N S B Notes: Trinity...Colwell's Rule
Greek Grammar for John 1:1
*WILL YOU ALLOW MEN WHO BELIEVED IN FALSE GODS TO DICTATE HOW YOUR BIBLE IS TRANSLATED? WILL YOU ALLOW GRAMATICAL RULES TO CONTROL YOUR FAITH?
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME: According to many Greek scholars there is an established rule of Greek grammar which necessitates the John 1:1 rendering, "…and the Word was God." Some years ago Dr. Ernest Cadman Colwell of the University of Chicago pointed out in a study of the Greek definite article that, "A definite predicate nominative has the article when it follows the verb; it does not have the article when it precedes the verb.” A few Greek scholars would even begin to understand Dr. Colwell’s rule. The rest of us throw our hands in the air and exclaim: “It’s all Greek to me!”
CONTEXTUAL ACCURACY VERSUS GRAMMATICAL ACCURACY: The New Simplified Bible makes no assertions of grammatical accuracy. In fact the NSB believes that contextual accuracy is far more important. However, out of respect for Dr. Colwell the New Simplified Bible uses the exact phrase he uses at the end of John 1:1, “the Word was God.” The NSB then completes the translation of the Greek word “theos” based on the context of the verse.
CONSIDER THE SOURCE: Who wrote the Greek Grammatical Rules?
(1) Greeks.
(2) Experts in Greek Mythology and false religion.
(3) Trinitarians!
That’s right! The rules of Greek grammar were written by Greek speaking people who did not believe in the true God of the Bible. They did not know about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Or if they already knew about Jesus Christ they wrote the grammatical rules after the fact and made them fit their belief in a false (man-made) Trinity. It is not surprising that they contrived a mysterious god-head they called the Trinity, after all they believed in fictitious religious beings such as Zeus, Apollos and Hercules. Zeus was considered the father of many gods. The Greeks, like the Romans, and many other heathen societies believed in many “multiples of gods.”
Will you allow men who believed in false gods to dictate how you translate the inspired Word of God at John 1:1? Will you allow men who believe a mysterious, man made Trinity doctrine to explain John 1:1?
Will you allow gramatical rules to control your faith?
OR WILL YOU ACCEPT THE PROOF FROM THE CONTEXT OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES?
CONTEXT… PROVES TWO SEPARATE SPIRIT BEINGS: The context of John 1:1 emphatically indicates that it is talking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God as two separate spirit beings. Bible authorities agree that “the Word” is Jesus Christ. The same verse, John 1:1, indicates that God and Jesus Christ are two separate beings when it says that “the Word was with God.” The Greek “pros” means ‘with,’ ‘by the side of’ and ‘near to” indicating two separate beings. Listen to what Bible scholars say about the Greek word pros:
“This word ‘with’ points out that there is a distinction of persons here.” (Geneva Bible Translation Notes)
“This expression denotes friendship or intimacy. John affirms that he (Jesus) was “with God” in the beginning - that is, before the world was made.” (Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible)
“Though existing eternally with God the Logos was in perfect fellowship with God.” (Robertson’s Word Pictures)
“The preposition “pros” implies not just proximity, but intimate personal relationship. (NET Bible, bible.org)
“was with God”--having a conscious personal existence distinct from God (as one is from the person he is "with"), but inseparable from Him and associated with Him.” (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)
CONTEXT….JESUS CHRIST IDENTIFIED AS THE “SON OF GOD”: The entire context of the ‘New Testament’ refers to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and not as God. Jesus Christ is refered to as the "Son of God" or "God's Son" nearly 70 times in the Bible!
Even Satan knew him as the “Son of God.” (Matthew 4:6)
The demons and unclean spirits recognized him as the “Son of God.” (Mark 3:11)
The centurion who guarded him at his death admitted that Jesus was the Son of God. (Mark 15:39)
The Gospel writer Mark identified Jesus as the “Son of God.” (Mark 1:1) All of the Gospel writers knew that Jesus Christ was the “Son of God.”
Nathanael called Jesus the “Son of God.” (John 1:49)
Jesus spoke of himself as the “Son of God.” (John 11:4)
Martha knew that Jesus was the “Son of God.” (John 11:27)
John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the “Son of God.” (John 1:34)
CONTEXT…APOSTLE PAUL KNEW THE SON OF GOD: The resurrected Jesus Christ appeared to the apostle Paul in vision and called him to preach the good news of God’s Kingdom. (Acts 9:3-20) The apostle Paul told the Corinthians that Jesus Christ was the “Son of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:19) By the power and direction of the Holy Spirit Paul declaired Jesus Christ to be the “Son of God.” (Romans 1:1, 4) He told the Galatians, “I live by the faith of the Son of God.” (Galatians 3:20) And to the Ephesians he urged “unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” (Ephesians 4:13) Paul told the Colossians, “we…thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for you.” (Colossians 1:3) (NSB) The apostle Paul told the Hebrews, “we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.” (Hebrews 4:14) (KJV)
CONTEXT…APOSTLE JOHN KNEW JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD: Did the apostle John not understand the simple statement of belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and NOT God? Did he not understand who Jesus Christ the Word was when he wrote the first verse of the Gospel of John, “the Word was God?” What about his letter at 1 John 4:15, “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (KJV) He knew the difference between the Almighty God and His Son, Jesus Christ. He clearly understood at the time he penned the first verse of the God-inspired book of Revelation.
APOSTLE JOHN KNEW THAT JESUS HAD A GOD: John was inspired to write Jesus' words at John 20:17 when he told Mary: "Go to my brothers, and say to them, I ascend to my Father and you’re Father, and my God and your God.” Did you get that? Jesus called God...his God! John was also inspired to write Jesus' words at Revelation 3:12, "'I will make the one who overcomes, a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is the New Jerusalem. This city comes down out of heaven from my God. I will write my new name on him." Jesus calls his heavenly Father, his God! No, Jesus Christ is not God...he is the Son of God.
“ THE REVELATION GOD GAVE TO JESUS CHRIST, so that he could tell his servants the things that must soon take place. Christ then sent his angel to communicate the symbolic message to his servant John.” (Revelation 1:1) (NSB) It was obvious to John at the time he wrote these words that Jesus and the congregation of believers were united in harmony with the Father. (John 14:10, 20) It was also obvious that God was in charge and that Jesus Christ was subservient to his Father. (John 14:28) (1 Corinthians 11:3) The entire context of the Holy Scriptures shows that John recognized Jesus Christ as the Son of God and not as God.
THE EMBLEMATIC LANGUAGE OF JOHN 1:1: When the apostle John wrote the first verse of his Gospel he was inspired to express a visible symbol for something very abstract…very abstract! He established three basic Biblical facts in that one verse: (1) The Word was alive in the beginning. (2) The Word was with God. (3) The Word was God. John attempted to explain these basic beliefs in the inspired Gospel of John, the three Letters of John, and the book of Revelation. The serious Bible student needs to study and meditate on all of the Bible books written by John in order to understand the Emblematic Language of John 1:1. The entire context of Johns writings show that Jesus Christ is the Son of God…NOT GOD!
What was John talking about when he wrote: “theos en ho logos” God was the Word? According to the context of the New Testament, he was talking about Jesus Christ (the Word) as a member of the God Family. Jesus was a divine spirit actively serving in heaven with his heavenly Father before he came to earth. He is a divine spirit now serving in heaven along side his heavenly Father.
“GOD-LIKE” EXPRESSES ACCURATE MEANING: The New Simplified Bible uses one of the other accurate meanings of the Greek word “theos,” Godly, God-like, or like God. This reference to Jesus Christ, the Word, as being God-like is fitting since he is a member of the God family and is therefore very much like his heavenly Father. It is in a relative sense that Jesus Christ could even be considered God. After all he is not his own Father and his Father truly is God.
THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST:
The debate continues… Is Jesus Christ deity? Or is he not deity? The following Biblical evidence proves that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, spiritually powerful like his Father, and very much qualified to be a deity! But GOD, not Jesus Christ, is the true Deity!
(1) Jesus Christ is a supernatural (spiritual) being. (1 Corinthians 10:4)
(2) He is divine. (Colossians 2:9)
(3) Jesus lives forever. (Revelation 11:15; 22:5)
(4) Jesus is a priest forever. (Hebrews 7:17, 21)
(5) Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Mark 13:32) (John 1:34) (1 John 5:12)
(6) After living as a man on earth, he is now at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55) (Hebrews 10:12)
(7) Like his Father, Jesus Christ is the Savior. (2 Samuel 22:2) (Isaiah 43:3) (2 Peter 1:11)
(8) Jesus and his Father are united in thought (purpose) and deed. (John 14:10; 17:21)
(9) Jesus Christ is second in command in the entire universe. (1 Corinthians 15:27)
(10) Jesus has a God. (John 20:17) (Revelation 3:12)
DEFINITION OF DEITY: The Word-Web Dictionary from Princeton University gives the following definition of deity: “Any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force.”
Is Jesus Christ God? NO! But using this definition Jesus could be considered a deity. That is why some call him “a god.” And he is truly “God-like” in his nature. (Philippians 2:5, 6) The Holy Scriptures clearly identify the position of Jesus Christ in heaven. He is second in command. GOD is first! (Hebrews 10:12, 13) (Colossians 3:1) (1 John 2:1)
JESUS CHRIST IS THE BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD: The Almighty God, Jehovah, begot Jesus. What God begets is God; just as what man begets is man. Everyone knows what the words begetting or begotten mean in modern English. The Websters Dictionary defines beget as the act of making children. To beget is to become the father of a child. When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself. A man begets human babies, a bear begets little bears, and a bird begets eggs which turn into little birds. Therefore when God begets he becomes the Father of a God-Son…or as the Bible states “the Son of God!” God is a spirit and therefore this is a spiritual proceess.
WILLIAM BARCLAY’S DAILY STUDY BIBLE 1964, JOHN 1:1: “(iii) Finally John says that the word was God This is a difficult saying for us to understand, and it is difficult because the Greek, in which John wrote, had a different way of saying things from the way in which English speaks. When Greek uses a noun it almost always uses the definite article with it. The Greek for God is theos G2316 and the definite article is ho G3588. When Greek speaks about God it does not simply say theos G2316; it says ho theos G2316. Now when Greek does not use the definite article with a noun that noun becomes much more like an adjective. John did not say that the word was ho G3588 theos G2316; that would have been to say that the word was identical with God. He said that the word was theos G2316--without the definite article--which means that the word was, we might say, of the very same character and quality and essence and being as God. When John said the word was God he was not saying that Jesus was identical with God; he was saying that Jesus was so perfectly the same as God in mind, in heart, in being that in him we perfectly see what God is like.” Did you get that? Barclay is saying that the word was like God just as a good son should be like his father!
• (New Simplified Bible) JOHN 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was like God (God-like). (Greek: Theos: a deity, a god, magistrate, supreme God, God-like).
The transliterated Greek of this verse looks like this:
En arche en ho logos kai ho logos
In beginning was the Word and the word
en pros ton theon kai theos en ho logos
was with the God and God-like was the Word
The New Simplified Bible is a non-Trinitarian Bible translation. The New Simplified Bible is completely independent of any Bible publishing society. It is therefore not influenced by any religious organization.
 NSB 'OLD TESTAMENT' |
| NSB 'NEW TESTAMENT' |
| Home Page |
| Site Map and Languages |
| New Simplified BibleYahwist Version |
Yahoo Quick Search
Send E-Mail to: simplifiedbible@mail.comThis page created using the webpage creation facilities of Webspawner.
Copyright © 2009 New Simplified Bible. All Rights Reserved