“For in Him the Whole Fullness of Deity Dwells Bodily.” Col. 2:9

For in him the whole fullness of deity (some have “Godhead”) dwells bodily…  Col. 2:9

 The trinitarian belief would try and convince us that this is talking about Christ being God (Yahweh), that is, being of the same substance or equality.  Earlier Col. 1:19 made it clear that,

“God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,”

and John 3:34 clarifies,

“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the spirit without limit.”

Are we really going to believe that what Paul (or the other apostles) were teaching is that because Christ has “all the fullness” of God that it makes Christ to be God (Yahweh)?

Didn’t Paul also say that believers should also be filled with “all the fullness of God”?

“…and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

If we are “filled with all the fullness of God,” does that make us God as well?  Why not apply the same logic?  Because if we do, then that would make each Christian God!

Furthermore, the fact that Christ could have the fullness of God dwell in him (as it can with us) actually shows that he was not God (Yahweh), just as we are not God (Yahweh). We can and should have the “fullness of God” in our own body as well!  I can’t have the fullness of God outside my body, just as Christ could not have the fullness of God outside his body.

Peter tells us that we may participate in the “divine nature”.  If we participate in having the “divine nature,” does that make us God?   Many people turn to Greek philosophy for an ontological interpretation of 2 Peter 1:4, for “divine nature” (physis) is assumed to mean the very essence of God rather than His moral character, which the context clearly demonstrates.  We can partake in the “divine nature,” but that does not make us God, just as it did not make Christ God.

It is also interesting that in the same book, Colossians, Paul was warning the people of the danger of following “empty and deceptive philosophy.”  (Col. 2:8)