The Qualitative Θεός Of John 1:1c
By Bro. Nathan
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Jn. 1:1) NKJV
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (NA28)
Ang John 1:1 ay ang Isa sa mga pinakafamous na passages sa Greek New Testament, which is known as the start ng prologue ng Gospel of John which is the prologue deals with the deity of Christ. We know na in John 1:1 ay na :
1. Ang λόγος (Logos) which is rendered as "self expression" ay isang given na title para Kay Jesus Christ (cf. Rev. 19:13) which shows His role bilang isang Mediator between God and man and as God's representative here on earth. It is through Christ that Heavenly Father expresses Himself to us (Jn. 1:18; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:1-3)
2. That Jesus is eternal and was pre-existed as shown ng usage ng Greek preposition na προς (pros) sa second clause ng passage, which shows intimate relationship or the presence of someone. thus Jesus is with God before the world was created.
3. That what God was, Jesus was. Jesus is deity according to the third clause.
How About The Third
Clause?
The third clause reads καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (kai Theos en o logos) which is often translated ng mga majority ng Bible translations as "the Word was God", which can pretty be confusing to some readers.
1. Some would understand is as na magkapareho daw na persons si Jesus at ang τον Θεόν (ton Theon) sa second clause na nagpapakita ng isang modalistic na concept (v.s the distinction between the λόγος and the τον Θεόν in Jn. 1:1b)
2. Na si Jesus ay isang co-equal with the τον Θεόν resulting to a Trinitarian being
We should first alamin yung grammar ng passage. First, ang word na Θεός sa passage ay nasa isang nominative case at ang Θεόν naman however ay nasa isang accusative case. Showing the difference between the cases, we learn na ang Θεόν ay isang direct object samantalang ang Θεός ay isang subject. In here ay pinapakita ni John ang qualities ng λόγος. Grammatically, kapag ang isang definite nominative predicate (hindi noun) ay nasusundan ang isang verb ay wala itong article. It is before a verb since about qualities ang pinopoint out dito ng writer—thus makes it a qualitative (cf. πνεύμα ο θεος ng Jn. 4:24). Possible translations nito can be the following :
Or the REB/NEB translates this as the following which catches the sense of the passage :
3. “WHEN ALL THINGS BEGAN, the Word already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was.” (Jn. 1:1) REB/NEB
Does This Make Jesus Not God
In Nature?
No. First, sinabi ni Philip Harner :
John could have worded this in five ways:
A (ο λογος ην ο θεος), "would mean that logos and theos are equivalent and interchangeable"
D: "would probably mean that the logos was a god or divine being of some kind, belonging to the general category of theos, but as a distinct being from ho theos"
"John evidently wished to say something about the logos that was other than A and more than D and E" (Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns : Mark 15:39 and John 1:1 : pg. 77-85)
Even na maitranslate ang third clause bilang "Divine", ang Divine naman however should be noted na justified as long as it is applied to real deity (see Dan Wallace : Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics). The verse shows us na ang λόγος possesses the same nature possessing by the Father (τον Θεόν), thus "What God was, The Word was"
“But the English language is not as versatile at this point as Greek, and we can avoid misunderstanding the English phrase only if we are aware of the particular force of the Greek expression that it represents.” (Journal of Biblical Literature : March 1973)
"John evidently wished to say that the logos [“word”] was no less than theos, just as ho theos (by implication) had the nature of theos.” (ibid. Footnote)
