I haven't read every post yet. I will go back and do that after I post this. Sorry for the length.
Greetings Joseph. Nice to 'see' you again. I am very grateful for your help in the past in my transition from WT land. I enjoy reading your posts.
The following is an essay that I wrote some time ago as I was trying to make sense of John 1:1. I call it
The Promise
In the beginning the promise was spoken, "I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel." Genesis 3:15 NJB
The disruption of the order of things on earth would be corrected. The rebellion of Satan would be neutralized. God had spoken; Jehovah-Jireh (Jehovah will see to it). "'Blessed be Yahweh,' [Solomon] said, 'who has granted rest to his people Israel, keeping all his promises. Of all the promises of good that he made through his servant Moses, not one has failed.'" 1 Kings 8:56 NJB
The promise was made to Abraham. The promise of a seed, the promise that through that seed a great nation would arise, kings would be born, all nations would bless themselves. And furthermore Abraham's offspring would be given land; the very land he dwelled in as an alien. Gen 17:2, Gen 22:17, Gen 26:3-5
Each time the promise was given, first to Abraham then to Isaac, the inference was that a seed from them would arise to bless all the peoples of the earth.
Abraham's offspring were given the land. "Faithful to his sacred promise, given to his servant Abraham, he led out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy. He gave them the territories of nations, they reaped the fruit of other peoples labours." Psalm 105:42-44
In time Zechariah, father to John the baptizer, could prophesy, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited his people, he has set them free, .......... and show faithful love to our ancestors, and so keep in mind his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham." Luke 1:68,72,73
What Jehovah promises he carries out. His word is his bond. What he says comes to pass.
The Hebrew word dabar according to Strongs #1697 is a word; by imp. a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adv. a cause. Jehovah causes to become. What he says becomes reality.
In the beginning- "And God proceeded to say: 'Let light come to be.' Then there came to be light." Gen 1:3 Each time it is reported in Genesis that Jehovah says this or that would be done, it came to pass. At his word there came to be light, waters, dry land, day & night, vegetation, animals and finally man.
Jehovah promised, gave his word, that Abraham's seed would come and the nations would be blessed. The promise was at long last flesh and his name was called Jesus. "The word [of God] became flesh, he lived among us, we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as [the] only son of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 NJB
In the style of the Genesis account, And God proceeded to say, "Let the Messiah come to be." And there came to be the Messiah.
In the beginning the word was spoken and throughout the ages the word continued to be in the heart and mind of God, not forgotten. In fact it could be said that since the thing spoken in the beginning was such a sure thing and it was of such importance to him, that God was the word. Just as it can be said that, "God is love." and that "..God is light" 1 John 4:8, 1 John 1:5
Benjamin Wilson wrote The Emphatic Diaglott, an interlinear Greek to English translation. I personally feel that it is one of the best. He trusted the International Bible Students Association Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to publish it in 1942. Probably he hoped that it would become widely distributed. Foolish man. (Sorry I digress.)
Using Mr Wilson's translation I present for your thoughtful consideration John 1:1. (he left 'logos' untranslated, I used 'word' in its place)
"In the beginning was the [word], and the [word] was with God, and God was the [word]. This was in the beginning with God. Through it everything was done; and without it not even one thing was done, which has been done. In it was life; and life was the light of men. And the light shone in the darkness and the darkness apprehended it not."
John 1:14 reads "And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, - and we beheld his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten from a father, - full of favor and truth."
Two simple things are different in this translation. The capital 'W' is not there and the Greek particle 'autos' is translated 'it' instead of 'him.' There is no justification for the 'W' or the 'him' except preconceived opinion and belief. An enormous amount of misunderstandings and arguments have been caused by those two small differences!
Mr Wilson translates 1 John 1:1,2 in this way, "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands felt, concerning the word of life; - and the life was made manifest, (made visible NJB) and what we have seen, we also testify, and declare to you the aionian (eternal NJB) life, which was with the father, and was manifest to us; ..." Nobody capitalizes Life as though it is a person.
Back to John 1:1: "and God was the word." - past tense. God was the word, the word became flesh. The manifestation of the promise of God was the man, Jesus, the promised Messiah. His life course was a perfect reflection of the Father so that he could declare that, "He that has seen me has seen the Father." John 14:9
When the rider on the white horse shepherds the nations with a rod of iron in the book of Revelation chapter 19 we are told that he has a name written that only he knows "and he is arrayed with an outer garment sprinkled with blood, and the name he is called is The Word of God." ( 'is' present tense) Here we are definitely told that The Word is a name of a person. What the King of kings declares is the same as if it were declared by the Father. By his word, things happen. He has that authority given to him by the Father.
Loris
