Colossians 1:16

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

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Alexander of Alexandria

AD 250

But by Him also were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things."

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Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

If the Son, then, is not begotten within limits of time, we are free to judge that nothing can have existed before the Son, whose being is not confined by time. If, indeed, there was anything in existence before the Son, then it instantly follows that all things in heaven and earth were not created in him, and the apostle is shown to have erred in so setting it down in his epistle. However, if nothing existed before he was begotten, I fail to see how he—who was begotten before all things—should be said to be after any other thing. .

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Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

So then, he himself who calls the Son of God the maker even of heavenly things has also plainly said that all things were made in the Son, that in the renewal of his works he might by no means separate the Son from the Father but unite him to the Father. Paul, too, says: “For in him were all things created in the heavens and in the earth, visible and invisible.” –.

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Ambrosiaster

AD 400

Before all things came to be, he was born. But Paul also says that all things were created “in him.” He is saying that the potency of all things may be believed to be in him, and since in fact all things came into existence through him. This last means that he is the head of every creature, since they began to exist only by virtue of existing with respect to him. .

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Athanasius the Apostolic

AD 373

For the Word of God was not made for us but rather we for him, and “in him all things were created.” For even if it had seemed good to God not to make things of determinate origin, still the Word would have been no less with God, and the Father in him. At the same time, things of determinate origin could not without the Word be brought to be; hence they were made through him—and with meaning and purpose. For since the Word is the Son of God by nature proper to his essence and is from him, as he said himself, the creatures could not have come to be, except through him. .

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

“Before Abraham I am”; that’s what he said himself, the Gospel speaks. Listen to it, or read it. But that’s little enough, being the creator before Abraham; he’s the creator before Adam, creator before heaven and earth, before all the angels, and the whole spiritual creation, “thrones, dominions, principalities and powers,” creator before all things whatsoever.

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Cyril of Jerusalem

AD 386

Therefore Christ is the Onlybegotten Son of God and Maker of the World, for “he was in the world, and the world was made through him,” and “he came unto his own,” as the Gospel teaches us. But Christ is the Maker, at the bidding of the Father, not only of things visible but also things invisible. For, according to the apostle: “In him were created all things in the heavens or on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things have been created through him and unto him, and he is before all creatures, and in him all things hold together.” Though you mention the worlds, Jesus Christ, at the bidding of the Father, is Maker of these too.

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

Thrones are commonly understood to refer to the celestial hierarchy of Angels, though as to their particular rank nothing certain is known. We may here observe, that the Holy Spirit proportions itself and speaks according to our ideas of a temporal kingdom, in which one authority is subject to another. In the same manner the Angels seem subordinate to one another. (St. Dionysius in Calmet) All things were created by him, and in him, and consist in him. If all things that are were made by him, he himself was not made. And his divine power is also signified, when it is said all things consist or are preserved by him. (Witham)

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Hilary of Poitiers

AD 368

There is no doubt that all things are through the Son, since, according to the apostle, “All things are through him and in him.” If all things are through him, and all things are from nothing, and nothing is except through him, I ask in what way does he lack the true nature of God, since he is not lacking either in the nature or the power of God? For he used the power of his nature that these things should exist which had no existence, and that these things should exist which pleased him.

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Ignatius of Antioch

AD 108

And, "By Him were all things created that are in heaven, and on earth, visible and invisible; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist."

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Irenaeus of Lyons

AD 202

“All things were made through him and without him was made not a thing.” From this “all” nothing is exempt. Now, it is the Father who made all things through him, whether visible or invisible, whether sensible or intelligible, whether temporal for the sake of some dispensation or eternal. These he did not make through angels or some powers that were separated from his thought. .

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Irenaeus of Lyons

AD 202

Doing so likewise, so that "by him were all things, visible and invisible, created, thrones, divinities, dominions."

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

“All things,” he says, “have been created through him, and to him.” Indeed, “in him” is “through him,” for having said “in him,” Paul added, “through him.” But what does “to him” mean? It is this: the subsistence of all things depends on him.

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Tertullian of Carthage

AD 220

But who, except an heretical spirit, could ever bring his mind to believe that the invisible part of creation belongs to him who had previously displayed no visible thing, rather than to Him who, by His operation on the visible world, produced a belief in the invisible also, since it is far more reasonable to give one's assent after some samples (of a work) than after none? We shall see to what author even (your favourite) apostle attributes. (who must be the same as Jesus, to whom the Father imparted the supreme power over the whole body of the ¦ons, by subjecting them all to him, so that "by him "as the apostle says, "all things were created"

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