Pilchard:
What trinitarians really mean is that as long as you change the definition of the word "firstborn" to mean something that no longer contradicts trinity theory then you can remove one of the most obvious Bible objections.
My reply: Quite simply...look at the meaning of the word firstobrn as used in the Bible and you will see it does not always refer to birth order, but rather preeminance. Look at Gen 41:51
Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household."
Comapre Jer 31:9:
"With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn."
Look at psamls where David is called fistborn- he was literally the last one born. The entire context of Col 1 shows what is meant by 'firstborn'-
15 6 He is the image 7 of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For in him 8 were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church. 9 He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. Verse 18 should make plain what the meaning of firstborn means. So not a changing of the definition of a term to fit doctrine as you claim Pilchard- that is what the WT does. We look at what the word means, and let scripture define it if it has multiple meanings. Interestingly there is a Greek term for 'first-created' and that term is NEVER used regarding Jesus. This term used in Col can literally mean firstborn, can also denote preeminance...which the context of Col makes quite clear.
