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The Incomparable Jesus Christ In The Prologue of John
This Prologue of the Gospel of John, which is from verse 1, to verse 18, is all about “ο λογος (THE WORD)”. It is very hard to understand, how anyone can read this entire passage in John chapter 1, about Jesus Christ, and then continue to deny that HE IS YHWH?
The first words of this Gospel, “εν αρχη ην ο λογος”, speak of the Eternal Existence of “The Word of God”, the Lord Jesus Christ. “εν αρχη” is not the Beginning of Creation, in Genesis chapter 1, which is in verse 3, but eternity past. In his First Letter, John says the same, “That which was from the beginning (ἀρχῆς)” (1:1).
“ο λογος (The Logos)”, answers to the Jewish Aramaic Targum’s use of “מימרא (Memra)”, which is many times used for Yahweh Himself. In Genesis 1:27, the Jerusalem Targum reads, “And the Word (מימרא) of the Lord Created man in His likeness, in the likeness of the Presence of the Lord He created him”, where “The Word”, is Personal. And, in 16:13, “And Hagar gave thanks, and prayed in the Name of the Word (מימרא) of the Lord”. For Exodus 19:17, Targum Onkelos reads, “And Mosheh led forth the people out of the camp to meet the Word (מימרא) of the Lord”. In Numbers 21:6, the Hebrew text reads, “And the people spoke against God and against Moses”. Onkelos reads, “And the people murmured against the Word (מימרא) of the Lord, and contended with Mosheh”. And verse 6, “And Yahweh sent forth burning serpents among the people, and much people of Israel died”. Of which Paul says, “nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents” (1 Corinthians 10:9). The Jews of the 1st century were well aware of Who “ο λογος”, is, and John says that this “מימרא” in the Old Testamnt, is JESUS CHRIST (Revelation 19:3), Who is YHWH.
Note the use of the verb, “ἦν”, translated “was”. It is in the imperfect tense, of, “εἰμί”, the present tense, “AM”. The imperfect denotes an incomplete action, which began in the past, and continuing in the present time. This is the same as Philippians 2:6, “Who, existing in the form of God”, where we have the Greek present participle, “ὑπάρχων (existing)”, used as the imperfect. Jesus Christ has always been in the “very nature of God (ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων)”
In the next sentence, John says, “καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν (and the Word was with God)”. We here have two distinct “Persons”, “ὁ λόγος (The Word)”, and “τὸν θεόν (God)”. The use of the Greek preposition, “πρὸς (with)”, which means, “on the side of, towards, in the presence of”, shows that “ὁ λόγος”, is DISTINCT from “τὸν θεόν”. This destroys the heresy that the Godhead (Romans 1:20, θειότης, the Divine Nature), is Unitarian. In John 17:5, Jesus says to the Father, “And now, O Father, Glorify Thou Me with (παρὰ, side by side with) Thine Own Self with the Glory which I had (εἶχον, imperfect, always had) with (παρὰ, side by side with) Thee before the world was (πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι, before the world even existed)”. Here Jesus speaks of His Glory, which He had with God the Father, from all eternity past, which He “gave up” during His Incarnation, and resumed at His Ascension. In Isaiah 42:2, it says, “I am Yahweh. That is My Name. I will not give My Glory to another, nor My Praise to engraved images”. John 17:5 shows the absolute equality of Jesus Christ with the Father.
John goes on to say, “καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”. These words are a stumbling-block to some, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who, because of their theology on Jesus Christ, have translated this, “and the Word was a god”, and in a footnote, “or, ‘was divine’”. The Liberal scholar, Dr James Moffatt, in his New Testament, says, “the Logos was divine”. This reading can be discounted by the fact, that the Greek has a word for “divine”, which is “θείος”, an adjective, “θεὸς”, is a noun! Those who cannot accept the natural Greek reading of “God”, have tried to, unsuccessfully, to argue from the Greek grammar, that, as John does not use the definite article in the Greek, “ὁ θεὸς”, it does not mean “God”, but “god”.
Way back in the 3rd century A.D., we have the theologian, Origen (A.D. 184-253), who wrote on John 1:1, “That there is a difference between ο θεος with the article, meaning God, and θεος without the article, meaning Divine. He says that God Himself is ο θεος and αὐτὸ-θεος (God of Himself): everything else is defined by participation of His Godhead. The Logos, therefore, is fitly called not ο θεος, but θεος simply” (Dr R S Franks; The Doctrine of The Trinity, pp.92-93). Is this distinction a valid one, or the theology of Origen, who taught, “that the essence of the Father and of the Son was not the same, but that there was a difference of essence, thus paving the way for Arianism" (F J Foakes Jackson; The History of the Christian Church, p.163). Does “θεος” mean less than “ο θεος”? In John 1:6, it says, “There was a man sent from God (the Father)”, where the Greek is, “παρα θεου”, and not, “παρα του θεου”. Do we here translate it as “There was a man sent from god, or a god”? We also have in verse 12, “children of God (θεου)”, and 13, “but of God (θεου)”, in neither place does it read, “του θεου”. Should these also be translated as “god, or a god”? Why is there a distinction made between “ο θεος and θεος” for John 1:1, when used for Jesus Christ, but not for the Father? It has to do with theology, and not the Greek grammar.
When John writes, “καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”, he does not mean that “ὁ λόγος”, is a “secondary god”, as suggested by Origen, and the Jehovah's Witnesses do. We have seen that the use and non use of the Greek article, does not denote a different meaning for “θεος”. What we have is a simple sentence structure. “Every sentence must contain two parts, a subject and a predicate. The subject is that of which something is stated. The predicate is that which is stated of the subject…A predicate noun or adjective seldom has the article” (William Goodwin, Greek Grammar, sec. 890, 956, pp.196, 208)
“General rule, The subject has the article, while the predicate is without it” (William Jelf, A Grammar of the Greek Language, sec. 460, p.120). In John 1:1, the “subject” is no doubt, “The Word”, as it is about Him. The “predicate” in this last sentence, is “θεος”, which is a statement about the “subject”. John is here stating, that “The Word”, is “God”, as much as “The God”, besides (πρὸς) Whom He is. In John 8:54, Jesus says to the Jews, “εστιν ο πατηρ μου ο δοξαζων με ον υμεις λεγετε οτι θεος υμων εστιν”, which is literally, “it is My Father Who Glorifies Me, Who you say that God your He is”. Here, “ο πατηρ μου (My Father)” is the subject, and “θεος”, is the predicate. It is never translated as “god”, or “a god”. So why different in John 1:1, where the grammatical construction is the same?
For the sake of argument, let us suppose that John should have written, “καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”. Had John written this, then he would have meant that “ὁ λόγος”, was identical to “τὸν θεόν”, in the previous sentence. Grammatically, however, he had just written, “καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν”, where the use of the preposition, “πρὸς”, is clear that two distinct Persons are meant. It becomes a contradiction, and confusing, if he wrote, “καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”.
The word order, “καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”, literally, “and God was the Word”, is not a problem. As we have in John 4:24, where the Greek reads: “πνεῦμα ὁ θεός”, which is literally, “spirit the God”, but translated, “God is spirit”. This does not mean that God the Father, of Whom Jesus is speaking, is The Holy Spirit, but, that He is a “spiritual Person”. Here, like in John 1:1, “θεὸς” we have the predicate of the sentence, “πνεῦμα”, without the article. It is very clear, that John means, “and the Word was God”, and no other reading is correct. Interestingly, the Emphatic Diaglott, by Benjamin Wilson, published by the Jehovah's Witnesses, has in the 1864 edition, in the right-hand version, “and the Logos was God”. In the New Testament by the Unitarian, Dr George Noyes, he translates the Greek, “and the Word was God”, even though, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, he denied that Jesus Christ is GOD.
This Prologue of the Gospel of John, which is from verse 1, to verse 18, is all about “ο λογος (THE WORD)”. It is very hard to understand, how anyone can read this entire passage in John chapter 1, about Jesus Christ, and then continue to deny that HE IS YHWH?
The first words of this Gospel, “εν αρχη ην ο λογος”, speak of the Eternal Existence of “The Word of God”, the Lord Jesus Christ. “εν αρχη” is not the Beginning of Creation, in Genesis chapter 1, which is in verse 3, but eternity past. In his First Letter, John says the same, “That which was from the beginning (ἀρχῆς)” (1:1).
“ο λογος (The Logos)”, answers to the Jewish Aramaic Targum’s use of “מימרא (Memra)”, which is many times used for Yahweh Himself. In Genesis 1:27, the Jerusalem Targum reads, “And the Word (מימרא) of the Lord Created man in His likeness, in the likeness of the Presence of the Lord He created him”, where “The Word”, is Personal. And, in 16:13, “And Hagar gave thanks, and prayed in the Name of the Word (מימרא) of the Lord”. For Exodus 19:17, Targum Onkelos reads, “And Mosheh led forth the people out of the camp to meet the Word (מימרא) of the Lord”. In Numbers 21:6, the Hebrew text reads, “And the people spoke against God and against Moses”. Onkelos reads, “And the people murmured against the Word (מימרא) of the Lord, and contended with Mosheh”. And verse 6, “And Yahweh sent forth burning serpents among the people, and much people of Israel died”. Of which Paul says, “nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents” (1 Corinthians 10:9). The Jews of the 1st century were well aware of Who “ο λογος”, is, and John says that this “מימרא” in the Old Testamnt, is JESUS CHRIST (Revelation 19:3), Who is YHWH.
Note the use of the verb, “ἦν”, translated “was”. It is in the imperfect tense, of, “εἰμί”, the present tense, “AM”. The imperfect denotes an incomplete action, which began in the past, and continuing in the present time. This is the same as Philippians 2:6, “Who, existing in the form of God”, where we have the Greek present participle, “ὑπάρχων (existing)”, used as the imperfect. Jesus Christ has always been in the “very nature of God (ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων)”
In the next sentence, John says, “καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν (and the Word was with God)”. We here have two distinct “Persons”, “ὁ λόγος (The Word)”, and “τὸν θεόν (God)”. The use of the Greek preposition, “πρὸς (with)”, which means, “on the side of, towards, in the presence of”, shows that “ὁ λόγος”, is DISTINCT from “τὸν θεόν”. This destroys the heresy that the Godhead (Romans 1:20, θειότης, the Divine Nature), is Unitarian. In John 17:5, Jesus says to the Father, “And now, O Father, Glorify Thou Me with (παρὰ, side by side with) Thine Own Self with the Glory which I had (εἶχον, imperfect, always had) with (παρὰ, side by side with) Thee before the world was (πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι, before the world even existed)”. Here Jesus speaks of His Glory, which He had with God the Father, from all eternity past, which He “gave up” during His Incarnation, and resumed at His Ascension. In Isaiah 42:2, it says, “I am Yahweh. That is My Name. I will not give My Glory to another, nor My Praise to engraved images”. John 17:5 shows the absolute equality of Jesus Christ with the Father.
John goes on to say, “καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”. These words are a stumbling-block to some, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who, because of their theology on Jesus Christ, have translated this, “and the Word was a god”, and in a footnote, “or, ‘was divine’”. The Liberal scholar, Dr James Moffatt, in his New Testament, says, “the Logos was divine”. This reading can be discounted by the fact, that the Greek has a word for “divine”, which is “θείος”, an adjective, “θεὸς”, is a noun! Those who cannot accept the natural Greek reading of “God”, have tried to, unsuccessfully, to argue from the Greek grammar, that, as John does not use the definite article in the Greek, “ὁ θεὸς”, it does not mean “God”, but “god”.
Way back in the 3rd century A.D., we have the theologian, Origen (A.D. 184-253), who wrote on John 1:1, “That there is a difference between ο θεος with the article, meaning God, and θεος without the article, meaning Divine. He says that God Himself is ο θεος and αὐτὸ-θεος (God of Himself): everything else is defined by participation of His Godhead. The Logos, therefore, is fitly called not ο θεος, but θεος simply” (Dr R S Franks; The Doctrine of The Trinity, pp.92-93). Is this distinction a valid one, or the theology of Origen, who taught, “that the essence of the Father and of the Son was not the same, but that there was a difference of essence, thus paving the way for Arianism" (F J Foakes Jackson; The History of the Christian Church, p.163). Does “θεος” mean less than “ο θεος”? In John 1:6, it says, “There was a man sent from God (the Father)”, where the Greek is, “παρα θεου”, and not, “παρα του θεου”. Do we here translate it as “There was a man sent from god, or a god”? We also have in verse 12, “children of God (θεου)”, and 13, “but of God (θεου)”, in neither place does it read, “του θεου”. Should these also be translated as “god, or a god”? Why is there a distinction made between “ο θεος and θεος” for John 1:1, when used for Jesus Christ, but not for the Father? It has to do with theology, and not the Greek grammar.
When John writes, “καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”, he does not mean that “ὁ λόγος”, is a “secondary god”, as suggested by Origen, and the Jehovah's Witnesses do. We have seen that the use and non use of the Greek article, does not denote a different meaning for “θεος”. What we have is a simple sentence structure. “Every sentence must contain two parts, a subject and a predicate. The subject is that of which something is stated. The predicate is that which is stated of the subject…A predicate noun or adjective seldom has the article” (William Goodwin, Greek Grammar, sec. 890, 956, pp.196, 208)
“General rule, The subject has the article, while the predicate is without it” (William Jelf, A Grammar of the Greek Language, sec. 460, p.120). In John 1:1, the “subject” is no doubt, “The Word”, as it is about Him. The “predicate” in this last sentence, is “θεος”, which is a statement about the “subject”. John is here stating, that “The Word”, is “God”, as much as “The God”, besides (πρὸς) Whom He is. In John 8:54, Jesus says to the Jews, “εστιν ο πατηρ μου ο δοξαζων με ον υμεις λεγετε οτι θεος υμων εστιν”, which is literally, “it is My Father Who Glorifies Me, Who you say that God your He is”. Here, “ο πατηρ μου (My Father)” is the subject, and “θεος”, is the predicate. It is never translated as “god”, or “a god”. So why different in John 1:1, where the grammatical construction is the same?
For the sake of argument, let us suppose that John should have written, “καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”. Had John written this, then he would have meant that “ὁ λόγος”, was identical to “τὸν θεόν”, in the previous sentence. Grammatically, however, he had just written, “καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν”, where the use of the preposition, “πρὸς”, is clear that two distinct Persons are meant. It becomes a contradiction, and confusing, if he wrote, “καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”.
The word order, “καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”, literally, “and God was the Word”, is not a problem. As we have in John 4:24, where the Greek reads: “πνεῦμα ὁ θεός”, which is literally, “spirit the God”, but translated, “God is spirit”. This does not mean that God the Father, of Whom Jesus is speaking, is The Holy Spirit, but, that He is a “spiritual Person”. Here, like in John 1:1, “θεὸς” we have the predicate of the sentence, “πνεῦμα”, without the article. It is very clear, that John means, “and the Word was God”, and no other reading is correct. Interestingly, the Emphatic Diaglott, by Benjamin Wilson, published by the Jehovah's Witnesses, has in the 1864 edition, in the right-hand version, “and the Logos was God”. In the New Testament by the Unitarian, Dr George Noyes, he translates the Greek, “and the Word was God”, even though, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, he denied that Jesus Christ is GOD.
