The Image of the Invisible God

Given the human propensity for making and using various kinds of images, it is little surprise that religious-philosophical authors from various ancient cultures used the concept of an "image" when speaking of the divine. What does the author of Colossians mean to convey by calling Jesus Christ the "image of the invisible God"? Through an examination of various image discourses and a detailed exegetical study of Colossians 1:15-20, T.R. Niles situates the image concept of Colossians within the image discourse of the first century A.D. and elucidates its specific contours.