Jehovah's Witnesses and John 1:1
By J. Neil Daniel The New World Translation (NWT), used by Jehovah's Witnesses, translates John 1:1 differently than most traditional English Bibles. The traditional rendering of this verse is: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." However, the NWT translates the verse as: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.'' This translation has been criticized for reflecting the Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrinal beliefs more than the original Greek text. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus (referred to as "the Word" in John 1:1) is a created being and not co-equal with God the Father (as well as God the Holy Spirit), which contrasts with biblical and historical Christian belief in the deity of Christ. The controversy centers on the translation of the Greek phrase "καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος" (kai theos ēn ho logos). The NWT translates this as "and the Word was a god," using the indefinite article "a" which does not exist in the Greek text. The NWT's translation is problematic because it implies polytheism (the belief in multiple gods) which is inconsistent with the monotheistic context of both the Old and New Testaments (Deu. 6:4; Isa. 43:10; 1 Cor. 8:6; 1 Tim. 2:5). Further, critics argue that this is a mistranslation, asserting that the phrase should be translated as "and the Word was God," affirming the full deity of Christ. The argument from Greek grammar for the traditional translation of John 1:1 as "and the Word was God" centers on the use and absence of the definite article in the Greek text. In Greek, the subject of a sentence is often indicated by the article, and the predicate nominative (the complement of the subject) lacks the article to show that it is describing the nature or essence of the subject. In John 1:1, "the Word" (ho logos) has the article, indicating that it is the subject, while "God" (theos) lacks the article, which suggests that it is the predicate nominative describing the nature of the Word. Greek scholars generally agree that the absence of the article before theos (God) in the phrase "καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος" (kai theos ēn ho logos) does not make the term indefinite (as in "a god") but qualitative, conveying the nature or essence of the Word. This grammatical structure is used to emphasize that the Word (Logos) shares the same nature as God without equating the Word as the totality of God, which would be implied if the definite article were used before theos. The argument from the Greek text rests upon a rule formulated in 1933 by E. C. Colwell. Colwell's rule states that a definite predicate nominative does not require the article when it precedes the verb, as is the case in John 1:1. This means that in Greek, when a predicate nominative (a noun that follows a linking verb and refers back to the subject) comes before the verb and is intended to be understood as definite, it often does not have the definite article "the" associated with it. In Colwell's own words, ''…predicate nouns preceding the verb cannot be regarded as indefinite or qualitative simply because they lack the article; it could be regarded as indefinite or qualitative only if this is demanded by the context and in the case of John 1:1c this is not so.”(“A Definite Rule for the Use of the Article in the Greek New Testament,” Journal of Biblical Literature 52 [1933]: 20). Colwell's research, vindicated by Daniel Wallace and others, showed that this grammatical construction was common and that the absence of the article did not make the predicate nominative indefinite (as in "a god") but rather qualitative, emphasizing the nature or essence of the subject. This rule supports the translation "and the Word was God," indicating that the Word has the same nature as God, rather than being a separate, lesser deity. In summary, critics argue that the NWT's translation of John 1:1 is influenced by the Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrinal stance, rather than being a faithful rendering of the original Greek text. The Greek grammar of John 1:1 supports the translation "and the Word was God" because the absence of the definite article before theos is a common way to express a predicate nominative that describes the essence or nature of the subject, in this case, affirming the deity of the Word without equating the Word as being the Father or the totality of God.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
The six-twelve blogAll blog posts and articles are written by the team at Six-Twelve Ministries.
Feel free to share and quote any blog post or article with proper credit given. Soli Deo gloria! Archives
February 2024
Categories |