Steve Ray writes: John 1:1 to fit their heretical teaching? Their New World Translation renders this verse: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”
Now, did they translate this passage based of objective scholarship or based on their bias and tradition? No! It is well known that in the original Greek text there is no article “a” in John 1:1. It is literally “and the Word was God”—without the article “a”.
Reply: Do you see what Steve Ray did here? He stated "that in the original Greek text there is no article 'a' in John 1:1."
What he did not write was that the indefinite article "a" is not in the original Greek in ANY Scripture. The Greek simply does not have an indefinite article AT ALL, so it is up to English translators to do add it for clarity.
Steve Ray is Catholic and the Catholic New American Bible New Testament has the indefinite article "a" in 1684 verses.
The Catholic New Jerusalem Bible New Testament has the indefinite article "a" in 1804 verses.
The Revised Standard Version New Testament has the indefinite article "a" in 1641 verses.
The construction in question at John 1:1c is a pre-verbal anarthrous predicate nominative.
The Gospel of John has other instances of pre-verbal anarthrous predicate nominatives, and even Catholic Bibles translate these with an indefinite "a." For instance:
John 4:19 has PROFHTHS EI SU which translates to: "you are a prophet." NAB
John 6:70 has DIABOLOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a devil." NJB
John 8:34 has DOULOS ESTIN which translates to: "is a slave." RSV
John 8:44 has ANQRWPOKTONOS HN which translates to "a murderer." RSV
John 8:44 has EUSTHS ESTIN which translates to "he is a liar." RSV
John 8:48 has SAMARITHS EI SU which translates to "you are a Samaritan." RSV
John 9:8 has PROSAITHS HN which translates to "as a beggar." NAB
John 9:17 has PROFTHS ESTIN which translates to "He is a prophet." NAB
John 9:24 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "is a sinner." NAB
John 9:25 has hAMARTWLOS ESTIN which translates to "he is a sinner." NAB
John 10:1 has KLEPTHS ESTIN which translates to "is a thief" NJB
John 10:13 has MISQWTOS ESTIN which translates to "a hired man." NJB
John 12:6 has KLEPTHS HN which translates to "he was a thief." RSV
John 18:35 has MHTI EGO IOUDAIOS EIMI which translates to "I am not a Jew, am I?" NAB
John 18:37 has BASILEUS EI SU which translates to "Then you are a king?" NAB
John 18:37 also has BASILEUS EIMI EGW which translates to "I am a king." NAB
So adding the "a" makes sense and is in accordance with good Greek usage. In fact, since John 1:1 has the Word "with the God" in Greek, it only makes sense that the Word cannot be the same God he is "with." So John 1:1 in the New World Translation is not a biased translation, it is simply a superior one.
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