Gospel of John Prologue

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I have a question about the first verse of John. I read an article on the net, but unfortunately cannot find it again. It was basically saying that the Greek for the third part of the first verse; “and the Word was God” is actually saying “a God” rather than just “God”. Needless to say the angle of the article was to disprove the divinity of Jesus, or at least that He is the second Person of the Trinity (think it had Him down as first born of creation or an angelic being of some kind).

If my memory serves me right, the article said that “ton theon” means “God”
and that just “theos” means “a God”

I have only a miniscule knowledge of ancient Greek, but know enough to know that the grammar rules are nothing like those of modern day European languages. As I am writing an assignment on the matter it would be useful to have an authoritative source on the meaning of the ancient Greek. I have no doubts that it means what every Bible I know translates it as, ie. simply “God”. But I need some authority to back up my statements.

Can anybody direct me?
Thanks
 
Thanks Nita, that is just what I am looking for. You may be right about it being by a JW too when I think about it. At least I can write my assignment with complete confidence, and I have the answer when they come knocking on my door! 🙂
Liz
 
LizS said:
I have a question about the first verse of John. I read an article on the net, but unfortunately cannot find it again. It was basically saying that the Greek for the third part of the first verse; “and the Word was God” is actually saying “a God” rather than just “God”. Needless to say the angle of the article was to disprove the divinity of Jesus, or at least that He is the second Person of the Trinity (think it had Him down as first born of creation or an angelic being of some kind).
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More than likely it was a ‘watch tower’ (or for the layman jehova’s witness) article. John 1:1 for them reads “In the begining was God, and the Word was with God, and the word was a god.” that is straight from their ‘new world translation’ which is a re-translated errounious edition of the Bible that was made in the mid 20th century by a board of JWs, 4 of which had no Bible Languages training, and 1 of which was self taught in Hebrew and only took 2 years of NON-Bibical Greek. in short this translation of the Bible was made to suit the needs of the JW cult.

the correct translation of John 1:1 from the latin vulgate is

[BIBLEDRB]John 1:1[/BIBLEDRB]
 
This is probably from either Jehovah’s witnesses or Mormons; both of whom have reinterpreted the first verse of John’s Gospel.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Virtually every biblical scholar and theologian and linguists confirms that it says, ‘The Word was God.’ Recent protestant/gnostic groups somewhat ‘rewrite’ scripture to ‘prove’ their ideals.
 
Hi and thanks for your replies. I am not at all worried, I just wanted an authoritative source to quote in an assignment on the meaning of the ancient greek. Just knowing how nearly all Bibles/scholars translate it isnt enough on its own for an assignment. I have to back up what I say. I think the two sources quoted by Nita are sufficient for my needs though.

Thanks again
Liz
 
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