John Roberts (John 1:1)

 

John,

I have expressed my appreciation for your classes on more than one occasion, and I want to begin by reiterating that appreciation. I have benefited from them and value the opportunity to participate in the discussions.

Unfortunately, perhaps either because my comment was inartfully phrased or I may have misunderstood your response, I left class concerned that our discussion may have given those in attendance the impression that Charles Taze Russell’s translation of John 1:1c, as reflected in the New World Translation, is correct; namely, “the Word was a god.”

The specific issue I intended to raise concerned the Greek construction kai ho logos eimi theos.

Although I am not sufficiently knowledgeable in either Koine or modern Greek to claim certainty regarding all the grammatical issues involved, I do have some familiarity with the use of articles. I understood you to say that Greek does not have definite articles. I suspect, however, that you may have meant that the noun theos is anarthrous in John 1:1c (viz., that it appears without the antecedent definite article).

If so, I do not believe it was clearly established during the discussion that the absence of the article before θεός cannot, by itself, legitimately support translating the verse, “the Word was a god.” My understanding is that John 1:1 simultaneously expresses both distinction and deity: “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The Greek construction more naturally communicates something along these lines: The Word was distinct from the God with whom He existed, yet the Word was Himself fully and truly theos, possessing the divine nature.

I realize, of course, that class time is limited, and I readily acknowledge the possibility that I misunderstood either your statement or the context in which it was made. If the session was recorded, perhaps reviewing that portion of the discussion would help determine whether there was a misunderstanding.

Because of the technical nature of this subject and because I did not want to create unnecessary confusion or prolong the discussion during class, I thought it would be better to raise the matter with you in this manner. If you would care to discuss it further, I would be very happy to do so.

 

SDG,

Tom Rhudy