Invariably Trinitarians point to John 1:1-3 as the key passage in their defense of Jesus’ deity and by extension, the doctrine of the Trinity. This article begins a multi-part treatment of John’s prologue in which we will compare what his Jewish contemporaries would have understood it to mean versus how Trinitarian scholars translated it centuries later.   

Begin With the End in Mind

One of the habits Steven Covey wrote about in his popular book,  7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is that we should, “Begin with the end in mind.” In other words, knowing what you want to achieve will help you know where to begin.  In our quest to rightly interpret John chapter 1, we’ll need to begin with John’s end in mind.  What was the “end” or the conclusion John wanted his readers to reach about Jesus and his ministry?  What was the purpose for which he wrote his gospel?  This is important because the beginning of John’s gospel should be in keeping with the end; there should be a continuity of message.

The Jewish Mind

In his summary statement, John presents the purpose for which he wrote his account of Jesus’ life and ministry:

John 20:30-31 (NASB) Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (emphasis added)

Note that John did not say that the purpose of his gospel was so that we might know that Jesus is God. He could have stated that plainly if that were the case, but he didn’t.  After all, the revelation that Jesus was God would have been of greater importance than that of his being Messiah.  Rather, John says the very reason he penned his account was so that we might know and believe that Jesus was the Christ, the one anointed by God to be king.  As we learned in Son of God: Proof of Jesus’ Deity?, the title Son of God was not a designation of divinity, but was a synonym for the Christ (Messiah) and King of Israel.[1] Yet somehow the gospel of John has come to be seen as the gospel that reveals the deity of Jesus.  Why the discrepancy between John’s statement of purpose and the one later ascribed to him?  We’ll see in a subsequent post in this series that the Church fathers, steeped in Platonic philosophy, infused their interpretation of Scripture with Greek thought, thus displacing the very Hebraic framework in which the gospel of John was written.  This first post, however, will examine John 1:1 as we explore how John’s first century readers would have understood the text. In order to do that, we must begin with John’s end in mind, otherwise we’ll end up forcing the text into a preconceived Platonic mold.

John’s Prologue

John 1:1-3 (NASB)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²  He was in the beginning with God. ³  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Many point to this passage as proof that Jesus pre-existed as God in heaven.  However, it would seem that such a profound truth, indeed the very cornerstone of Christianity–that God came to earth clothed in humanity–would be stated plainly and repeatedly in Scripture.  Shockingly, however, the Gospel of John is the only book of the Bible that purportedly speaks of Jesus’ pre-existence as the pre-incarnated Word. The absence of such a crucial detail should cause us concern especially since the Athanasian Creed (ca 500 AD), which many denominations uphold, states emphatically that if you don’t believe Jesus pre-existed and later became God-incarnate, you can’t be saved.  How can man’s creed state emphatically that which Scripture does not?

Grammatical Considerations

There are three grammatical considerations to take into account when examining John 1:1.  In the process of our examination we’ll see evidence of the translators’ biases emerge.  The grammatical considerations we’ll cover are:

1. The use of capitalization
2. The use of personal pronouns
3. The treatment of a descriptive noun

The Use of Capitalization

Note in the following verse that “word” has been capitalized by the translators.

John 1:1 (NASB)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (emphasis added)

The Greek language at the time in which the New Testament manuscripts were written consisted of all capital letters, uniform in size so that one letter did not stand out from another.[2]  Moreover, as we shall see, there is nothing in the context that would indicate “word” to be a proper noun thereby requiring the translators to capitalize it.  This fact is evidenced by the numerous Bible versions that translate “word” with a lower case “w.”  Why then do the modern translations capitalize “word?”  It was done so as to give the reader the impression that the “word” is a proper noun, in particular, a pre-incarnate Jesus. 

What does “Word” mean?

“Word” in Greek is logos and it has a variety of meanings.  For example, logos can mean: word, speech, utterance, analogy, account, commandment, statement, matter, message, reason, plan, intelligence, discourse, saying and things. These and other meanings can each be categorized under one of two headings: logic/reason (what the Old Testament refers to as wisdom) or speech/word. 

Logos is often said to be a word embodying an idea or thoughts expressed in words.[3] A thought is whatever is in the heart or mind of a person, including one’s reason, plans and purposes, etc.  When God spoke Creation into being, His thoughts about Creation, His plans, ideas and purposes for the world were made manifest[4]. For example:

Genesis 1:3 (NASB)  Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (emphasis added)

Psalm 33:6 and 9 (NASB)  By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host…⁹  For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.  (emphasis added)

 Hebrews 11:3 (NASB) By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. (emphasis added)

The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon speaks to this when it says:

 A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This word was well suited to John’s purpose in John 1.[5]  (emphasis added)

Logos as a person?

The word logos occurs 331 times in the New Testament.  Its Hebrew equivalent, dabar (also davar), occurs 1,450 times in the Old Testament for a combined total of 1,781 times in Scripture.  Neither logos or dabar carry the definition of “a person” or “a being,” instead all definitions fall under either logic/reason or word/speech.  Translators, however, made an exception for John’s prologue when they deviated from all of the other approximately 1,800 occurrences by capitalizing the “w” in “word,” thus leading the reader to believe that the logos of God is a pre-existent person.  This is an example of the translators’ bias.

What John 1:1 says and what it does not say

Let’s apply what we’ve learned about logos to the text at hand.   

John 1:1  In the beginning was the logos (the logic, reason, wisdom, plan, purpose, ideas and thoughts expressed) of God.  It was this logic, wisdom, plan, etc. that was with God…

Any Jews hearing the words, “In the beginning…” would have immediately recalled the Genesis account where God spoke and His idea or plan for Creation was made manifest.  Like John, Peter employs this idea in his second epistle:

2 Peter 3:5 (NASB) For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word (logos) of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water  (emphasis added)

As important as it is to know what John 1:1 says, it’s also important to know what it does not say.  The text does not say, “In the beginning was the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was God.” Neither does it say “In the beginning was God the Son, and God the Son was with God, and God the Son was God” (which would be redundant). Further, it does not say, “In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God.”  In spite of this, we have been taught, with the help of biased translators, to read the text with these substitutions.  Something that Dr. Colin Brown, senior professor of systematic theology at Fuller Seminary, says is a “patent misreading” of the text:

It is a common but patent misreading of the opening of John’s Gospel to read it as if it said: In the beginning was the Son and the Son was with God and the Son was God. What has happened here is the substitution of Son for Word, and thereby the Son is made a member of the Godhead which existed from the beginning.[6]

John 1:1 isn’t the only time John referenced the Genesis account

John 1:1 isn’t the only time the apostle referenced the Genesis account in his writings.  We find the opening to his first epistle is a mirror image of his gospel’s prologue.  This parallel is important because by looking at his epistle we can gain insight into what John meant when he used “word” or logos in John 1.  As you read the following, notice how many times John uses “what” when referring to the “word” or logos.

 1 John 1:1-4 (NASB) What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word [logos] of Life—²  and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³  what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ⁴  These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. (emphasis added)

In 1 John 1:1 the apostle writes “in the beginning,” echoing the theme of Genesis 1 and his gospel’s prologue. Pay careful attention to the fact that the “word (logos) of life” is called a “what” five times and not a “who.”  John says, “what was from the beginning” not “Who was from the beginning.”  For John, the “word” (logos) is a “what” and not a pre-existent divine being.  Let’s apply this to the text.

 John 1:1 and 14 (NASB) In the beginning was the Word (of life), and the Word (of life) was with God, and the Word (of life) was God…(verse 14) And the Word (of life) became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Just as God spoke His word (His thoughts, plan, ideas, purposes, wisdom, etc.) and it brought forth life at Creation, in like manner, God spoke His redemptive plan (logos) into being. God’s word was made manifest.  His plan came to life in the person of Jesus Christ.  Another way to say it would be, “In the beginning was the plan of God, and the plan of God was with God, and the plan of God was God (everything that God was the plan was).”  Our ideas, words, etc., are an expression of who we are and what we think as the author of Proverbs illustrates:

Proverbs 23:7a  (NASB) For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

In addition to John, Paul provides us another example of God’s word being manifested or made known  in the person of Jesus:

Titus 1:1-4 (NASB) Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, ²  in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, ³  but at the proper time manifested, even His word [logos], in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, ⁴  To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (emphasis added)[7]

Notice that Paul differentiates between God, who is the Father, and Jesus, who is the Christ (the anointed one).  What was it that God promised long ago?  Eternal life or the hope of eternal life.  According to the text, what was manifested?  God’s word, that is the word of eternal life.  Paul and others proclaimed this word of life.  The promise was made, then the promise was manifested at the proper time in the person of Jesus Christ.

Once more, the apostle John writes of the idea that God’s word was manifested or made known in Jesus when he says:

Revelation 19:13  He [Jesus] is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. (emphasis added)

It doesn’t say “His name is God” or His name is “God the Word,” rather, His name is “the Word of God.” This is appropriate since Jesus is the embodiment of God’s wisdom and plan for mankind. 

James Dunn, Trinitarian theologian and author who specializes in New Testament Christology, agrees:

 “Initially at least, Christ was not thought of as a divine being who had pre-existed with [YEHOVAH] God but as the climactic embodiment of God’s power and purpose — his life, death and resurrection understood in terms of God Himself reaching out to men. Christ was identified not with some heavenly redeemer figure but with God’s creative wisdom, God’s redemptive purpose, God’s revelatory word expressed in a final way that made the Christ-event the normative definition of divine wisdom and revelation — God’s clearest self-expression, God’s last word.[8] (emphasis added)

In other words, the early Church did not see Jesus as having pre-existed in heaven as God-the-Word, rather, Jesus was seen as the embodiment of God’s wisdom, power and purpose. 

Summary of Textual Consideration #1

“Word” or logos in John 1:1 does not refer to a pre-existent person, rather it speaks of the wisdom, ideas, thoughts, plans and purposes that were in the mind of God and were expressed or manifested in Jesus.  There are Biblical texts that support this understanding.  Indeed, scholars will attest to the fact that this is how John, who was Jewish, would have meant it and how his Jewish audience would have understood it.  Unfortunately, modern day translators have obscured the meaning from us by capitalizing the “w” in “word” causing us to believe that the “Word” of God was a pre-existing version of Jesus.

Next: Part 2:  John 1:1 The Jewish Mind vs The Translators’ Bias

[1] John 1:41, 49 

[2] “An Introduction to the Biblical Greek Alphabet,” Zondervan Academic Blog, January 1st, 2018. accessed 4-18-19, https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/biblical-greek-alphabet/

[3] The New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible gives the definition of logos as, “a word (as embodying an idea), a statement, a speech.”

[4] Psalm 148:5; 2 Peter 3:5

[5] “Logos,” The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, Bible Study Tools, accessed 4-19-19 https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/logos.html

[6] Colin Brown, “Trinity and Incarnation: In Search of Contemporary Orthodoxy,” Ex Auditu (7), 1991, p. 88-89

[7] In this text both God the Father and Jesus Messiah are rightly called “savior” because God saved us through His Messiah. See John 3:17.  Also God saved Israel through King David in 2 Sam 3:18. Examples of how God saves through the agency of men: Judges 3:31; 6;11; 10:1; 2 Sam 19:9; 2 Kings 14:27. 

[8] James D.G. Dunn, Christology in the Making, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s, 1989), p. 262.