The Holey Trinity - The Truth About John 1:1

Old Faithful

John 1:1, or as Trinitarians call it; "Old Faithful". I'm just kidding, I don't know if they call it that or not. What I can say is anytime you try telling a Trinity worshipping person that Jesus is not God, this verse is often the verse they mention in rebuttal. I have been hearing it so much as of late I found it absolutely necessary to address it.

As earnest Bible readers, we cannot simply ignore certain parts and aspects of a verse in order to prove our doctrine. That would be breaking a rule of exegesis. We must strive to obtain an understanding of the writer's original words in the way that he intended them.

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

This particular translation, the Trinitarian translation, actually promotes a theology of "polytheism". This is a doctrine that teaches of more than one God. Context shows that Jesus cannot be same as the one identified as God (In Greek: ho Theos; "The God") because it states that Jesus is with God. So we have 2 beings who are both called God and are with each other. This fact contradicts the Trinity doctrine as it does not allow for God to be with God since there is only one God. The only way Trinitarians can avoid this contradiction is to change the verse to read as "the Word was with the Father". However this is not how the verse reads, and to force it to read that way is only achieved by committing the fallacy of equivocation. Grammatically then, the text is not saying that the Word is the same as the God who was with, but that the word was god-like, divine, or a god in comparison to humans. Definitely not equal to the God he was with.

Continuing with the path of grammar, the term "god" in the clause "the Word was god" is predicate. Meaning, the word "god" is describing something about the Word, not his identity. As we have discussed in the past calling someone god does not equate them to the Almighty God. In this case the term tells about the qualities of Jesus like having "great strength, power, or knowledge" and being "greatly loved or admired".

"'Was God': lack of a definite article with 'God' in Greek signifies predication rather than identification." - Footnote in the New American Bible

Additionally, because the word "God" is a count noun, (a noun that can be plural), it means that Jesus is a member of the class of "Gods". Don't forget, according to the Bible there are "many gods" (1 Corinthians 8:5). A count noun must be either preceded by a definite article (The God) or an indefinite article (a god). This is necessary even when it is pertaining to the qualities of a person, as it does in the case of John 1:1. Because of the Biblical use of the word God and its various applications to many people, despite Trinitarian insistence, God in itself cannot be a definitive noun.

In most other places this grammar occurs translators put an "a" in front of the predicate noun.

"...when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out" - Mark 6:49 (ASV)

"The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet." - John 4:19 (ASV)

"Now this he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief" - John 12:6 (ASV)

A ghost, prophet, and thief are all count nouns that require a definite or indefinite article with them. In all these cases, amongst many others, translators put an indefinite article preceding it. Why not before the word god in John 1:1?

It seems as if its another way some translators made an effort to promote their theology. Not all translators follow the King James Version of this rendering. This website contains a list of 70 or so Bible translations that render John 1:1 in way that does not promote the Trinitarian bias of the KJV translators. You will find most render it as the Word was "divine", "a divine being", "god' (intentionally lower case), or "a god".

"I think the best translation would be: "And the Word was divine"... John is trying to suggest that the Word was a divine character, or belongs to the class of divine things." - Jason BeDuhn; Truth in Translation
  
In this book, "Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in in English Translations of the New Testament", Trinitarian author Jason BeDuhn addresses this very scripture. This book is an excellent resource of information regarding the original Greek language and grammar.  I highly suggest those who desire to learn the truth of the Bible read this book. He compares 8 different Bibles (The Amplified New Testament, The Living Bible, New American Bible with Revised New Testament, The New American Standard Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Good News Bible in Todays in English Version) for accuracy and bias. Notice what his words concerning this particular scripture:

"Bias has shaped most of these translations much more than has accurate attention to the wording of the Bible. The NW [New World] translation of John 1:1 is superior to that of the other eight translations we are comparing...it breaks with the KJV tradition followed by all the others, and it does so in the right direction by paying attention to how Greek grammar and syntax actually work."

That is one of the many reasons why I prefer the New World Translation over all others. What Mr. BeDuhn says regarding the NWT paying attention to the Greek grammar and syntax can be said regarding the entirety of that translation. That aside, there are scholars that exist that will call the rendering of "a god" or anything but the KJV's "God" at John 1:1 inaccurate. However there are many that say otherwise. My research has revealed more that promote the rendering of "the Word was divine" or "a god" than that of the KJV. In fact, most of the scholars promoting the KJV's rendering are devout Trinitarians searching for a confirmation bias or are dead-set on charging the NWT of doctrinal bias. The ironic part is that this doctrinal bias they accuse the Jehovah's Witnesses of having is the same doctrinal bias that the Trinitarians have been repeatedly proven to possess.

Check out these Quotes from Scholars regarding John 1:1.