reconciliare omnia sibi, pacificando per sanguinem crucis eius, per ipsum, tam quae sunt super terram, quam quae sunt in coelis.
18. The head of the body. Having discoursed in a general way of Christ's excellence, and of his sovereign dominion over all creatures, he again returns to those things which relate peculiarly to the Church. Under the term head some consider many things to be included. And, unquestionably, he makes use afterwards, as we shall find, of the same metaphor in this sense --- that as in the human body it serves as a root, from which vital energy is diffused through all the members, so the life of the Church flows out from Christ, etc. (Colossians 2:19.) Here, however, in my opinion, he speaks chiefly of government. He shews, therefore, that it is Christ that alone has authority to govern the Church, that it is he to whom alone believers ought to have an eye, and on whom alone the unity of the body depends.
Papists, with the view of supporting the tyranny of their idol, allege that the Church would be ({ἀκέφαλον}) without a head, 480 if the Pope did not, as a head, exercise rule in it. Paul, however, does not allow this honor even to angels, and yet he does not maim the Church, by depriving her of her head; for as Christ claims for himself this title, so he truly exercises the office. I am also well aware of the cavil by which they attempt to escape --- that the Pope is a ministerial head. The name, however, of head is too august to be rightfully transferred to any mortal man, 481 under any pretext, especially without the command of Christ. Gregory shews greater modesty, who says (in his 92nd Epistle, 4th Book) that Peter was indeed one of the chief members of the Church, but that he and the other Apostles were members under one head.
He is the beginning. As {ἀρχὴ} is sometimes made use of among the Greeks to denote the end, to which all things bear a relation, we might understand it as meaning, that Christ is in this sense ({ἀρχὴ}) the end. I prefer, however, to 480See Institutes, vol. 2, p. 11. 481"Est si honorable et magnifique qu'il ne pent estre transferé a homme mortel;" — "Is so honorable and magnificent, that it cannot be transferred to a mortal man."