I agree that there is more to the meaning of logos than I have provided, but nothing that would turn the logos of John 1:1 into a person without reading him into the text. Capitalizing the word “Word” to make it seem like a proper noun is a misleading assumption. The Greek text does not make a distinction between capitals and lower case letters.
“The Word was God” is not correct because the words are out of order. Concerning that, here is an excerpt from one the most
, if not
the most widely used Biblical Greek Grammars - Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar by Mounce, William D. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003.
"As we have said, word order is employed especially for the sake of emphasis. Generally speaking, when a word is thrown to the front of the clause it is done so for emphasis. When a predicate nominative is thrown in front of the verb, by virture of word order it takes on emphasis. A good illustration of this is John 1:1c. The English versions typically have, 'and the Word was God.' But in Greek, the word order has been reversed. It reads,
καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος
and God was the Word.
We know that "the Word" is the subject because it has the definite article, and we translate it accordingly: 'and the Word was God.' Two questions, both of theological import, should come to mind: (1) why was θεὸς thrown forward? and (2) why does it lack the article? In brief, its emphatic position stresses its essence or quality: 'What God was, the Word was' is how one translation brings out this force. Its lack of a definite article keeps us from identifying the person of the Word (Jesus Christ) with the person of 'God' (the Father). That is to say, the word order tells us that Jesus Christ has all the divine attributes that the Father has, lack of the article tells us that Jesus Christ is not the Father. John's wording here is beautifully compact! It is, in fact, one of the most elegantly terse theological statements one could ever find."
Sadly, the author introduces his own theology by placing "Jesus Christ" and "the Father" in parentheses. He then proceeds to completely distort the true interpretation. John is emphasizing the qualities of the "word" as they relate to the qualities of God. If Yahweh is powerful, so is His word. If Yahweh is creative, so is His word. The attributes of the word of Yahweh are the same as the attributes of Yahweh Himself.
I addressed all these verses except 1 Cor 8:6:
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by through whom are all things, and we by through him.
Paul is clearly saying that to “us” believers in Messiah, there is only one God, the Father (Not the Son. Not the Father and the Son. Not the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Only the Father). He is also saying all things originate from the Father, not the Son. They come to us through the Son.
What is the contradiction with my position?
In Col 1:17, the word “before” is a translation of the Greek word “pro”. It can mean “before” concerning place, time, or superiority. As in
James 5:12 and
1 Peter 4:8, “pro” should have been translated “above” or “superior to”. Yeshua is above all things; he did not exist before all things.
It is you who are not dealing with the fact that “through” is used, not “by”. Because you have this preconceived idea that Yeshua existed before creation, you can’t wrap your mind around how Yahweh could create all things for and through the Son that was in His plan of salvation.
Col 1:16 For in him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created through him, and for him:
If everything was created “FOR” Yeshua, then the Son is the “reason” for creation.
The problem with this is that when something is pointed out that proves the Son is not “God”, Christians appeal to his humanity, but when Christians want to prove he was “God”, they point out things he did while human. Christians are always saying things like, “Only God can forgive sins” or “only God can heal the blind”, etc. But if I point out that Yeshua is not omniscient because he did not know when he would return, Christians appeal to humanity in not knowing all things. So, if he functions as both God and man at all times, then the God part of him could not die. However, the bottom line is that the phrase “truly God and truly man” is simply a creed of men not found in Scripture.
