Christ Divinity Explained in John 1:1c

[BroRando]

Christ Divinity Explained in John 1:1c

John 1:1 is the Beginning of Creation that supersedes Genesis 1:1. For example, we read, "When the morning stars joyfully cried out together, And all the sons of God began shouting in applause?" (Job 38:7) 

 

Morning stars are among the first angels or the beginning angels of creation. Morning Stars and all the sons of God are the angels that existed before Abraham was and before the earth itself. After all, it was the newly created earth that they were applauding.

 

Jesus even admitted of coming from the gods whom the word of God came! Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said: “You are gods”’?  If he called ‘gods’ those against whom the word of God came—and yet the scripture cannot be nullified— do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? (John 10:34-36)

 

 

 

The Hebrew and Greek languages often use feminine nouns to point to a creation. According to the strong concordance theos can be rendered two ways. One way, is in the Masculine sense as in the first instance of (John 1:1) But what about in the second instance as in John 1:1c? Isn't that scripture describing his qualitative sense? His divinity in being divine?

 

Strong's Concordance 

 

theos: God, a god 

Original Word: θεός, οῦ, ὁ 

Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine; Noun, Masculine 

Transliteration: theos 

Phonetic Spelling: (theh'-os) 

Short Definition: God, a god 

Definition: (a) God, (b) a god, generally.

 

 

 

Many Scholars know this, but withhold the fact that theos can be rendered (a god) as it was with Paul and Moses. Other variations of rendering John 1:1 also exist:

 

1808: "and the Word was a god" – Thomas Belsham The New Testament

1822: "and the Word was a god" – The New Testament in Greek and English

1829: "and the Word was a god" – The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists

1863: "and the Word was a god" – A Literal Translation (Herman Heinfetter)

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 the Word was a god" – The Coptic Version of the N.T. (G. W. Horner, 1911)

1935: "and the Word was divine" – An American Translation, John M. P. Smith & Edgar J. Goodspeed, Chicago

1955: "so the Word was divine" – The Authentic New Testament, by Hugh J. Schonfield, Aberdeen.

1958: "and the Word was a god" – The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed" (J. L. Tomanec, 1958);

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

 

The use of a feminine nouns emphasis the fact that the Word was created.   When?

“In beginning was the Word . . . ”
(en    arche      en  ho  logos)  Words such as arche', godlike, wisdom, grace, divinity, or deity are all in the feminine sense.

 

Many religions teach that God has a beginning but if the truth be known, God is eternal. 

 

Read more...

[Witness]

The Father is the God of Truth (Isa 65:16)

 Truth is the Word of God (Ps 119:160)

 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. John 14:6

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”  John 17:17

 Jesus is the Word of God – the “Logos”. He represented God, speaking the Word of God to the nation of Israel.  When God’s word reached the prophets and the kings, it was Jesus representing God as the Word/Logos. 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

Throwing the letter “a” in this scripture removes the entire spiritual meaning of the union, the oneness of truth, in God and His Son.

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[a] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”  John 17:11

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one” John 17:22

 

 

 

[BroRando]

58 minutes ago, Witness said:

The Father is the God of Truth (Isa 65:16)

 Truth is the Word of God (Ps 119:160)

 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. John 14:6

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”  John 17:17

 Jesus is the Word of God – the “Logos”. He represented God, speaking the Word of God to the nation of Israel.  When God’s word reached the prophets and the kings, it was Jesus representing God as the Word/Logos. 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

Throwing the letter “a” in this scripture removes the entire spiritual meaning of the union, the oneness of truth, in God and His Son.

“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of^[a] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”  John 17:11

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one” John 17:22

 

 

 

To the angel of the congregation in La·o·di·ceʹaz write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God: (Rev 3:14)

I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright morning star. (Rev 22:16)

To learn more about Jesus Christ pre-human history Read Proverbs 8.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

Very deep stuff going on here between the two of you.

BUT, how much of this is a Christian supposed to know and understand to be able to serve God through Christ properly ?

@Pudgy have a chew on this lot above, see if it makes sense to you. You can add it to your 4 horsemen comment  

 

[Arauna]

Theo-n and theo-s.   See the difference?  These are the two words in the scripture discussed above.  One means God and the other "a god" 

[JW Insider]

1 hour ago, Arauna said:

Theo-n and theo-s.   See the difference?  These are the two words in the scripture discussed above.  One means God and the other "a god" 

Which one means "God" and which one means "a god?"

[Witness]

1 hour ago, Arauna said:

Theo-n and theo-s.   See the difference?  These are the two words in the scripture discussed above.  One means God and the other "a god" 

John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, (theon) and the Word was God (theos).

John 1:6 - There was a man sent from God, (theos) whose name was John.

John 1:18 - No man hath seen God (theos) at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, (theos) even to them that believe on his name

 

[Witness]

6 hours ago, Patiently waiting for Truth said:

BUT, how much of this is a Christian supposed to know and understand to be able to serve God through Christ properly ?

2 Tim 3:16,17  🙂

[JW Insider]

@Arauna

There is a difference, of course, but you are wrong about theo-n and theo-s. Those are both the same word with different "declensions." Like German, and other languages you know about, nouns endings are changed based on case, number and gender. In fact, the cases are very much like German: nominative, dative, accusative (direct object), genitive (possession). Number is like other languages: singular and plural (and vague remnants of a "dual" number). And gender is also like German: masculine and feminine, and neutral.

@Witness

Thanks for showing the same thing from other scriptures. There is a sense in which the Word is God and that is the basic point of John 1:1. But it is not the point, of course, that Jesus himself is God, but that Jesus so fully represents God. It's not so strong as Trinitarians make it out to be. But the Gospel of John, in general, introduces us to the idea that Jesus is "divine" but not himself "God."

We often read John 1:1 with almost all the emphasis on the word "A" as in "the Word was A god." But it's pretty obvious from the context that the emphasis should be "the Word was a GOD."

[Arauna]

31 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

nouns endings are changed based on case, number and gender. I

Exactly - I now live in a country where only one letter is changed to indicate if it is a definite article or not. This changes the meaning. It is NOT the same..... no matter how technical you try to get! !

Aranic is the same.  AL-kalb - means the....dog  AL- in front of a word.  No AL means it is "a"  dog

Meaning?  Different...... 

[Space Merchant]

John 1:1 is literally the center piece in the Trinitarian vs Non-Trinitarian battle, likewise to those in Royal's Park Hyde Park, London where a good chuck of this verse is often debated.

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

 This verse is commonly used by some to prove Jesus is God, at times ignoring context and references to adhere to their own exegesis, but the facts show us, if read and understood, the entirety of John's Introduction chapter, disproves the claim that Jesus is God.

So in short, the Word of John 1:1(c) is the Word proclaimed through Jesus in his ministry and the Word he proclaimed was the proclamation of God the Father Himself, the Word was God. He who had seen Jesus had seen the Father in terms of the things Jesus did. God is Life and Jesus fully expressed that Life in the words he spoke and the works he did.

God is Truth and Jesus fully expressed that Truth by everything he said and did. God is Light and Jesus fully expressed the Light of the Father in all the words he spoke and works he did in the name of his God. God is Love and the flesh named Jesus fully expressed the Father's Love; dead flesh crucified for the sins of mankind. The Word of God was something the man named Jesus always kept. The Word became flesh, that is, God the Father was manifested in flesh, that flesh named Jesus. Jesus came so that we might know the Father and Jesus fully expressed the Father in all the things he did because he always kept His Father's Word. Jesus' words and works were not his own but the Father's. For the Word of which Jesus speaks is God's Spoken Word.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

Wow, How to make a simple thing more complicated.