Best explanation of John 1:1 for a J. W, please?
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Follow this link and read the argument: https://carm.org/john-1-1-word-was-god
Here’s also an interlinear version of John 1:1 for reference.
is the NWT superior to the KJV ???
And ho logos was God !
Show them a real bible, the nkj says Jesus is God their translation says He is a god
Jesus was a Word in the beginning not a God Son.
Unfortunately they will dismiss it bc it is not a teaching from their own literature. Try to find an older JW interlinear Bible and it will show in the Greek their version is wrong. They disprove themselves. That is really the best way is to use any of their own stuff against them. Good luck.
Some apologists think it’s more worthwhile to point to less well-known texts identifying Jesus as Yahweh (Jehovah), since JWs are trained from the outset to deal with John 1:1, since it’s one of the most common texts for demonstrating that Jesus is Yahweh.
Here is the current interlinear from their website … notice the word “a” is not in the last part
And here is the NWT from their own website… ask them to explain why it is different. Then show them the real verse.
Logos was initially begotten (manifested) in the beginning. The jw’s are right about that. The 3rd century eternally generated Son theory and the 4th century Marcellusian theory were departures. Prior to Nicea, virtually all Professing Christians taught that Logos was resident in God’s Mind as Wisdom and was revealed in eternity at or just prior to the beginning. The jw’s are missing the independent Deity of God’s Word in the passage. Learn more about early Logos doctrine here:
https://acts2216.org/logos-doctrine-explained
Yes, John 1:1 removes some parts which are in most translations basically to fit their doctrine that Jesus is not God. Many high profile NT Greek scholars have a lot of criticism of their text that it does not follow the integrity of the original languages. Bruce Metzger is one of them who believed it should not be treated as an accurate translation. I also remember reading somewhere that even though it claims to be from the Greek, no Greek translator worked on the NWT translation. I could be wrong about that last point however.
The first twelve verses in context. Only God creates life.
An angel or created being can not generate life out of nothing. He is the definition of life and light. Do not define Jn. 1:1 to contradict Jn. 20:28 or 1 Jn. 5:20./Jn. 17:3.
There is no good explanation to a duped JW. The verse is CLEAR “… the Word was God”. It is that clear they have to CHANGE it to “a god” in their fabricated NWT.
Charles Taze Russell had some unique ideas about scripture, Christ, hell, etc. Very unorthodox views. He gathered a following and it has become the cult we see today. Hell doesn’t disappear because I write a new “Bible” and keep the word hell out of it. I can change John 1:1 ( add an “a”) but that doesn’t change reality or truth. God gave us scripture…a disingenuous guy named Charles gave us his own ideas that was eventually written into the JW Bible… I would stick with following the guy that rose from the dead. MANY JW’s have left their cult when they responded to the challenge to read the Bible for themselves!
Shows the divinity of Jesus. In the jw bible, ot says “a god” little a and a little g. Can cross reference to Genesis where it says “Let us make man in our image “
Agree with Paul for scripture. Bottom line, unless God opens their eyes and ears they will have no understanding
Can’t explain to them if they change the text
Tell them to keep reading don’t stop at that one verse, everything not God was created by God, the Word of God was not created.
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.
JWs mistranslate the Greek to say “a” Logos (a God) instead of just Logos (GOD). This enables them to use their New World translation to back their view that Jesus is a separate being and a separate, lesser deity, from the GOD the Father. Although.. the original greek in this passage along with an overwhelming number of other passages say that there is only one God, not 2, or 3, but 1.. and Jesus is that GOD!! One with the Father, eternally pre-existent, Creator of all things.
* The first verse in John harks back to the first verse of the Bible, Gen_1:1. ‘B’Rashith’ cannot refer to ‘The beginning’, in the sense of time, as time did not exist ‘In the beginning’, any more than the sun existed ‘In the beginning’. This term can also refer to the ‘head’, ‘fount’, ‘origin’ or ‘source’. We cannot accurately say, “God created the universe in the beginning of time.” Time is part of creation as well as matter, therefore, ‘Berashith’ here in John and in Gen_1:1 must refer to a timeless state or event, otherwise known as ‘Eternity’. The Word is eternal, having been in Eternity apart from time, space and matter. The existence of ‘Miltha’ (“The Word”) is independent of all time, space and matter and is not only at ‘The Source’, but He is ‘The Source’ of the universe which is comprised of time, space and matter. The Apostle Paul later refers to The Messiah as ‘Rashith’ (‘The Source’) and John writes in Rev_3:1-22 that He is “Shuraia d’Beryatha” (“The Origin of creation”).
Joh 1:1 ברשית S19977 * In the Origin איתוהי S724 existing הוא S5144 had been מלתא S12119 The Word והו S5015 and That מלתא S12119 Word איתוהי S724 existing הוא S5144 had been לות S11136 with אלהא S905 God ואלהא S923 and God איתוהי S724 Himself הוא S5144 was הו S5005 That מלתא S12119 Word
Don’t use the Greek Translation, John spoke and used Aramaic and JW’s do not have a prepared answer drill for that!
The answer and notes here are from The Aramaic New Testament, AKA Peshitta, David Bausher
Short and sweet: Jesus is God
While I do not agree with the JW translation “the Word was a god” I think we need to recognize where they are coming from to have a discussion with them. The main grammatical problem in John 1.1c is that theos is anarthrous (without the article; Gr. ho = Eng. “the”) whereas theos is articular (ton theon, with the article) in the previous clause, that is, John 1.1b. More recently more and more scholars have tended to support the translation of the New English Bible “
and what God was, the Word was”. I think this is essentially saying that the Word was of the same substance as “the God”, not that there is an absolute identification between the Word and the God because “the God” refers to the Father whom the Word was with.
In John 1:1 in the New World Translation it days the Word was a god. This is due to not having the definite article in the Greek “the”. (I don’t know Greek I looked it up). If you look at verses 6 and 12 it’s the same grammatical structure, no definite article in front of the word God. The difference here is that they don’t change it to “a god” but keep it as God.
let these 2 illiterate Irish peasant brothers explain it best. https://youtu.be/iXDt8WHSPhU
“Logos” (Greek: λόγος) is the Greek term used in the beginning of the Gospel according to John. In Greek “logos” means word, reason or speech. Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, first used the term “logos”, around perhaps 500 B.C., in order to mean divine reason. The broad, multifarious meanings of the term “logos” illustrates an imprecision in the Greek language, and the weakness of the language in conveying some of the powerful new concepts of Christianity, despite how Greek was far more sophisticated than any other ancient language.
When used in connection with thought or the mind, as in John 1:1, logos means the mental faculty of thinking and reasoning. In the beginning was “logos”, referring to the mind or thought of God. If wikis had existed in ancient Greece, then the meaning of “logos” might have included a wiki! Other example uses of logos in the Bible are in Luke 8:11, Hebrews 4:12, and Philippians 2:16.
The use of “logos” in Hebrews 4:12-13 demonstrates that it cannot be accurately translated merely as “word”, because it refers there to how God omnisciently knows what is in man:
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. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
It has been suggested that “logos” in Hebrews 4:12 above should be translated as “Christ” (based on the interpretation of many Fathers, such as Oecumenius, Theophylact, Thomas Aquinas, Lyra, Cajetan, Clarius, Justinian, Cornelius a Lapide, Jac. Cappellus, Gomar, Owen, Heinsius, Alting, Clericus, Cramer, Ewald—see commentaries on Hebrews 4:12). Hebrews uses the term “logos” frequently.
In literature, logos refers to an appeal to logic, as opposed to an appeal to emotion (pathos) or an appeal to authority (ethos).
In the King James Version, “logos” is translated as follows:
“word” – a total of 218 times
“saying” – 50 times
a variety of different terms – 32 times
“account” – 8 times
“speech” – 8 times
“Word” as in Christ – 7 times, mostly in the first verses of the Gospel of John – St. Augustine preferred to translate logos in this context as the “Living Word.”
not translated and omitted from the English – 2 times
This calls into question the translation of “logos” as “Word” in the beginning of the Gospel of John. Under the view of some biblical scholars, logos was used by John the Apostle to describe the second person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus, as the Word of God. Commentators have pointed out the inadequacy of the English term “word” to capture the full meaning of “logos”. The Letter to the Hebrews explains that the Son is “the express image” of God (see Hebrews 1:1-3 KJV), which can be understood as the complete self-expression of God the Father.
Genesis 1:26 English Standard Version (ESV)
26 Then God said, “Let us make man[a] 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.”
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/how-to-use-the-back-of-a-napkin-to-prove-to-a-jehovahs-witness-that-jesus-is-god/
John stated that theEird was just as much God as the Father was not the Father and He became flesh as Jesus!
Meant to say the Word!
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/how-to-use-the-back-of-a-napkin-to-prove-to-a-jehovahs-witness-that-jesus-is-god/
In greek there is no indifinate article such “a” and “a”. The literal translation of Greek is this. In beginning was the word, and the word was with “THE” God, and the word was “THE” God. The JW inserted an indefinite article a god.
Remember the early writings of Greek New Testament are written in Capital letters. Such as Codex Vaticanus, Alexandrianus and Siniaticus.
Don’t let them throw in…..
And the Word was….(a) god… because that’s what their translation says… KJV baby!!!
Jesus is God. that is what John 1 says.
The Word us Christ. He was in the beginning And he was with His and He is God. Pretty straightforward.
Do you mean to refute or support JW?
Jereme McAlpin, to refute it, or course.
Another option for explanation is God’s approval of Jesus at his baptism. Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh and one with the Father and God approved of all that. So if God approves of Jesus and tells us to listen to him, why aren’t the JW’s accepting Jesus as the Son of God? Just a thought for them to consider.
Show and compare Psalm102 , 25-27 with Heb. 1,. 6–12. Then see John12, 41. And Isa. 6,
Isa. 6,. 1–5. Also note that Jesus is Worshipped in. Rev.5,. 12–14. Then ask if you worship Jesus??
One more thing You may use their Bible
They won’t throw it away.
When talking to the new generation of JW’s, with any discussion of Scripture versions, I surprise them by reminding that their church started and grew on the KJV. Their organization printed the bible they use to show it supports their doctrines. L&P
John 1:1 is not a very easy text because of the vested interests of different Christian traditions who use it as prooftext to either support or condemn the Trinity doctrine.
In studying Koine Greek experts on the passage, I find that there are three possible renderings of the last phrase, that are all supported by Greek Grammar.
1. …the word was god (definite)
2. …the word was a god
3. …the word was divine
Those who support one view usually cite rules of grammar to dispute the other views.
Those inclined towards rendering (1) usually cite Colwell’s rule.
Those inclined towards rendering (2) often cite the misunderstanding and misapplication of Colwell’s rule as the only reason to insist that theos as a predicate noun must be definite as opposed to possibly indefinite -as would be decided by context.
Those who hold the view number (3) usually cite examples of qualitative anarthrous predicate nouns in the New Testament, to show that the predicate theos in the passage is only qualitative.
It therefore seems that the position that a person takes on the passage is always based on their existing interpretations of other related scriptural passages.
In the sense of a literal equivalent translation, the NWT of the Jehovah’s Witnesses following rendering (2) is off the line at face value because one can easily see that it adds ‘a’ to the text, which was not originally there. But I ‘say at face value’ because the indefinite article does not exist at all in Greek and other translations often add words, including indefinite articles, into their translations of NT text, which of course would not be in the original manuscripts, just to make the translations readable in English. So, the NWT has not done anything new or anything bad if by adding an indefinite article it happens to translate the text faithfully based on both grammar, context and other rules of interpretation since it is obvious that every translation is in some sense an interpretation.
Even though the third rendering is widely accepted, it also suffers from appearing not to be faithful to the original texts since there is a separate Greek word for “divine” which did not appear in that text.
End of the day, I prefer the literal rendering of John 1:1 to any of the published English translation options.
It reads: In beginning was the word and the word was towards the god and god was the word.
1. John 1:3, in their own wrong translation clearly says that everything that was created was created by Jesus and clearly says nothing, NOTHING, was created that He didn’t make. This means that all creation, created by an uncreated God, was created by Jesus, which means Jesus is God.
2. Jesus being a demigod or lesser God is both heresy and contradictory to Scripture. Help them understand the Ten Commandments. It says, You shall have no other gods before me. Before me, means in my presence, or have no other gods set before me, in my presence. Picture a tree. Any branches that fall in its shade are in the tree’s presence. If Jesus was a lesser God or demigod, God would have to destroy Him. He could not ever, for a moment be in the presence of God. It is sin to put another god in the presence of God. God cannot sin so he cannot have made another god because that’s a sin. Just like lying or lusting, it’s still a sin if God does it. (God can take things and lives because He owns them and they are His to give or take). So again, have them look at their own translation and teach them the origin of have no other gods before me. It means their translation of John 1:1 is an error.
3. Show them the history of Jesus in the Old Testament. It says He is the Lord, it says He is eternal, and it says He is God. Isaiah is one of the big helps here.
4. Ask them if they are willing to have a sit down session, or several, where they show you what they know and why and you show them what you have learned and why, a fair exchange of ideas to figure out the truth one on one. If they reject this, ask them how can you pretend to have the truth if you are unwilling to defend it like people of other faiths. Also remind them that Peter said, Always be ready to give an answer for what you believe. If he’s unwilling to defend it against alternatives, let him know it’s not the truth. Don’t get sucked into coming to a JW Bible study (They always use two. Make it one on one or nothing.
If the Word was God and the Word became flesh, then Jesus must be God. And since Deuteronomy 6:4 says there is only One God, then the JW interpretation must be incorrect