«In the beginning was the Word» redirects here. For the part of Catholic liturgy, see Last Gospel.
| John 1:1 | |
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← Luke 24 1:2 → |
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First page of John’s Gospel from the Coronation Gospels, c. 10th century. |
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| Book | Gospel of John |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
John 1:1 is the first verse in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The traditional and majority translation of this verse reads:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.[1][2][3][4]
The verse has been a source of much debate among Bible scholars and translators.
«The Word,» a translation of the Greek λόγος (logos), is widely interpreted as referring to Jesus, as indicated in other verses later in the same chapter.[5] For example, “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14; cf. 1:15, 17).
This and other concepts in the Johannine literature set the stage for the Logos-Christology in which the Apologists of the second and third centuries connected the divine Word of John 1:1-5 to the Hebrew Wisdom literature and to the divine Logos of contemporary Greek philosophy.[6]
On the basis of John 1:1, Tertullian, early in the third century, argued for two Persons that are distinct but the substance is undivided, of the same substance.
In John 1:1c, logos has the article but theos does not. Origen of Alexandria, a teacher in Greek grammar of the third century, argued that John uses the article when theos refers to «the uncreated cause of all things.» But the Logos is named theos without the article because He participates in the divinity of the Father because of “His being with the Father.”
The main dispute with respect to this verse relates to John 1:1c (“the Word was God”). One minority translation is «the Word was divine.» This is based on the argument that the grammatical structure of the Greek does not identify the Word as the Person of God but indicates a qualitative sense. The point being made is that the Logos is of the same uncreated nature or essence as God the Father. In that case, “the Word was God” may be misleading because, in normal English, «God» is a proper noun, referring to the person of the Father or corporately to the three persons of the Godhead.
With respect to John 1:1, Ernest Cadman Colwell writes:
The absence of the article does not make the predicate indefinite or qualitative when it precedes the verb, it is indefinite in this position only when the context demands it.
So, whether the predicate (theos) is definite, indefinite or qualitative depends on the context. Consequently, this article raises the concern that uncertainty with respect to the grammar may result in translations based on the theology of the translator. The commonly held theology that Jesus is God naturally leads to a corresponding translation. But a theology in which Jesus is subordinate to God leads to the conclusion that «… a god» or «… divine» is the proper rendering.
Source text and translations[edit]
| Language | John 1:1 text |
|---|---|
| Koine Greek | Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.[7][8] |
| Greek transliteration | En arkhêi ên ho lógos, kaì ho lógos ên pròs tòn theón, kaì theòs ên ho lógos. |
| Syriac Peshitta | ܒ݁ܪܺܫܺܝܬ݂ ܐܺܝܬ݂ܰܘܗ݈ܝ ܗ݈ܘܳܐ ܡܶܠܬ݂ܳܐ ܘܗܽܘ ܡܶܠܬ݂ܳܐ ܐܺܝܬ݂ܰܘܗ݈ܝ ܗ݈ܘܳܐ ܠܘܳܬ݂ ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ ܘܰܐܠܳܗܳܐ ܐܺܝܬ݂ܰܘܗ݈ܝ ܗ݈ܘܳܐ ܗܽܘ ܡܶܠܬ݂ܳܐ ܀ |
| Syriac transliteration | brīšīṯ ʾiṯauhi hwā milṯā, whu milṯā ʾiṯauhi hwā luaṯ ʾalāhā; wʾalāhā iṯauhi hwā hu milṯā |
| Sahidic Coptic | ϨΝ ΤЄϨΟΥЄΙΤЄ ΝЄϤϢΟΟΠ ΝϬΙΠϢΑϪЄ, ΑΥШ ΠϢΑϪЄ ΝЄϤϢΟΟΠ ΝΝΑϨΡΜ ΠΝΟΥΤЄ. ΑΥШ ΝЄΥΝΟΥΤЄ ΠЄ ΠϢΑϪЄ |
| Sahidic Coptic transliteration | Hn teHoueite neFSoop nCi pSaJe auw pSaJe neFSoop nnaHrm pnoute auw neunoute pe pSaJe.[9] |
| Sahidic Coptic to English | In the beginning existed the Word, and the Word existed with the God, and a God was the Word.[10][11][12] |
| Latin Vulgate | In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. |
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Codex Vaticanus (300–325), The end of Gospel of Luke and the beginning of Gospel of John
John 1:1 in English versions[edit]
The traditional rendering in English is:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Other variations of rendering, both in translation or paraphrase, John 1:1c also exist:
- 14th century: «and God was the word» – Wycliffe’s Bible (translated from the 4th-century Latin Vulgate)
- 1808: «and the Word was a god» – Thomas Belsham The New Testament, in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s New Translation: With a Corrected Text, London.
- 1822: «and the Word was a god» – The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.)
- 1829: «and the Word was a god» – The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829)
- 1863: «and the Word was a god» – A Literal Translation of the New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863)
- 1864: «the LOGOS was God» – A New Emphatic Version (right hand column)
- 1864: «and a god was the Word» – The Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson, New York and London (left hand column interlinear reading)
- 1867: «and the Son was of God» – The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible
- 1879: «and the Word was a god» – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979)
- 1885: «and the Word was a god» – Concise Commentary on The Holy Bible (R. Young, 1885)
- 1911: «and [a] God was the word» – The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, by George William Horner.[13]
- 1924: «the Logos was divine» – The Bible: James Moffatt Translation, by James Moffatt.[14]
- 1935: «and the Word was divine» – The Bible: An American Translation, by John M. P. Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed, Chicago.[15]
- 1955: «so the Word was divine» – The Authentic New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield, Aberdeen.[16]
- 1956: «And the Word was as to His essence absolute deity» – The Wuest Expanded Translation[17]
- 1958: «and the Word was a god» – The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed (J. L. Tomanec, 1958);
- 1962, 1979: «‘the word was God.’ Or, more literally, ‘God was the word.'» – The Four Gospels and the Revelation (R. Lattimore, 1979)
- 1966, 2001: «and he was the same as God» – The Good News Bible.
- 1970, 1989: «and what God was, the Word was» – The New English Bible and The Revised English Bible.
- 1975 «and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word» – Das Evangelium nach Johnnes, by Siegfried Schulz, Göttingen, Germany
- 1975: «and the Word was a god» – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (S. Schulz, 1975);
- 1978: «and godlike sort was the Logos» – Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider, Berlin
- 1985: “So the Word was divine” — The Original New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield.[18]
- 1993: «The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.» — The Message, by Eugene H. Peterson.[19]
- 1998: «and what God was the Word also was» – This translation follows Professor Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John, ed. Daniel J. Harrington.[20]
- 2017: “and the Logos was god” — The New Testament: A Translation, by David Bentley Hart.[21]
Difficulties[edit]
The text of John 1:1 has a sordid past and a myriad of interpretations. With the Greek alone, we can create empathic, orthodox, creed-like statements, or we can commit pure and unadulterated heresy. From the point of view of early church history, heresy develops when a misunderstanding arises concerning Greek articles, the predicate nominative, and grammatical word order. The early church heresy of Sabellianism understood John 1:1c to read, «and the Word was the God.» The early church heresy of Arianism understood it to read, «and the word was a God.»
— David A. Reed[22]
There are two issues affecting the translating of the verse, 1) theology and 2) proper application of grammatical rules. The commonly held theology that Jesus is God naturally leads one to believe that the proper way to render the verse is the one which is most popular.[23] The opposing theology that Jesus is subordinate to God as his Chief agent leads to the conclusion that «… a god» or «… divine» is the proper rendering.[24]
The Greek Article[edit]
The Greek article is often translated the, which is the English definite article, but it can have a range of meanings that can be quite different from those found in English, and require context to interpret.[25] Ancient Greek does not have an indefinite article like the English word a, and nominatives without articles also have a range of meanings that require context to interpret.
Colwell’s Rule[edit]
In interpreting this verse, Colwell’s rule should be taken into consideration, which says that a definite predicate which is before the verb «to be» usually does not have the definite article. Ernest Cadman Colwell writes:
The opening verse of John’s Gospel contains one of the many passages where this rule suggests the translation of a predicate as a definite noun. Καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος [Kaì theòs ên ho lógos] looks much more like «And the Word was God» than «And the Word was divine» when viewed with reference to this rule. The absence of the article does not make the predicate indefinite or qualitative when it precedes the verb, it is indefinite in this position only when the context demands it. The context makes no such demand in the Gospel of John, for this statement cannot be regarded as strange in the prologue of the gospel which reaches its climax in the confession of Thomas [Footnote: John 20,28].»[26]
Jason David BeDuhn (Professor of Religious Studies at Northern Arizona University) criticizes Colwell’s Rule as methodologically unsound and «not a valid rule of Greek grammar.»[27]
The Word was divine[edit]
The main dispute with respect to this verse relates to John 1:1c (“the Word was God”). One minority translation is «the Word was divine.» The following support this type of translation:
Tertullian[edit]
Tertullian in the early third century wrote:
Now if this one [the Word] is God according to John («the Word was God»), then you have two: one who speaks that it may be, and another who carries it out. However, how you should accept this as «another» I have explained: as concerning person, not substance, and as distinction, not division. (Against Praxeus 12)[28]
In other words, the Persons are distinct but the substance is undivided. As Tertullian states in Against Praxeus 9 and 26, He is “so far God as He is of the same substance as God Himself … and as a portion of the Whole … as He Himself acknowledges: «My Father is greater than I.”[29]
At the beginning of chapter 13 of against Praxeus, Tertullian uses various Scriptures to argue for “two Gods,” including:[30]
“One God spoke and another created” (cf. John 1:3).
“God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee or made Thee His Christ” (cf. Psm 45).
«’In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ There was One ‘who was,’ and there was another ‘with whom’”.
Origen[edit]
In John 1:1c, logos has the article but theos does not. Literally, “god was the word”.[31] Origen of Alexandria, a teacher in Greek grammar of the third century, discusses the presence or absence of the article in Commentary on John, Book II, chap, 2.[32] He states:
He (John) uses the article, when the name of God refers to the uncreated cause of all things, and omits it when the Logos is named God. […]
God on the one hand is Very God (Autotheos, God of Himself); and so the Saviour says in His prayer to the Father, “That they may know Thee the only true God;” (cf. John 17:3) but that all beyond the Very God is made God by participation in His divinity, and is not to be called simply God (with the article), but rather God (without article).
Origen then continues to explain that the Son — the first-born of all creation – was the first to be “with God” (cf. John 1:1), attracted to Himself divinity from God, and gave that divinity to the other “gods:”
And thus the first-born of all creation, who is the first to be with God, and to attract to Himself divinity, is a being of more exalted rank than the other gods beside Him, of whom God is the God […] It was by the offices of the first-born that they became gods, for He drew from God in generous measure that they should be made gods, and He communicated it to them according to His own bounty.
As R.P.C. Hanson stated in discussing the Apologists, «There were many different types and grades of deity in popular thought and religion and even in philosophical thought.»[33] Origen concludes that “the Word of God” is not “God … of Himself” but because of “His being with the Father” (cf. John 1:1):
The true God, then, is “The God,” and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype. But the archetypal image, again, of all these images is the Word of God, who was in the beginning, and who by being with God is at all times God, not possessing that of Himself, but by His being with the Father, and not continuing to be God, if we should think of this, except by remaining always in uninterrupted contemplation of the depths of the Father.
Translations[edit]
Translations by James Moffatt, Edgar J. Goodspeed and Hugh J. Schonfield render part of the verse as «…the Word [Logos] was divine».
Murray J. Harris writes,
[It] is clear that in the translation «the Word was God», the term God is being used to denote his nature or essence, and not his person. But in normal English usage «God» is a proper noun, referring to the person of the Father or corporately to the three persons of the Godhead. Moreover, «the Word was God» suggests that «the Word» and «God» are convertible terms, that the proposition is reciprocating. But the Word is neither the Father nor the Trinity … The rendering cannot stand without explanation.»[34]
An Eastern/Greek Orthodox Bible commentary notes:
This second theos could also be translated ‘divine’ as the construction indicates «a qualitative sense for theos». The Word is not God in the sense that he is the same person as the theos mentioned in 1:1a; he is not God the Father (God absolutely as in common NT usage) or the Trinity. The point being made is that the Logos is of the same uncreated nature or essence as God the Father, with whom he eternally exists. This verse is echoed in the Nicene Creed: «God (qualitative or derivative) from God (personal, the Father), Light from Light, True God from True God… homoousion with the Father.»[35]
Daniel B. Wallace (Professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary) argues that:
The use of the anarthrous theos (the lack of the definite article before the second theos) is due to its use as a qualitative noun, describing the nature or essence of the Word, sharing the essence of the Father, though they differed in person: he stresses: «The construction the evangelist chose to express this idea was the most precise way he could have stated that the Word was God and yet was distinct from the Father».[36] He questions whether Colwell’s rule helps in interpreting John 1:1. It has been said[by whom?] that Colwell’s rule has been misapplied as its converse, as though it implied definiteness.[37]
Murray J. Harris (Emeritus Professor of NT Exegesis and Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) discusses «grammatical, theological, historical, literary and other issues that affect the interpretation of θεὸς» and conclude that, among other uses, «is a christological title that is primarily ontological in nature» and adds that «the application of θεὸς to Jesus Christ asserts that Jesus is … God-by-nature.[38][39][40]
John L. McKenzie (Catholic Biblical scholar) wrote that ho Theos is God the Father, and adds that John 1:1 should be translated «the word was with the God [=the Father], and the word was a divine being.»[41][42]
In a 1973 Journal of Biblical Literature article, Philip B. Harner, Professor Emeritus of Religion at Heidelberg College, claimed that the traditional translation of John 1:1c (“and the Word was God”) is incorrect. He endorses the New English Bible translation of John 1:1c, “and what God was, the Word was.”[43] However, Harner’s claim has been criticized.[44]
Philip B. Harner (Professor Emeritus of Religion at Heidelberg College) says:
Perhaps the clause could be translated, ‘the Word had the same nature as God.” This would be one way of representing John’s thought, which is, as I understand it, that ho logos, no less than ho theos, had the nature of theos.[45]
B. F. Westcott is quoted by C. F. D. Moule (Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge):
The predicate (God) stands emphatically first, as in 4:24. ‘It is necessarily without the article (theós not ho theós) inasmuch as it describes the nature of the Word and does not identify His Person. It would be pure Sabellianism to say “the Word was ho theós”. No idea of inferiority of nature is suggested by the form of expression, which simply affirms the true deity of the Word. Compare the converse statement of the true humanity of Christ five 27 (hóti huiòs anthrópou estín . . . ).’[46]
James D. G. Dunn (Emeritus Lightfoot Professor at University of Durham) states:
Philo demonstrates that a distinction between ho theos and theos such as we find in John 1.1b-c, would be deliberate by the author and significant for the Greek reader. Not only so, Philo shows that he could happily call the Logos ‘God/god’ without infringing his monotheism (or even ‘the second God’ – Qu.Gen. II.62). Bearing in mind our findings with regard to the Logos in Philo, this cannot but be significant: the Logos for Philo is ‘God’ not as a being independent of ‘the God’ but as ‘the God’ in his knowability – the Logos standing for that limited apprehension of the one God which is all that the rational man, even the mystic may attain to.”[47]
In summary, scholars and grammarians indicate that the grammatical structure of the Greek does not identify the Word as the Person of God but indicates a qualitative sense. The point being made is that the Logos is of the same nature or essence as God the Father. In that case, “the Word was God” may be misleading because, in normal English, «God» is a proper noun, referring to the person of the Father or corporately to the three persons of the Godhead.
The Word as a god.[edit]
Some scholars oppose the translation …a god,[48][49][50][51] while other scholars believe it is possible or even preferable.[52][53][54]
The rendering as «a god» is justified by some non-Trinitarians by comparing it with Acts 28:6 which has a similar grammatical construction’[55]
«The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.»[Ac. 28:6 NIV].
«Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god (theón).» (KJV)[56]
«But they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly drop dead. So after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god (theón).» (NET)[57]
However, it was noted that the Hebrew words El, HaElohim and Yahweh (all referring to God) were rendered as anarthrous theos in the Septuagint at Nahum 1:2, Isaiah 37:16, 41:4, Jeremiah 23:23 and Ezekiel 45:9 among many other locations. Moreover, in the New Testament anarthrous theos was used to refer to God in locations including John 1:18a, Romans 8:33, 2 Corinthians 5:19, 6:16 and Hebrews 11:16 (although the last two references do have an adjective aspect to them). Therefore, anarthrous or arthrous constructions by themselves, without context, cannot determine how to render it into a target language. In Deuteronomy 31:27 the septuagint text, «supported by all MSS… reads πρὸς τὸν θεόν for the Hebrew עִם־ יְהֹוָ֔ה»,[58] but the oldest Greek text in Papyrus Fouad 266 has written πρὸς יהוה τὸν θεόν.[58]
In the October 2011 Journal of Theological Studies, Brian J. Wright and Tim Ricchuiti[59] reason that the indefinite article in the Coptic translation, of John 1:1, has a qualitative meaning. Many such occurrences for qualitative nouns are identified in the Coptic New Testament, including 1 John 1:5 and 1 John 4:8. Moreover, the indefinite article is used to refer to God in Deuteronomy 4:31 and Malachi 2:10.
In the Beginning[edit]
«In the beginning (archē) was the Word (logos)» may be compared with:
- Genesis 1:1: «In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.»[60] The opening words of the Old Testament are also «In the beginning». Theologian Charles Ellicott wrote:
«The reference to the opening words of the Old Testament is obvious, and is the more striking when we remember that a Jew would constantly speak of and quote from the book of Genesis as «Berēshîth» («in the beginning»). It is quite in harmony with the Hebrew tone of this Gospel to do so, and it can hardly be that St. John wrote his Berēshîth without having that of Moses present to his mind, and without being guided by its meaning.[61]
- Mark 1:1: «The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.»[62]
- Luke 1:2: «According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning (archē) were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word (logos).[63][64]
- 1 John 1:1: «That which was from the beginning (archē), which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word (logos) of life».[65][66]
[edit]
- Chrysostom: «While all the other Evangelists begin with the Incarnation, John, passing over the Conception, Nativity, education, and growth, speaks immediately of the Eternal Generation, saying, In the beginning was the Word.»
- Augustine: «The Greek word “logos” signifies both Word and Reason. But in this passage it is better to interpret it Word; as referring not only to the Father, but to the creation of things by the operative power of the Word; whereas Reason, though it produce nothing, is still rightly called Reason.»
- Augustine: «Words by their daily use, sound, and passage out of us, have become common things. But there is a word which remaineth inward, in the very man himself; distinct from the sound which proceedeth out of the mouth. There is a word, which is truly and spiritually that, which you understand by the sound, not being the actual sound. Now whoever can conceive the notion of word, as existing not only before its sound, but even before the idea of its sound is formed, may see enigmatically, and as it were in a glass, some similitude of that Word of Which it is said, In the beginning was the Word. For when we give expression to something which we know, the word used is necessarily derived from the knowledge thus retained in the memory, and must be of the same quality with that knowledge. For a word is a thought formed from a thing which we know; which word is spoken in the heart, being neither Greek nor Latin, nor of any language, though, when we want to communicate it to others, some sign is assumed by which to express it. […] Wherefore the word which sounds externally, is a sign of the word which lies hid within, to which the name of word more truly appertains. For that which is uttered by the mouth of our flesh, is the voice of the word; and is in fact called word, with reference to that from which it is taken, when it is developed externally.»
- Basil of Caesarea: «This Word is not a human word. For how was there a human word in the beginning, when man received his being last of all? There was not then any word of man in the beginning, nor yet of Angels; for every creature is within the limits of time, having its beginning of existence from the Creator. But what says the Gospel? It calls the Only-Begotten Himself the Word.»
- Chrysostom: «But why omitting the Father, does he proceed at once to speak of the Son? Because the Father was known to all; though not as the Father, yet as God; whereas the Only-Begotten was not known. As was meet then, he endeavours first of all to inculcate the knowledge of the Son on those who knew Him not; though neither in discoursing on Him, is he altogether silent on the Father. And inasmuch as he was about to teach that the Word was the Only-Begotten Son of God, that no one might think this a passible (παθητὴν) generation, he makes mention of the Word in the first place, in order to destroy the dangerous suspicion, and show that the Son was from God impassibly. And a second reason is, that He was to declare unto us the things of the Father. (John. 15:15) But he does not speak of the Word simply, but with the addition of the article, in order to distinguish It from other words. For Scripture calls God’s laws and commandments words; but this Word is a certain Substance, or Person, an Essence, coming forth impassibly from the Father Himself.»
- Basil of Caesarea: «Wherefore then Word? Because born impassibly, the Image of Him that begat, manifesting all the Father in Himself; abstracting from Him nothing, but existing perfect in Himself.»
- Augustine: «Now the Word of God is a Form, not a formation, but the Form of all forms, a Form unchangeable, removed from accident, from failure, from time, from space, surpassing all things, and existing in all things as a kind of foundation underneath, and summit above them.»
- Basil of Caesarea: «Yet has our outward word some similarity to the Divine Word. For our word declares the whole conception of the mind; since what we conceive in the mind we bring out in word. Indeed our heart is as it were the source, and the uttered word the stream which flows therefrom.»
- Chrysostom: «Observe the spiritual wisdom of the Evangelist. He knew that men honoured most what was most ancient, and that honouring what is before everything else, they conceived of it as God. On this account he mentions first the beginning, saying, In the beginning was the Word.»
- Augustine: «Or, In the beginning, as if it were said, before all things.»
- Basil of Caesarea: «The Holy Ghost foresaw that men would arise, who should envy the glory of the Only-Begotten, subverting their hearers by sophistry; as if because He were begotten, He was not; and before He was begotten, He was not. That none might presume then to babble such things, the Holy Ghost saith, In the beginning was the Word.»
- Hilary of Poitiers: «Years, centuries, ages, are passed over, place what beginning thou wilt in thy imagining, thou graspest it not in time, for He, from Whom it is derived, still was.»
- Chrysostom: «As then when our ship is near shore, cities and port pass in survey before us, which on the open sea vanish, and leave nothing whereon to fix the eye; so the Evangelist here, taking us with him in his flight above the created world, leaves the eye to gaze in vacancy on an illimitable expanse. For the words, was in the beginning, are significative of eternal and infinite essence.»
- Council of Ephesus: «Wherefore in one place divine Scripture calls Him the Son, in another the Word, in another the Brightness of the Father; names severally meant to guard against blasphemy. For, forasmuch as thy son is of the same nature with thyself, the Scripture wishing to show that the Substance of the Father and the Son is one, sets forth the Son of the Father, born of the Father, the Only-Begotten. Next, since the terms birth and son, convey the idea of passibleness, therefore it calls the Son the Word, declaring by that name the impassibility of His Nativity. But inasmuch as a father with us is necessarily older than his son, lest thou shouldest think that this applied to the Divine nature as well, it calls the Only-Begotten the Brightness of the Father; for brightness, though arising from the sun, is not posterior to it. Understand then that Brightness, as revealing the coeternity of the Son with the Father; Word as proving the impassibility of His birth, and Son as conveying His consubstantiality.»
- Chrysostom: «But they say that In the beginning does not absolutely express eternity: for that the same is said of the heaven and the earth: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. (Gen. 1:1) But are not made and was, altogether different? For in like manner as the word is, when spoken of man, signifies the present only, but when applied to God, that which always and eternally is; so too was, predicated of our nature, signifies the past, but predicated of God, eternity.»
- Origen: «The verb to be, has a double signification, sometimes expressing the motions which take place in time, as other verbs do; sometimes the substance of that one thing of which it is predicated, without reference to time. Hence it is also called a substantive verb.»
- Hilary of Poitiers: «Consider then the world, understand what is written of it. In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. Whatever therefore is created is made in the beginning, and thou wouldest contain in time, what, as being to be made, is contained in the beginning. But, lo, for me, an illiterate unlearned fisherman is independent of time, unconfined by ages, advanceth beyond all beginnings. For the Word was, what it is, and is not bounded by any time, nor commenced therein, seeing It was not made in the beginning, but was.»
- Alcuin: » To refute those who inferred from Christ’s Birth in time, that He had not been from everlasting, the Evangelist begins with the eternity of the Word, saying, In the beginning was the Word.»
- Chrysostom: «Because it is an especial attribute of God, to be eternal and without a beginning, he laid this down first: then, lest any one on hearing in the beginning was the Word, should suppose the Word Unbegotten, he instantly guarded against this; saying, And the Word was with God.»
- Hilary of Poitiers: «From the beginning, He is with God: and though independent of time, is not independent of an Author.»
- Basil of Caesarea: «Again he repeats this, was, because of men blasphemously saying, that there was a time when He was not. Where then was the Word? Illimitable things are not contained in space. Where was He then? With God. For neither is the Father bounded by place, nor the Son by aught circumscribing.»
- Origen: «It is worth while noting, that, whereas the Word is said to come [be made] to some, as to Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, with God it is not made, as though it were not with Him before. But, the Word having been always with Him, it is said, and the Word was with God: for from the beginning it was not separate from the Father.»
- Chrysostom: «He has not said, was in God, but was with God: exhibiting to us that eternity which He had in accordance with His Person.»
- Theophylact of Ohrid: «Sabellius is overthrown by this text. For he asserts that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one Person, Who sometimes appeared as the Father, sometimes as the Son, sometimes as the Holy Ghost. But he is manifestly confounded by this text, and the Word was with God; for here the Evangelist declares that the Son is one Person, God the Father another.»
- Hilary of Poitiers: «But the title is absolute, and free from the offence of an extraneous subject. To Moses it is said, I have given thee for a god to Pharaoh: (Exod. 7:1) but is not the reason for the name added, when it is said, to Pharaoh? Moses is given for a god to Pharaoh, when he is feared, when he is entreated, when he punishes, when he heals. And it is one thing to be given for a God, another thing to be God. I remember too another application of the name in the Psalms, I have said, ye are gods. But there too it is implied that the title was but bestowed; and the introduction of, I said, makes it rather the phrase of the Speaker, than the name of the thing. But when I hear the Word was God, I not only hear the Word said to be, but perceive It proved to be, God.»
- Basil of Caesarea: «Thus cutting off the cavils of blasphemers, and those who ask what the Word is, he replies, and the Word was God.»
- Theophylact of Ohrid: » Or combine it thus. From the Word being with God, it follows plainly that there are two Persons. But these two are of one Nature; and therefore it proceeds, In the Word was God: to show that Father and Son are of One Nature, being of One Godhead.»
- Origen: «We must add too, that the Word illuminates the Prophets with Divine wisdom, in that He cometh to them; but that with God He ever is, because He is God. For which reason he placed and the Word was with God, before and the Word was God.»
- Chrysostom: «Not asserting, as Plato does, one to be intelligence, the other soul; for the Divine Nature is very different from this. […] But you say, the Father is called God with the addition of the article, the Son without it. What say you then, when the Apostle. writes, The great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Tit. 2:13) and again, Who is over all, God; (Rom. 9:5) and Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father; (Rom. 1:7) without the article? Besides, too, it were superfluous here, to affix what had been affixed just before. So that it does not follow, though the article is not affixed to the Son, that He is therefore an inferior God.
References[edit]
- ^ John 1:1, Douay-Rheims
- ^ John 1:1, KJV
- ^ John 1:1, RSV
- ^ John 1:1, NIV
- ^ See verses 14-17: «And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, «This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'»)… For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.»
- ^ Kennerson, Robert (2012-03-12). «Logos Christology — Philosophical Theology». Wilmington For Christ. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- ^ The Greek English New Testament. Christianity Today. 1975
- ^ Nestle Aland Novum Testamentum Graece Read NA28 online
- ^ Sahidica 2.01. J. Warren Wells. 2007.January.28 http://www.biblical-data.org/coptic/Sahidic_NT.pdf
- ^ The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin/CBL Cpt 813, ff. 147v-148r/www.cbl.ie. «Sahidic Coptic Translation of John 1:1». Republished by Watchtower. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ The Coptic version of the New Testament in the southern dialect : otherwise called Sahidic and Thebaic ; with critical apparatus, literal English translation, register of fragments and estimate of the version. 3, The gospel of S. John, register of fragments, etc., facsimiles. Vol. 3. Horner, George, 1849-1930. [Raleigh, NC]: [Lulu Enterprises]. 2014. ISBN 9780557302406. OCLC 881290216.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ «Translating Sahidic Coptic John 1:1 | Gospel Of John | Translations». Scribd. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ Horner, George William (1911). The Coptic version of the New Testament in the Southern dialect : otherwise called Sahidic and Thebaic ; with critical apparatus, literal English translation, register of fragments and estimate of the version. Robarts — University of Toronto. Oxford : The Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0557302406.
- ^ The Bible : James Moffatt translation : with concordance. Moffatt, James, 1870-1944. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Classics. 1994. ISBN 9780825432286. OCLC 149166602.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ «John 1 In the beginning the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was divine». studybible.info. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- ^ Schonfield, Hugh J. (1958). The Authentic New Testament. UK (1955), USA (1958): Panther, Signet. ISBN 9780451602152.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ S. Wuest, Kenneth (1956). New Testament: An Expanded Translation. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 209. ISBN 0-8028-1229-5.
- ^ Zulfiqar Ali Shah (2012). Anthropomorphic Depictions of God: The Concept of God in Judaic, Christian and Islamic Traditions : Representing the Unrepresentable. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). p. 300. ISBN 9781565645752.
- ^ For a complete list of 70 non traditional translations of John 1:1, see http://simplebibletruths.net/70-John-1-1-Truths.htm
- ^ Mary L. Coloe, ed. (2013). Creation is Groaning: Biblical and Theological Perspectives (Reprinted ed.). Liturgical Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780814680650.
- ^ Hart, David (2017). The New Testament: A Translation.
- ^ David A. Reed. «How Semitic Was John? Rethinking the Hellenistic Background to John 1:1.» Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2003, Vol. 85 Issue 4, p709
- ^ William Arnold III, Colwell’s Rule and John 1:1 Archived 2007-04-04 at the Wayback Machine at apostolic.net: «You could only derive a Trinitarian interpretation from John 1:1 if you come to this passage with an already developed Trinitarian theology. If you approached it with a strict Monotheism (which is what I believe John held to) then this passage would definitely support such a view.»
- ^ Beduhn in Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament chapter 11 states:
«Translators of the KJV, NRSV, NIV, NAB, New American Standard Bible, AB, Good News Bible and LB all approached the text at John 1:1 already believing certain things about the Word…and made sure that the translations came out in accordance with their beliefs…. Ironically, some of these same scholars are quick to charge the NW translation with «doctrinal bias» for translating the verse literally, free of KJV influence, following the sense of the Greek. It may very well be that the NW translators came to the task of translating John 1:1 with as much bias as the other translators did. It just so happens that their bias corresponds in this case to a more accurate translation of the Greek.» - ^ «The Article». A section heading in Robert W. Funk, A Beginning-Intermediate Grammar of Hellenistic Greek. Volume I. Second Corrected Edition. Scholars Press.
- ^ Ernest Cadman Colwell (1933). «A definite rule for the use of the article in the Greek New Testament» (PDF). Journal of Biblical Literature. 52 (1): 12–21. doi:10.2307/3259477. JSTOR 3259477. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2016.
- ^ Jason BeDuhn (2003). Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament. University Press of America. pp. 117–120. ISBN 9780761825562.
- ^ «Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III : Against Praxeas». www.tertullian.org. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- ^ «Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III : Against Praxeas». www.tertullian.org. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- ^ «Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. III : Against Praxeas». www.tertullian.org. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- ^ «John 1:1 Interlinear: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;». biblehub.com. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- ^ «Philip Schaff: ANF09. The Gospel of Peter, The Diatessaron of Tatian, The Apocalypse of Peter, the Vision of Paul, The Apocalypse of the Virgin and Sedrach, The Testament of Abraham, The Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena, The Narrative of Zosimus, The Apology of Aristid — Christian Classics Ethereal Library». ccel.org. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- ^ «RPC Hanson — A lecture on the Arian Controversy». From Daniel to Revelation. 2021-11-26. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
- ^ Harris, Murray J., Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus, 1992, Baker Books, pub. SBN 0801021952, p. 69
- ^ Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible, New Testament, 2009, p231.
- ^ Daniel B. Wallace (1997). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. p. 269. ISBN 9780310218951.
- ^ Wallace, ibid., p. 257
- ^ Panayotis Coutsoumpos. Book Reviews Murray J. Harris. Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books House, 1992. Berrier Springs. MI 49103
- ^ Murray J. Harris. (1992). Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books House.
- ^ Murray J. Harris (2008). Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus (Reprinted ed.). Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781606081082.
- ^ McKenzie, John L. (1965). Dictionary of the Bible. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce.
- ^ John L. Mckenzie (1995). The Dictionary Of The Bible (reprinted ed.). Touchstone, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 317. ISBN 9780684819136.
- ^ Philip B. Harner, “Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1,” Journal of Biblical Literature 92, 1 (March 1973),
- ^ Hartley, Donald. «Revisiting the Colwell Construction in Light of Mass/Count Nouns». bible.org. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
- ^ Philip B. Harner (March 1973). «Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1». Journal of Biblical Literature. The Society of Biblical Literature. 92 (1): 75–87. doi:10.2307/3262756. JSTOR 3262756.
- ^ C. F. D. Moule (1953). An Idiom-Book of New Testament Greek. Cambridge: University Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780521057745.
- ^ James D. G. Dunn (1989). Christology in the Making: A New Testament Inquiry Into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation (Second ed.). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
- ^ Dr. J. R. Mantey: «It is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1:1 ‘The Word was a god.'»
- ^ Dr. Bruce M. Metzger of Princeton (Professor of New Testament Language and Literature): «As a matter of solid fact, however, such a rendering is a frightful mistranslation. It overlooks entirely an established rule of Greek grammar which necessitates the rendering «…and the Word was God.» http://www.bible-researcher.com/metzger.jw.html—see chapter IV point 1.
- ^ Dr. Samuel J. Mikolaski of Zurich, Switzerland: «It is monstrous to translate the phrase ‘the Word was a god.'»
- ^ Witherington, Ben (2007). The Living Word of God: Rethinking the Theology of the Bible. Baylor University Press. pp. 211–213. ISBN 978-1-60258-017-6.
- ^ Dr. Jason BeDuhn (of Northern Arizona University) in regard to the Kingdom Interlinear’s appendix that gives the reason why the NWT favoured a translation of John 1:1 as saying the Word was not «God» but «a god» said: «In fact the KIT [Appendix 2A, p.1139] explanation is perfectly correct according to the best scholarship done on this subject..»
- ^ Murray J. Harris has written: «Accordingly, from the point of view of grammar alone, [QEOS HN hO LOGOS] could be rendered «the Word was a god,….» —Jesus As God, 1992, p. 60.
- ^ C. H. Dodd says: «If a translation were a matter of substituting words, a possible translation of [QEOS EN hO LOGOS]; would be, «The Word was a god». As a word-for-word translation it cannot be faulted.»
- ^ David Barron (an anti-Trinitarian Seventh-day Adventist) (2011). John 1:1 Non-Trinitarian — The Nature and Deity of Christ. Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
- ^ Acts 28:6
- ^ Acts 28:6
- ^ a b Albert Pietersma (1984). Albert Pietersma and Claude Cox (ed.). KYRIOS OR TETRAGRAM: A RENEWED QUEST FOR THE ORIGINAL LXX (PDF). DE SEPTUAGINTA. Studies in Honour of John William Wevers on his sixty-fifth birthday. Mississauga: Benben Publications. p. 90.
- ^ Wright, B. J.; Ricchuiti, T. (2011-10-01). «From ‘God’ (θεός) to ‘God’ (Noute): A New Discussion and Proposal Regarding John 1:1C and the Sahidic Coptic Version of the New Testament». The Journal of Theological Studies. 62 (2): 494–512. doi:10.1093/jts/flr080. ISSN 0022-5185.
- ^ Genesis 1:1
- ^ Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers on John 1, accessed 22 January 2016
- ^ Mark 1:1
- ^ Luke 1:2
- ^ David L. Jeffrey A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature 1992 Page 460 «…in his reference to ‘eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word’ (Luke 1:2) he is certainly speaking of the person as well as the words and actions of Jesus»
- ^ 1 John 1:1
- ^ Dwight Moody Smith First, Second, and Third John 1991 Page 48 «Of course, were it not for the Gospel, it would not be so obvious to us that «the word of life» in 1 John 1:1 is Jesus Christ. Strikingly, only in the prologue of each is the logos to be identified with Jesus.»
External links[edit]
- Another God in the Gospel of John? A Linguistic Analysis of John 1:1 and 1:18
Parallel Verses
King James Version
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Holman Bible
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
Amplified
In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
An Understandable Version
The Word [already] existed in the beginning [of time]. [Note: This is a reference to the preexistence of Jesus. See verse 14]. And the Word was with God and the Word was [what] God [was].
Common New Testament
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Darby Translation
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Godbey New Testament
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
King James 2000
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Moffatt New Testament
THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine.
NET Bible
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.
Noyes New Testament
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Sawyer New Testament
IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The Emphasized Bible
Originally, was, the Word, and, the Word, was, with God; and, the Word, was, God.
Webster
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Williams New Testament
In the beginning the Word existed; and the Word was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself.
World English Bible
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Topics
Interlinear
English(KJV)
Strong’s
Root Form
Definition
Usage
En
En
En
was, were, had been, had, taught , stood , , vr was
was, were, had been, had, taught , stood , , vr was
was, were, had been, had, taught , stood , , vr was
Usage: 410
Usage: 410
Usage: 410
Logos
Logos
Logos
word, saying, account, speech, Word , thing, not tr,
word, saying, account, speech, Word , thing, not tr,
word, saying, account, speech, Word , thing, not tr,
Usage: 256
Usage: 256
Usage: 256
and
and, also, even, both, then, so, likewise, not tr., , vr and
and, also, even, both, then, so, likewise, not tr., , vr and
Usage: 0
Usage: 0
Devotionals
Devotionals about John 1:1
Devotionals containing John 1:1
References
American
Easton
Fausets
Hastings
Morish
Smith
Watsons
Word Count of 37 Translations in John 1:1
Prayers for John 1:1
Verse Info
- Bible Rank: 16
- John Rank: 4
- 35 Topics
- 23 Themes
- 36 Cross References
- 1 Reading
- Interlinear
- 4 Devotionals
- 5 Phrases
- 3 Names
- 24 References
- 1 Prayers
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Context Readings
Cross References
John 17:5
Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
1 John 1:1-2
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Philippians 2:6
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Colossians 1:17
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 19:13
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
Proverbs 8:22-31
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
Isaiah 9:6
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
John 1:2
He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:18
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
John 20:28
Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Romans 9:5
whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
1 Timothy 3:16
By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
Titus 2:13
looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
2 Peter 1:1
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Revelation 21:6
Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
Psalm 45:6
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
Isaiah 40:9-11
Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Ephesians 3:9
and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;
Hebrews 1:8-13
But of the Son He says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.
Hebrews 7:3
Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.
Revelation 1:2
who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Revelation 1:11
saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
Revelation 1:17
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,
Revelation 2:8
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:
Revelation 3:14
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
John 16:28
I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”
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Word Concordance
King James Version Public Domain
Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.
International Standard Version Copyright © 1996-2008 by the ISV Foundation.
New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org
American Standard Version Public Domain
NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. NetBible
Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute — public domain
John 1:1
ESV / 27 helpful votes
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14
ESV / 21 helpful votes
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 8:58
ESV / 14 helpful votes
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
John 1:1-51
ESV / 12 helpful votes
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. …
John 20:28
ESV / 8 helpful votes
Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Genesis 1:1
ESV / 8 helpful votes
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
John 14:23
ESV / 7 helpful votes
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
John 10:30
ESV / 7 helpful votes
I and the Father are one.”
John 14:6
ESV / 6 helpful votes
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 1:3
ESV / 6 helpful votes
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Matthew 12:5
ESV / 5 helpful votes
Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?
Isaiah 9:6
ESV / 5 helpful votes
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Revelation 22:1-21
ESV / 4 helpful votes
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. …
Revelation 21:1-27
ESV / 4 helpful votes
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” …
Revelation 17:14
ESV / 4 helpful votes
They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
John 1:1-3
ESV / 4 helpful votes
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Luke 12:5
ESV / 4 helpful votes
But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
Matthew 5:1-48
ESV / 4 helpful votes
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. …
Exodus 20:1-17
ESV / 4 helpful votes
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, …
Genesis 1:26
ESV / 4 helpful votes
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Revelation 22:13
ESV / 3 helpful votes
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
James 2:19
ESV / 3 helpful votes
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Hebrews 1:10-12
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And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
2 Timothy 3:16
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All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Colossians 2:9
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For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Colossians 1:15
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He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Philippians 2:9-11
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Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
John 14:28
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You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
John 11:25
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Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
John 8:59
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So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
John 5:22
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For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
John 5:21
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For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
John 4:24
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God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 1:18
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No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
John 1:1-2
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
Isaiah 46:4
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Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
Isaiah 40:3
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A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Exodus 3:14
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God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Genesis 1:2
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The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Revelation 22:12-16
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“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
1 John 5:20
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And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5:11
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And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1 John 5:7
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For there are three that testify:
2 Peter 1:11
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For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:1
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Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Hebrews 4:12
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For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 1:10
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And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
Hebrews 1:3
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He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 1:2
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But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Hebrews 1:1-3
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Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Titus 2:13
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Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Colossians 1:17
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And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:15-20
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He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, …
Colossians 1:15-18
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He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Philippians 2:9
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Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Ephesians 1:1-23
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, …
Galatians 4:6
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And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
2 Corinthians 4:4
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In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1 Corinthians 15:28
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When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
1 Corinthians 8:6
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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.
Romans 8:14
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For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Acts 7:59
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And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Acts 3:22
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Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
Acts 3:15
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And you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
John 21:17
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He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
John 19:37
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And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
John 16:13
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When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
John 15:10
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If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
John 15:7
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If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:1
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“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
John 14:26
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But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 10:11
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I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 9:5
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As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 6:46
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Not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.
John 5:18
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This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
John 5:1-47
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After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” …
John 1:1-4
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1:1-5
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Luke 3:22
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And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 2:11
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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 1:76
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And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
Mark 13:32
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“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Matthew 24:36
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“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Matthew 24:35
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Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Matthew 16:18
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And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 11:10
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This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
Matthew 4:1
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Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 3:17
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And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:3
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For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
Matthew 1:23
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“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Matthew 1:21
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She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Malachi 3:1
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“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 12:10
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“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Micah 5:2
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But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Isaiah 45:23
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By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
Isaiah 44:6
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Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Isaiah 43:10
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“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
Isaiah 41:4
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Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.
Isaiah 6:1-10
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In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” …
Psalm 89:27
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And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
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The Word was God
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The Word was God
(John 1:1-18)
Verses 1-3: «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.»
John taught that Jesus was the Word; therefore, the Word was God.
- Jesus preexisted with God
- Jesus was with God
- Jesus is God.
- What Jesus taught, and what He did, are tied inseparably to who He is.
Jesus is the embodiment of God’s Scriptural revelation. «The Word,» was the most accurate term with which to describe Jesus.
Although Jesus lived as a man, He never ceased to be the eternal God. Jesus was the Word, and the Word was God. The Word became a human being, revealing the ultimate, and living picture of God.
God is the Creator of all things, apart From Him, there would be nothing.
Verses 4-5: «In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.»
«Life:»
Life was a term often used in the Gospel of John, occurring thirty-six times; eleven in conjunction with the word eternal.»
Although Jewish leaders taught that the reward for obeying God’s Word was eternal life, John declared that this life had always been available through God’s Word, (the same Word He identifies with Jesus).
«Light:»
The Jewish teachers called many things light, but this term was most commonly applied to God’s Law. John emphasizes that darkness has not overcome the light.
According to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the forces of light and darkness were engaged in mortal combat, but light was predestined to triumph.
When we follow Jesus, the true Light, we will not fall blindly into sin, because He lights the path ahead of us.
Verses 6-8: «There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.»
«Witness:»
The word «witness» is prominent throughout the Gospel of John. It was and still is used to identify and prove the Truth. «John the Baptist» was the witness sent by God to testify that Jesus was this Light, (the Messiah, Christ, and the Son of God).
The function of a herald was to go ahead of a king to announce his coming. John the Baptist went ahead of Jesus to proclaim and to prepare the way for Jesus our King.
Verse 9-10: «The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.»
Just as God had given the law to the world and only Israel had accepted it, so it was in John’s day. The world failed to recognize that God’s Word was among them.
«That He was «coming into the world,» again speaks of Christ’s preexistence.
Verses 11: «He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.»
Jesus had created the world, but they did not recognize Him. The very people God had chosen to prepare the rest of the world for the coming of the Messiah had instead rejected Him.
Verses 12-13: «But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.»
All who receive and believe in Jesus are reborn spiritually, receive new and everlasting life from God, and become one of His children.
The privilege of being a child of God is the highest privilege afforded by life on earth, but it is impossible to earn, it is by the grace of God only.
Verse 14: «And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.»
Neither the Greek philosophers nor Jewish teachers could conceive of the Word becoming flesh. They never even considered that the Word was God, or that God could become human.
As the Gospel unfolds, Jesus’ glory is revealed in His signs and miracles, and especially in the cross, which is considered to be the greatest act of love known to man.
The «only Son from the Father,» means Jesus is God’s only and unique Son. Before the arrival of Christ, man could only know God in part. Afterward, man could know God fully through Christ.
Through Jesus, God became visible and tangible. Jesus, being both God and man, is the perfect expression of God in human form.
The original phrase, «we have seen his glory,» means more than a casual glance. It suggests that He was studied under all possible conditions, both favorable and unfavorable.
John found that it was the moral and spiritual splendor of Jesus’ unique life, that revealed the nature of the invisible Father.
«Full of Grace and truth,» is a phrase often used in the Old Testament. The description of Jehovah in Exodus 34:6 marks Him as the author of perfect Redemption and Revelation.
Verses 15-16: «John bore witness about him, and cried out, «This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'») And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.»
Here, John the Baptist pointed away from himself and toward the Christ.
John the Baptist was approximately 6 months older than Jesus. His statement that Jesus was «before him,» again referrers to the pre-existence and eternity of Jesus.
«Grace upon Grace:» Although grace and truth were clearly present in the law, the ultimate expression would come through the realization that «the Word was God,» (Jesus). All blessings come from God.
Verses 17-18: «For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.»
The law was given through Moses; Christ came to fulfill the law. The nature and will of God are now revealed in Jesus.
No one had ever seen God; even Moses could see only part of God’s glory (Ex 33:20). In verse 18 John referred to Jesus as «the only GOD,» an unequivocal affirmation of the deity of Christ.
John’s revelation that the «Word was God,» was much like the star that announced his birth, blazing forth the truth to all generations. His very life is the Light of all humankind.
This concludes our study of «The Word was God.»
Our Next study:
«John the Baptist Testifies for Jesus»
Gospel of John Bible Study Main Page
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«Lets Teach Our Children to Love»
Why is it so difficult for our educators and society, in general, to understand that love and respect for one another taught from a young age can solve much of the world’s hostility and social problems!
«Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it» (Prov 22:6).
Love is the answer!
John 1:1 in my opinion is the most important verse in the entire gospel of John. When you understand what John 1:1 means you will see that it shapes the lens by which you must look at Jesus throughout the rest of the book. One of the most important truths about who Jesus is and the character and nature of God appear in these few words.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
This one verse establishes the Word as being both divine and eternal in nature. Everything you read after this must be filtered through this reality that the Word was God. Take every action, every miracle, every teaching, and everything Jesus does and view it with this truth and you will understand why John 1:1 means so much.
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What Does It Mean That «in the Beginning Was the Word?»
The opening stanza of John 1:1 is exactly the same as Genesis 1:1. Both begin with “in the beginning.” John says “in the beginning was the Word” while Genesis says “in the beginning God.” The first thing John is establishing is Christ’s presence during creation, which points to the eternal nature of Jesus. He didn’t just show up when Mary gave birth, he existed from eternity past. To an audience that had long held to God being creator, John is now putting Jesus on the same level. He is giving him a place of equality with God. This term “in the beginning was the word” is therefore a statement of equality. Jesus is not just the Word, he is the creator, equal with God.
When you think about Jesus being called the Word, consider how it plays out in creation. Do you remember how God created the heavens and the earth? He spoke words and creation happened. Genesis 1 is filled with God saying the words “let there be” and when he spoke the Word what he spoke happened. He used words to bring forth creation. I want you to consider that truth in light of John 1:3:
“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
When you read this, it is clear to see that not only was Jesus present at creation, Jesus was responsible for creation. Jesus was the Word that was responsible for bringing forth everything that was made in creation.
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What Else Does John 1:1 Establish?
There is something else you will discover which helps us understand more of what John 1:1 means. When you look at this verse you see that it establishes a relationship between God and the Word. They are separate yet they are equal and connected to each other. John says the Word was with God. And he doesn’t say this once, he actually says this twice.
“He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:2).
Let’s begin to put this together a little more. We see clearly that the Word was both with God and also was God. This is a statement of co-existence and one of co-equality. In essence, John was saying in the beginning, God was with God. This ties back to the nature of who God is and is clarifying and pointing to the triune nature of God. I want to show you a simple comparison between these first two verses of John 1 with the first two verses of Genesis 1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2).
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2).
When you put these verses together, God’s triune nature is on display. Please notice who was present at creation. God the Father was present. John tells us the Word or Jesus was present. Genesis 1:2 shows us the Holy Spirit was present. Here we see three distinct aspects that point to God’s triune nature. If you are not familiar with that term, it simply means that there is one God, yet he is revealed in three persons.
These three are distinct yet they are one, which is known as the doctrine of the trinity. In the introduction to God in Genesis and the introduction to Jesus in John, we are directed to consider the true nature of who God is.
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What Is the Context of ‘In the Beginning Was the Word’?
To give more context to this verse it is important to understand who John is writing to. His audience was most likely Jewish Christians. If they were Jewish converts, they would know and understand that the Old Testament clearly states there is only one God. Yet, here is John identifying Jesus as God and they were not confused, nor did they reject the idea. As you move further down into John you get to verse 14:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
This verse works beautifully with John 1:1 because this Word who was present at the beginning and who was God now has appeared in the flesh and dwelt with us. Jesus taking on human flesh did not cause him to lose his divine nature. He was able to be fully God and fully man while he walked the earth. In fact, he carried in him the fullness of Godhead.
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God]” (Colossians 2:9, AMP).
What this means is that Jesus – who is the Word, God in flesh – was the full package. He carried in him the nature of God, the power of God, and the authority of God simply because he was God. John was not trying to hide this but was making it abundantly clear, and this is at the heart of what John 1:1 means.
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What Does ‘In the Beginning Was the Word’ Teach Us about the Nature of God?
When you read through the Bible it is clear that God has never attempted to hide who he is. He has been very clear in defining his character and his nature. To the people of Israel, God showed that he is the one and only God.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
“You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:35).
The Bible is clear there is only one God and there is no God beside him. Yet the Bible clearly identifies Jesus as God in John 1. The Holy Spirit is also defined as God; you can see one instance of this in Acts 5:1-4. These instances make it clear to know there is one God revealed in three persons. They are all distinct yet equal and are eternal in nature and essence.
When you think about what John 1:1 means, it is about Jesus and it is also about the true nature of God. Jesus is established as God from his first introduction in this book, and as I said at the beginning, you must look at everything after it through this divine lens. God has revealed who he is, in the person of Jesus and as John says “we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
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Clarence L. Haynes Jr. is a speaker, Bible teacher, and co-founder of The Bible Study Club. He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose which will help you understand how God leads you into his will. He has also just released his new book The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. Do you want to go deeper in your walk with the Lord but can’t seem to overcome the stuff that keeps getting in the way? This book will teach you how to put the pieces together so you can live a victorious Christian life and finally become the man or woman of God that you truly desire to be. To learn more about his ministry please visit clarencehaynes.com.
𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟏:𝟏 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝?
Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR
Another verse quoted in defense of the “Trinity” is the verse of John 1:1 :
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
When I first learned of this verse it appeared to me that I had finally found my elusive goal. However, after substantial research into Christian theological literature, I would later come to learn that this verse too can not be interpreted to justify a “triune” God. My own experience has shown that this verse is the one most popularly quoted by most Christians in defense of the Trinity. For this reason I shall spend a little more time in its analysis than in the analysis of the other verses.
First of all, it is quite obvious from simply reading the above verse that even in the very best case, this verse speaks only of a “Duality” not a “Trinity.” Even the most resolute conservative Christian will never claim to find in this verse any mention whatsoever of a “merging” of a Holy Ghost with God and “the Word.”
So even if we were to accept this verse at face value and just have faith, even then, we find ourselves commanded to believe in a “Duality” and not a “Trinity.” But let us see if this verse does in fact even command us to believe in a “Duality.”
To do this we need to notice the following points:
1) Mistranslation of the text:
In the “original” Greek manuscripts (Did the disciple John speak Greek?), “The Word” is only described as being “ton theos”(divine/a god) and not as being “ho theos” (The Divine/The God). A more faithful and correct translation of this verse would thus read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was divine” (If you read the New World Translation of the Bible you will find exactly this wording).
Similarly, in “The New Testament, An American Translation” this verse is honestly presented as
“In the beginning the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was divine.”
The New Testament, An American Translation, Edgar Goodspeed and J. M. Powis Smith, The University of Chicago Press, p. 173
And again in the dictionary of the Bible, under the heading of “God” we read
“Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated ‘the word was with the God [=the Father], and the word was a divine being.’”
The Dictionary of the Bible by John McKenzie, Collier Books, p. 317
In yet another Bible we read:
“The Logos (word) existed in the very beginning, and the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine”
The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, by Dr. James Moffatt
Please also see “The Authentic New Testament” by Hugh J. Schonfield and many others.
If we look at a different verse, 2 Corinthians 4:4, we find the exact same word (ho theos) that was used in John 1:1 to describe God Almighty is now used to describe the devil, however, now the system of translation has been changed:
“the god of this world (the Devil) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”
According to the system of the previous verse and the English language, the translation of the description of the Devil should also have been written as “The God” with a capital “G.” If Paul was inspired to use the exact same words to describe the Devil, then why should we change it?
Why is “The God” translated as simply “the god” when referring to the devil, while “divine” is translated as the almighty “God” when referring to “The Word”? Are we now starting to get a glimpse of how the “translation” of the Bible took place?
Well, what is the difference between saying “the word was God,” and between saying “the word was a god (divine)”? Are they not the same? Far from it! Let us read the Bibles:
“I have said, Ye (the Jews) are gods; and all of you are children of the most High”
Psalms 82:6:
“And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh”
Exodus 7:1
“the god of this world (the Devil) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”
2 Corinthians 4:4
What does all of this mean? Let me explain.
In the West, it is common when one wishes to praise someone to say “You are a prince,” or “You are an angel” ..etc. When someone says this do they mean that that person is the son of the King of England, or a divine spiritual being? There is a very slight grammatical difference between saying “You are a prince” and between saying “You are THE prince,” however, the difference in meaning is quite dramatic.
In the West, we sometimes find people telling their friends “break a leg!” Are these words intended to convey a sign of hostility? Obviously these words prove that these two people wish evil upon one-another, right?
In the West, it is quite common to hear people describing other people as being “light hearted.” Does this mean that this is equivalent to having a “small heart”? In other words, does it mean that this person is unmerciful and evil? Obviously a “small” heart would also be “light,” right? Well then, does it convey a literal meaning? Have they cut out their hearts and weighed them? So what then do they mean?
In the Mideast, the equivalent to the Western phrase “light hearted” is the phrase “light blood.” Someone might say “your blood is light.” This phrase is used to describe someone as being happy and full of mirth. If Arabic were to die out as a spoken language for many centuries and then were to be reconstructed many centuries later using elements of other languages, and then we were to attempt to translated the meaning of this phrase, should we then say that it “obviously” describes a doctor who is testing a patient for anemia? The meaning is “clear,” right?
In the Mideast it is common to ask one-another “what color are you?,” meaning “how are you today?.” Once again, if the Arabic language were to die out as a spoken language, and only exist in writing, and then be reconstructed over a thousand years later, shall we then understand that the person asking the question is color blind?
Further, it is necessary when translating a verse to also take into account the meaning as understood by the people of that age who spoke that language. One of the biggest problems with the Bible as it stands today is that it forces us to look at ancient Hebrew and Aramaic scriptures through Greek and Latin glasses as seen by people who are neither Jews, Greeks, nor Romans. All of the so called “original” manuscripts of the NT available today are written in Greek or Latin.
The Jews had no trouble reading such verses as Psalms 82:6, and Exodus 7:1, while still affirming that there is only one God in existence and vehemently denying the divinity of all but God Almighty. It is the continuous filtration of these manuscripts through different languages and cultures as well as the Roman Catholic church’s extensive efforts to completely destroy all of the original Hebrew Gospels (see last quarter of this chapter) which has led to this misunderstanding of the verses.
The Americans have a saying: “Hit the road men.” It means “It is time for you to leave.” However, if a non-American were to receive this command without any explanation then it is quite possible that we would find him beating the road with a stick. Did he understand the words? Yes! Did he understand the meaning? No!
In the Christian church we would be hard pressed to find a single priest or nun who does not address their followers as “my children.” They would say: “Come here my children”, or “Be wary of evil my children” … etc. What do they mean?
A fact that many people do not realize is that around 200AD spoken Hebrew had virtually disappeared from everyday use as a spoken language. It was not until the 1880s that a conscious effort was made by Eliezer Ben-Yehudah to revive the dead language. Only about a third of current spoken Hebrew and basic grammatical structures come from biblical and Mishnaic sources. The rest was introduced in the revival and includes elements of other languages and cultures including the Greek and Arabic languages.
Even worse than these two examples are cases when translation into a different languages can result in a reversal of the meaning. For example, in the West, when someone loves something they say “It warmed my heart.” In the Middle East, the same expression of joy would be conveyed with the words:
“It froze my heart.” If an Mideasterner were to greet a Westerner with the words: “It froze my heart to see you,” then obviously this statement would not be greeted with a whole lot of enthusiasm from that Westerner, and vice versa.
This is indeed one of the major reasons why the Muslims have been so much more successful in the preservation of their holy text than the Christians or the Jews; because the language of the Qur’an has remained from the time of Muhammad (pbuh) to the present day a living language, the book itself has always been in the hands of the people (and not the “elite”), and the text of the book remains in the original language of Muhammad (pbuh).
For this reason, a translator must not and should not “translate” in a vacuum while disregarding the culture and traditions of the people who wrote these words. As we have just seen, it was indeed quite common among the Jews to use the word “god” (divine) to convey a sense of supreme power or authority to human beings. This system, however, was never popularly adopted by them to mean that these individuals were in any way omnipotent, superhuman, or equal to the Almighty.
Such “translation” methods as we have just seen, sadly, are indiscriminantly employed at the translator’s leasure throughout the Bible based only upon the doctrine he wishes the reader to adopt. For example, in the King James Version of Psalms 8:4-5 all humans are described as follows:
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.”
Psalms 8:4-5
Which is not very noteworthy until we go back to the original Hebrew text and discover the the translators have chosen to “translate” for us the Hebrew word “elohiym” (God) into English as “angels.” In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible the same verse is more honestly translated as follows:
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.”
Psalms 8:4-5
Notice how they manage to manipulate the word “God” as they wish when it suits them, however, when their techniques are exposed then, suddenly, those who oppose their “translation” techniques are “warping the meanings of the verses” and attempting to pervert “clear” claims of divinity for Jesus?
Can we find any more similar examples of this “translation” technique in the Bible? Sadly, yes. For example:
“Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.”
Exodus 21:6
Which is more correctly translated in the New Revised Standard Version as:
“Then his master shall bring him before God; he shall be brought to the door or the doorpost; and his master shall pierce his ear with with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.”
Exodus 21:6
Actually, for those who insist on telling us that God is a trinity since He is refered to in the plural sence in the Bible (see section 1.2.2.8 and chapter 14), for these peope, we say you need to then be consistant and “translate” Exodus 21:6 as
“Then his master shall bring him before gods”
You can see yet another similar example in Exodus 22:8-9.
When reading all of this we begin to see how the word “god” was sometimes applied in the Bible to humans in order to convey to mankind that these humans were calling to the path of God or implementing the words of God on earth. Thus, for example, in Exodus 21:6 mankind was commanded to bring others “before God.” An impossible task.
However, what the verse meant was that they are to bring these people before those who carried out the law of God on earth, specifically, the judges. In this manner, bringing these men in front of the judges is the same as bringing them in front of God. This is why we also read in the Bible for example that the house of David is God:
“In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David [shall be] as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.”
Zechariah 12:8
This was a common theme in the Bible whereby on many occations God would send a representative to mankind in order to speak in His name and present His command to them. “Behold,” declared God to Moses, “I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way … beware of him, and obey his voice … for My Name is in him” (Exod. 23:20). The angel was God’s messenger, but not God Himself.
What we see from all of this is that Jesus (pbuh) was by no stretch of the imagination the only person in the Bible ever to be referred to in such a fashion. However, with everyone BUT Jesus the Church is adamant that the verses “obviously” should not be taken literally.
The same is true when prophets or “peacemakers” etc. are called “sons of God” in the Bible. In this case, once again, the Church reassures us that the term must not be taken “literally.” However, whenever these exact same terms are applied to Jesus (pbuh), now we are told that it is equally “obvious” that Jesus is the one exception to this rule and that “son of God” etc. must be taken literally in this case.
2) Basic message of John:
Now that we have seen the correct translation of the verse of John 1:1, let us go a little further in our study of the intended meaning of this verse. This verse was taken from the “Gospel of John.” The very best person to ask to explain what is meant by a given statement is the author of that statement himself. So let us ask “John” what is his mental picture of God and Jesus (pbuh) which he wishes to convey to us:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.”
John 13:16.
So the author of John tells us that God is greater than Jesus. If the author of this Gospel did indeed wish us to understand that Jesus and God are “one and the same,” then can someone be greater than himself? Similarly,
“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come [again] unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.”
John 14:28.
Can someone “go” to himself? Can someone be “greater” than himself?
“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:”
John 17:1.
If John meant to tell us that “Jesus and God are one and the same” then shall we understand from this verse that God is saying to Himself “Self, glorify me so that I may glorify myself”? Does this sound like this is the message of John?
“While I (Jesus) was with them in the world, I kept them in thy (God’s) name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”
John 17:12.
If the author of John wanted us to believe that Jesus and God are one person then are we to understand from this verse that God is saying to Himself “Self, while I was in the world I kept them in your name, self. Those who I gave to myself I have kept …”? Is this what the author intended us to understand from his writings?
“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”
John 17:24.
Similarly, did the author intend us to interpret this as “Self, I will that they also whom I have given myself be with me where I am; that they my behold my glory which I have given myself, for I loved myself before the foundation of the world”?
So, we begin to see that in order to understand the writings of a given author, it is necessary to not take a single quotation from him in a vacuum and then interpret his whole message based upon that one sentence (and a badly mistranslated version of that sentence at that).
3) Who wrote the “Gospel of John”?:
The “Gospel of John” is popularly believed by the majority of regular church-goers to be the work of the apostle John the son of Zebedee. However, when consulting Christianity’s more learned scholars of Church history, we find that this is far from the case. These scholars draw our attention to the fact that internal evidence provides serious doubt as to whether the apostle John the son of Zebedee wrote this Gospel himself. In the dictionary of the Bible by John Mckenzie we read
“A. Feuillet notes that authorship here may be taken loosely.”
Regarding for example the claimed speaches of Jesus (pbuh) in this Gospel, the author of the most authoritative and well-reasoned book “The Life of Jesus Critically Examined” says:
“Modern criticism views these discourses [found in the Gospel of John] with suspicion, partly on the account of their internal conjecture, which is at variance with certain generally received rules of historical probability, and partly on the account of their external relation to other discourses and narratives.”
The Life of Jesus Critically Examined, David Strauss, p. 381
Such claims are based on such verses as 21:24:
“This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.”?
Did the apostle John write this about himself? Also see 21:20, 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, and 21:20-23. The “disciple who Jesus loved” according to the Church is John himself, but the author of this gospel speaks of him as a different person.
Further, The Gospel of John was written at or near Ephesus between the years 110 and 115 (some say 95-100) of the Christian era by this, or these, unknown author(s). According to R. H. Charles, Alfred Loisy, Robert Eisler, and other scholars of Christian history, John of Zebedee was beheaded by Agrippa I in the year 44 CE, long before the fourth Gospel was written.
Did the Holy Ghost “inspire” the apostle John’s ghost to write this gospel sixty years after he was killed? . In other words, what we have here is a gospel which is popularly believed to have been written by the apostle John, but which in fact was not written by him. In fact no one really knows for certain who wrote this gospel.
“Since the beginning of the period of modern critical study, however, there has been much controversy about [the Gospel of John’s] authorship, place of origin, theological affiliations and background, and historical value”
The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume 2, Abingdon Press, p. 932
Even at that, it is recognized that the “Gospel of John” has undergone extensive editing in multiple stages and was most likely not the work of one author, but many:
“We have already noted that John’s gospel is a literary unit, which may be analyzed in terms of dramatic structure. But, despite the unity of the gospel was we now have it, there are some features that suggest it was composed in edited stages.
For example there are differences in style and language in various parts of the gospel, especially chaps. 1 and 21 … Thus the first two signs performed by Jesus are numbered ‘first’ and ‘second’ (2.11; 4.54), yet in 2.23 we hear of other signs that he did, and the sequence is thus unaccountably interrupted.
The geographical locations, also, do not appear to be constantly exact. So in 3.22 we read that Jesus went into Judea, whereas according to 2.23 he was already there; and in 6.1 it is implied that Jesus is in Galilee, although in the end of chap. 5 he is in Jerusalem….It is possible to account for some but not all of these variations, repetitions and breaks in continuity….” etc.
The Oxford Companion to the Bible, Bruce Matzger and Michael Coogan, p. 374
The words of John 1:1 are acknowledged by most reputable Christian scholar of the Bible as the words of another Jew, Philo of Alexandria (20BC-50AD), who claimed no divine inspiration for them and who wrote them decades before the “gospel of John” was ever conceived. Groliers encyclopedia has the following to say under the heading “Logos”(“the word”):
“Heraclitus was the earliest Greek thinker to make logos a central concept ……In the New Testament, the Gospel According to Saint John gives a central place to logos; the biblical author describes the Logos as God, the Creative Word, who took on flesh in the man Jesus Christ. Many have traced John’s conception to Greek origins–perhaps through the intermediacy of eclectic texts like the writings of Philo of Alexandria.”
T. W. Doane says:
“The works of Plato were extensively studied by the Church Fathers, one of whom joyfully recognizes in the great teacher, the schoolmaster who, in the fullness of time, was destined to educate the heathen for Christ, as Moses did the Jews.
The celebrated passage : “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word Was God” is a fragment of some Pagan treatise on the Platonic philosophy, evidently written by Irenaeus. It is quoted by Amelius, a Pagan philosopher as strictly applicable to the Logos, or Mercury, the Word, apparently as an honorable testimony borne to the Pagan deity by a barbarian……..
We see then that the title “Word” or “Logos,” being applied to Jesus, is another piece of Pagan amalgamation with Christianity. It did not receive its authorized Christian form until the middle of the second century after Christ. The ancient pagan Romans worshipped a Trinity. An oracle is said to have declared that there was ‘First God, then the Word, and with them the Spirit’.
Here we see the distinctly enumerated, God, the Logos, and the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost, in ancient Rome, where the most celebrated temple of this capital – that of Jupiter Capitolinus – was dedicated to three deities, which three deities were honored with joint worship.”
From Bible Myths and their parallels in other religions, pp. 375-376.
6) What was “The Word”?
“O people of the book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which he bestowed upon Mary, and a spirit preceding from him so believe in Allah and his messengers. Say not “Three,” desist! It will be better for you, for Allah is one God. Glory be to him. Far exalted is he above having a son. To him belong all things in the heavens and the earth. And enough is Allah as a disposer of affairs.”
The noble Qur’an, Al-Nissa(4):171
In the Qur’an we are told that when God Almighty wills something he merely says to it “Be” and it is.
“Verily! Our (Allah’s) Word unto a thing when We intend it, is only that We say unto it “Be!” – and it is”
The noble Qur’an, Al-Nahil(16):40 (also read chapter 14)
This is the Islamic viewpoint of “The Word.” “The Word” is literally God’s utterance “Be.” This is held out by the Bible where thirteen verses later in John 1:14 we read:
“And the Word was made flesh”.
In the Qur’an, we read:
“The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: ‘Be.’ And he was.”
The noble Qur’an, Aal-Umran(3):59.
“for I [Jesus] say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
Matthew 3:9
Regarding what is meant by Allah by “a spirit preceding from him” I shall simply let Allah Himself explain:
“And [remember] when Allah said to the angles: ‘I shall create a human (Adam) from sounding clay, from altered mud. So when I have fashioned him and have breathed into him of my spirit, then fall down in prostration before him’”
The noble Qur’an, Al-Hijr(15):29
and also:
“You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day folk who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His messenger: even though they be their their fathers or their sons or their brethren or their kindered. For such He has written faith in their hearts and has strengthened them with a Spirit from Himself.
And He will enter them into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. Allah is [well] pleased with them and they are [well] pleased with Him. They are the party of Allah. Verily, it is the party of Allah who are the successful”
The noble Qur’an, Al-Mujadalah(58):22
For more on this topic, please read section 1.2.3.8
Let us once again update our table:
Explicit Statement Implicit Statement
God is ONE Isaiah 43:10-11, Deuteronomy 4:39, Isaiah 45:18, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 45:6, Isaiah 45:22, Exodus 20:3, Exodus 34:14
God is TWO John 1:1, John 10:30, John.10:33 John 5:18 John 20:28, John.14:6, John 14:8-9
God is THREE 1 John 5:7 Matthew 28:19, I Corinthians 12:4-6, II Corinthians 13:14, Jude 1:20-21
God is MANY Genesis 1:26
𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬.
John 1 – NIV Bible -1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning.3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. it.6
There was a man sent from God whose name was John.Why is the Holy Spirit absent from this fake story if he was part of the Trinity Godhead.
Let’s hear your lies Christians.
Examining John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [Part two]
Dismantling The Trinitarian Perception of John 1:1
Examining John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [Part One]
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- The Word Was With God and the Word Was God
KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
WORDS OF JESUS IN RED
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JOHN 1:1In the Bible
Verse Meaning
- 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
JOHN 1:14In the Bible
Verse Meaning
- 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
JOHN 8:58In the Bible
Verse Meaning
- 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Sources
The King James Bible text is sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Bible topic categories and verse references are from the Topical Bible at https://www.openbible.info/topics/ which is based on the Yahoo! Search web service. Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.