“In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
                                                                                                --John
1:1

John 1:1 is often used to make one
of the most compelling cases for the deity of Christ. However, between
Christians and some other religious groups (i.e. the Jehovah’s Witnesses), this
verse is the cause of great debate.
Believing Christ to have existed as
the archangel, Michael, before His incarnation, the Watchtower Society (in the
New World Translation) translates this verse differently. Their version reads,
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a
god.” The difference in meaning is unmistakable. And the JW’s maintain that
their version is correct, based on the Greek language.
Here is where the discussion gets a
little technical, but I ask you to bear with me. The word of God instructs us
to be prepared to give a ready defense to those who question our faith. What I
want to do in this entry is prepare you to give a ready defense, should you
ever find yourself in discussion with a Jehovah’s Witness (or anyone else)
concerning this verse.
The controversy centers around the
use of the definite and indefinite articles. What is a definite or indefinite
article? I’m glad you asked. Rather than trying to explain, let me give you a
couple of examples.
Sentence: George Bush lives in the
White House.
Sentence: My friend, Jake lives in
a white house.
Did you notice the difference? The
first sentence makes use of the definite article, “the.” The second sentence
makes use of the indefinite article, “a.” Obviously, in the second sentence,
you have no idea where my friend Jake lives. It does not specify any particular
house in which he lives. All you know is that his house is white. In the first
sentence, you know exactly where George Bush lives. He lives in Washington, D.C.,
in the house designated as the home of the President, which is known as the
White House.
Now, in the Greek language, there
is no indefinite article. Only the definite article is used. Therefore, in
verses where the indefinite article appears (in modern translations) the
context of the verse indicates whether or not the indefinite article should be
used. For example, Matthew 8:2 speaks of “a leper” who came to Jesus for
cleansing. In Greek, “leper” is used by itself. It is the context of the
passage, as well as rules of English Grammar, that tells us it was “a leper”,
as opposed to, perhaps, “the leper.” And, of course, in English. “And leper
came to Him” is very poor grammar.
Now, concerning John 1:1, the
definite article appears with “Word,” rendering “the Word.” However, it does
not appear with “God.” And herein is the basis of the JW’s argument. They claim
that the absence of the definite article implies the presence of the indefinite
article. Hence, their rendering; “the word was a god.”
However, in his widely used text on
Biblical Greek, Dr. Bill Mounce explains why this is not so. To begin with, the
order of a sentence in English Grammar is:
Subject – Verb – Object.  In Greek, this is not necessarily so. The subject of a sentence may come
at the beginning of a sentence, or it may come at the end of a sentence. It
depends on what the writer is intending to emphasize.
I wish I could give you this full
explanation in one entry. However, I am doing what I can to maintain my
one-page limit for each entry. so I have to ask you to hold that thought for
next time. If need be, you might want to save this and the next entry, and then
read them together if you think that will help.

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