Michael-Grams: M-G: 3.31.20 // The Historical Controversy Concerning the New World Translation of John 1:1c

The Word was God

Whenever I am reminded of the JWs1 error of John 1:1, I immediately think of this passage of Scripture Jesus said to the Jews,

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins (Jn 8:24).

In addition, this verse comes to mind by the Apostle John,

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son (1 Jn 2:22).

The JW interpretation of John 1:1c in their New World Translation can only be described as dishonest and willfully deceiving its members. It is driven by a theological bias that Jesus Christ is not God! Their faulty reasoning is that since there is no definite article “the” preceding the noun theos (God) in the clause and the Word was God (Jn1:1c, NKJV), then they create a novel Greek rule, driven by their theological bias, that God is an indefinite noun requiring an indefinite article, “a!”

Essentially, JWs are taking a definitive reference to God and muddying up His identity by inserting the article “a.” That little “a” by the JWs and the lower case on “god” tells the world that they do not believe that Jesus Christ is God! They think of Him as “a god,” but not Jehovah.

Therefore, they wrongly translate θεος ην ο λογος as “and the Word was a god” (Jn 1:1c, New World Translation, my emphasis). I charge this cult parading in Christian vestures of blasphemy and intentional dishonesty because of their unorthodox view of Jesus Christ is no secret to anyone, and Greek grammar is not locked away in a vault available only to the Ecclesiastics.

I like what this one commentator said in quoting another about the word theos (God). Theos does not become “an adjective when it sheds its article.” JWs strip it from a noun to merely an adjective. Here is the truth; the presence of the definite article (the) emphasizes identity. The absence of the article underlines quality (A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, Dana & Mantey).

If someone dies without Christ, we don’t say that he or she is going to the hell, or if someone dies in Christ we don’t say that he or she is going to the heaven; it is understood that the definite article (the) is not needed because the identity is known or understood by everyone. It is understood that there is but one hell and one heaven. There are four examples that happen to be in chapter one on the deity of Christ: Jn 1, Rom 1, Col 1, and Heb 1. Those references are apparently ignored by the JWs elite.

The English language has a definite article (the) and an indefinite article (a), but the Greek does not have an indefinite article (a or an), but it does make use of indefinite pronouns as an adjective like tis; e.g., Mk 14:51, a certain [tis] young man; Lk 8:27, a certain [tis] man; Luke 11:1, a certain [tis] place, et al.). However, under inspiration, the Apostle John did not refer to the Word (Logos) as a lesser god or “a god.”

It is crystal clear that John is referring to the Logos (Word) as the only true God, the eternal pre-existent Creator. It would be theologically incorrect to equate the Father with the Word and denying that the Son and the Father are two separate persons. Theos (God, predicate nominative) is describing the nature of the subject, the Word (Logos), revealing with great precision that Jesus is the same essence as the Father.

Often in the Greek language, a word is taken out of its normal structure to bring emphasis on it by placing it at the beginning of a sentence or when the predicate precedes the subject. We don’t see this arrangement in our translation, and the Word was God (NKJV), but in the Greek, theos (God) is at the forefront of the sentence: θεος ην ο λογος or God was the Word. The emphasis is on theos.

We cannot translate the arrangement in English exactly as it is structured in Greek, God was the Word, without destroying the idea of the Trinity (cf. Gn 1:26). Again, John is only doing this for emphasis on the quality of the Word (Logos). It is understood that the subject in this clause is the Word, and was God is the predicate.

The definite article (the) before Word (Logos) tells us that it is the subject. The predicate (God was) at the beginning was to inform us that this Logos (Word) was in fact God in essence and nature, and since theos (God) is without the definite article (the), it also indicates that there is a distinction between the Logos (Word) and God the Father. That distinction is they are not the same person, but they are of the same essence and have the same nature.

This traditional interpretation directly opposes the teaching of the JWs, revealing that they are intentionally violating historical Greek grammar and molding the meaning to fit their errant theology. Logically speaking, “a god” translation would suggest a hint of polytheism in their theology, not monotheism.

Also, let’s not forget the context of John that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God. The Jews, who were not born again, understood exactly what Jesus meant. They were desirous to take Jesus to a rock concert for blasphemy (John 5:16-18; 8:56-59; 10:24-33; 14:6; 1 Jn 5:20).

This is why they got so livid and angry with Jesus because He claimed by His works and words that He was deity and shared equality with the Father. There is only one unmistakable conclusion concerning John’s 1:1 statement; it is one of the clearest declarations of the deity of Jesus Christ. The devil knows this which is why he has the JWs muddy it up as agents of the evil one.

To show you they are inconsistent with their interpretation, in the very context of John 1, the word “God” (theos) is used 12 times. In 5 (including Jn 1:1) of those 12 occurrences, theos does not have a definite article. JWs intentionally tampered with the first one at Jn 1:1c, but they ignored to apply their concocted Greek rule of inserting an indefinite article (a) before a noun considered indefinite because the definite article is missing in Jn 1:6, 12, 13, 18. So much for consistency, eh?

I have in my library a KJV Bible published by the Watchtower Society that just so happens to be a pristine copy of the KJV without any signs of tampering with the translation of the Received Text [RT]. For example, John 1:1c is translated correctly – And the Word was God. Their theology has always been faulty, unstable, and intellectually dishonest. It doesn’t matter to them that their intentional error and deceit had been refuted by many reputable scholars; read their current presentation of John 1:1 online,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”2

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven (Mt 7:21).

He said to them, But who do you say that I am (Mt 16:15)? <><