1 Corinthians 8:5-6 RSV "from" vs "through"

[cloudyday2]

The quote 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 RSV. Notice the Father is described with "from whom" while Jesus is described with "through whom". What's the difference?

5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 8 - Revised Standard Version

 

[Radagast]

The quote 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 RSV. Notice the Father is described with "from whom" while Jesus is described with "through whom". What's the difference?

We understand passages like this in a Trinitarian way; it was God the Son who was most active in Creation ("through whom all things came" -- NIV) and it is God the Son through whom we have a renewed relationship with God ("through whom we live" -- NIV).

 

[Radagast]

The Trinitarian God created all things by Himself.

Specifically it was God the Son who was most active in Creation:

• John 1:10: He was in the world, and though the world was made through him...
• Colossians 1:16: For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible ... all things have been created through him and for him.
• Hebrews 1:1-2: In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

I also refer you to the Nicene Creed, the SoF for CF.

 

[drjean]

I won't use the RSV any more but... perhaps this type of study chart can help you (check out Greek?)1 Corinthians 8:6 Lexicon: yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

 

[drjean]

I think the pertinent points are:

by whom οὗ ou 3739 usually rel. who, which, that, also demonstrative this, that a prim. pronoun

and

and we [exist] through δι’ di 1223 through, on account of, because of a prim. preposition

 

[ViaCrucis]

In general Trinitarian thought the Father is the one from whom is all things, and the Son is the one through whom is all things; different ways of describing the creative work of God. The word translated as "through" can also be translated as "by", "by whom are all things", "by Him all things were made" etc. St. Paul also says "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together".

We confess "God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen" and also "Jesus Christ ... through whom all things were made"; we also confess the Holy Spirit by calling Him "giver of life", the Greek word there is zoopoion, which combines the word for "life" (zoo) and the word for "create" (poesis), in its construction it indicates "the one which makes alive" or "the one that gives/creates life".

All things are from the Father, through the Son, and made alive by the Spirit.

God is, in this, not merely the Causal Agent of existence, but He is that by which all things have their existence, do exist, and continue to exist.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[cloudyday2]

In general Trinitarian thought the Father is the one from whom is all things, and the Son is the one through whom is all things; different ways of describing the creative work of God. The word translated as "through" can also be translated as "by", "by whom are all things", "by Him all things were made" etc. St. Paul also says "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together".

We confess "God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen" and also "Jesus Christ ... through whom all things were made"; we also confess the Holy Spirit by calling Him "giver of life", the Greek word there is zoopoion, which combines the word for "life" (zoo) and the word for "create" (poesis), in its construction it indicates "the one which makes alive" or "the one that gives/creates life".

All things are from the Father, through the Son, and made alive by the Spirit.

God is, in this, not merely the Causal Agent of existence, but He is that by which all things have their existence, do exist, and continue to exist.

-CryptoLutheran

It seems to me that Paul assumed that the reader would know what he meant by "from" and "through" and "god" and "lord". Are there any other Jewish writings from that period that use this model? For example, I wonder if the Dead Sea Scrolls has anything similar?

 

[ViaCrucis]

It seems to me that Paul assumed that the reader would know what he meant by "from" and "through" and "god" and "lord". Are there any other Jewish writings from that period that use this model? For example, I wonder if the Dead Sea Scrolls has anything similar?

Well the context of Roman culture is probably sufficient to give us an idea of what he's talking about, that there are many so-called gods and so-called lords, but for Christians we confess only one God and one Lord. The "so-called gods" are the various gods worshiped by the Pagans, and "so-called lords" no doubt includes Caesar. But Christians confess one God, the Father of all and from whom is all (the maker of all things) and we confess one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God through whom is all. As the Son and Word of the Father He is the One through which all things came into existence by the Father's command; for many they see the Logos in Genesis in the "Let there be"--let there be light, let there be waters above and waters below, let there be dry earth and sea, let there be sun, moon, and stars, let there be vegetation, let there be animals in the air above and in the seas below, and let there be creatures the walk, crawl, and move upon the earth.

The concept of the Divine Wisdom and Word from both Jewish and Greek thought, Jesus' identity with these concepts places Him as the Divine and Creative agency through which all things came into existence. If one is looking for some Jewish sources here, Philo would be one example; Philo attempts to reconcile the Divine Wisdom of the Jewish tradition and the Logos of the Hellenistic tradition, combining them also with the "Word of YHVH" in the biblical tradition.

There was then already a fertile soil of thought already present in the Jewish and Hellenistic worlds from which the language of Jesus as the very Word, Wisdom, and Power of God is nurtured and grown.

Jesus is simultaneously With God and Is God, the Eternal Divine Self Expression made flesh, the Creative Power and Word through which everything comes into being from the Divine Source--God the Father--and has its existence and being--apart from Him it would not, and could not, exist.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Radagast]

In Greek, 1 Cor 8:6 says literally:

ἀλλ’ (but) ἡμῖν (for us - dative case) there is εἷς θεὸς (one God), ὁ πατήρ (the Father), ἐξ οὗ (from whom) are τὰ πάντα (all things) καὶ (and) ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν (we in him), καὶ (and) εἷς κύριος (one Lord) Ἰησοῦς Χριστός (Jesus Christ), δι’ οὗ (by/through whom - διά with the genitive means by/through) are τὰ πάντα (all things) καὶ (and) ἡμεῖς δι’ αὐτοῦ (we by/through him - διά with the genitive means by/through).

In the NIV: yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

In the ESV: yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

 

[Radagast]

I think the pertinent points are:

by whom οὗ ou 3739 usually rel. who, which, that, also demonstrative this, that a prim. pronoun

and

and we [exist] through δι’ di 1223 through, on account of, because of a prim. preposition

The pertinent point is that the meaning of Greek prepositions varies with grammatical case.

With the genitive case, διά (dia) means by/through, so that the pair of words δι’ οὗ (di' hou) means by/through whom.