Showing posts with label john 1:1c. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john 1:1c. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

How Jesus became a god. Two Yale Professors describe the historical process.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyFB37JK-m0

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"In the published form of his Cadbury lectures, Maurice Casey put forward his conviction that 'The Gospel attributed to St. John is the only New Testament document in which the deity and incarnation of Jesus are unequivocally proclaimed.' This statement is somewhat misleading. If the proclamation of the Gospel were really unequivocal, it would be hard to explain the extended Christological controversies in the early church. For example, the third clause of John 1:1 may be translated either 'the word was God' or 'the word was a god.' Justin Martyr apparently understood the passage the latter way."

This one section alone has garnered some comments online:

From Paul Williams at https://bloggingtheology.net/2016/11/25/25513/

"I am currently reading an academic work by two of America’s leading biblical scholars entitled: King and Messiah as Son of God, Divine, Human, and Angelic Messianic Figures in Biblical and Related Literature by Adela Yarbro Collins and John J. Collins – both professors of biblical criticism and interpretation at Yale University...Here is a snapshot..where the most likely translation of the third clause of John 1:1 is discussed...The much maligned JWs may well have been right after all!"

This has led, as it often does, to someone in the comments section blowing up at this. Evangelicals often act like Democrats who've lost an election when someone says something nice about the New World Translation Bible.

also...

From Michael H. Burer at https://voice.dts.edu/review/adela-yarbro-collins-king-and-messiah-as-son-of-god/
"Surprisingly the authors suggest that John 1:1c “may be translated either ‘the word was God’ or ‘the word was a god.’” Current scholarship is decidedly on the side of the traditional translation, giving little or no credence to the translation 'the word was a god.'"

Obviously this is not true if two of America’s leading biblical scholars say otherwise. Evangelicals like to think that they own Biblical scholarship, and thankfully for the rest of us, they don't.


Sunday, August 28, 2022

The 1915 Bible Review on John 1:1

 


THE Gospel by John begins thus: “'In a beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was a god”[Emphatic Diaglott]-i. e., was a power. The word Logos appears to have no exact equivalent in English and is variously translated. But the statement, "Through it every thing was done; and without it not even one thing was done, which has been done,” and that it “was in the beginning,” shows that the Logos is the first step in the accomplishing of anything.

God created man in his image, that is, man has the same faculties and powers as his Creator, even as a little child has the faculties and powers of its father, tho as yet undeveloped. If man is in the image of his Creator then their manner of operation must be similar. Before one can do anything there must be first the thought or idea concerning that thing. Therefore we may say concerning God, and as well concerning man, in doing any. thing there is first in the beginning the thought, the idea. So we feel that we do no violence to the text to translate it: "In the beginning was the idea, and this idea was with God, and this idea was a power. This (idea) was in the beginning with God. Thru it everything was done, and without it not even one thing was done, which has been done. In it (the idea) was life, and the life was the light of men.” ~Enoch Penn writing in the Bible Review 1915



Thursday, November 11, 2021

John 1:1c: "...and the Word was LIKE God"


Unlike the English version, the Danish edition of the New Living Bible reads "the Word was like God" at John 1:1c. I see also that the New Simplified Bible has the same rendering. 

Kermit Zarley writes: "New English Bible (NEB) translation of John 1.1c...reads, 'and what God was, the Word was.' This means the Word, which later became Jesus of Nazareth according to v. 14, was exactly like God without being God. This translation treats the anarthrous theos as adjectival, thus qualitative, without translating it 'divine.' This rendering corresponds well with the last clause in Hebrews 1.3. It reads, 'He [Jesus] is the radiance of His [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His [God’s] nature.'"

When you think of it, there are many similar statements in the Bible that could be translated dynamically with the word "like." For instance, when we are told that Jehovah is a strong tower, what it means is that he is like a strong tower. When someone admits that he is a worm (Ps. 22:6), we know that he is not really a worm, but worm-like in his nature. I have offered a sampling of some others, using mainly Young's Literal Version (YLT) and the Contemporary English Version (CEV).

YLT Ps 12:6 "Sayings of Jehovah are pure sayings; Silver tried in a furnace of earth refined sevenfold."
CEV "Our LORD, you are true to your promises, and your word is like silver heated seven times in a fiery furnace."

NRSV Ps 57:4 I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.
NLT whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows, and whose tongues cut like swords.

YLT Ps. 73:6 "Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress."
CEV "Their pride is like a necklace, and they commit sin more often than they dress themselves."

ESV Ps. 84:11 "For the LORD God is a sun and shield"
CEV "Our Lord and our God, you are like the sun and also like a shield."

NRSV Ps. 88:16 "Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me."
CEV "Your anger is like a flood! And I am shattered by your furious attacks."

NRSV Ps. 91:4 "his faithfulness is a shield and buckler"
CEV "His faithfulness is like a shield or a city wall."

YLT Ps. 125:1 "Those trusting in Jehovah are as Mount Zion, It is not moved—to the age it abideth."
CEV "Everyone who trusts the LORD is like Mount Zion that cannot be shaken and will stand forever."

YLT Prov. 11:22 "A ring of gold in the nose of a sow—A fair woman and stubborn of behaviour."
CEV "A beautiful woman who acts foolishly is like a gold ring on the snout of a pig."

YLT Prov. 17:14 "The beginning of contention is a letting out of waters, And before it is meddled with leave the strife."
CEV "The start of an argument is like a water leak-- so stop it before real trouble breaks out."

YLT Prov. 18:7 "The mouth of a fool is ruin to him, And his lips are the snare of his soul."
CEV "Saying foolish things is like setting a trap to destroy yourself."

YLT Prov. 24:14 "So is the knowledge of wisdom to thy soul, If thou hast found that there is a posterity And thy hope is not cut off."
CEV "Wisdom is like honey for your life-- if you find it, your future is bright."

YLT Prov. 25:11 "Apples of gold in imagery of silver, Is the word spoken at its fit times."
CEV "The right word at the right time is like precious gold set in silver."

YLT Prov. 25:18, 19 "A maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow, Is the man testifying against his neighbour a false testimony. A bad tooth, and a tottering foot, Is the confidence of the treacherous in a day of adversity."
CEV "Telling lies about friends is like attacking them with clubs and swords and sharp arrows.
A friend you can't trust in times of trouble is like having a toothache or a sore foot."

YLT Prov. 26:6 "He is cutting off feet, he is drinking injury, Who is sending things by the hand of a fool."
CEV "Sending a message by a fool is like chopping off your foot and drinking poison."

YLT Prov. 26:6 "Weak have been the two legs of the lame, And a parable in the mouth of fools."
CEV "A fool with words of wisdom is like an athlete with legs that can't move."

YLT Prov. 26:23 "Silver of dross spread over potsherd, Are burning lips and an evil heart."
CEV "Hiding hateful thoughts behind smooth talk is like coating a clay pot with a cheap glaze."

YLT Prov. 28:15 "A growling lion, and a ranging bear, Is the wicked ruler over a poor people."
CEV "A ruler who mistreats the poor is like a roaring lion or a bear hunting for food."

YLT Eccl. 2:14 "The wise! —his eyes are in his head"
CEV "Wisdom is like having two good eyes"

ESV Song 1:3 "your name is oil poured out"
CEV "the very mention of your name is like spreading perfume"

LITV Is. 66:8 "For Zion travailed and also brought forth her sons."
CEV "Jerusalem is like a mother who gave birth to her children as soon as she was in labor."

YLT Ps 7:14 "Lo, he travaileth with iniquity, And he hath conceived perverseness, And hath brought forth falsehood."
CEV "An evil person is like a woman about to give birth to a hateful, deceitful, and rebellious child."

NKJV Heb. 4:12 "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword"
Blanco "God's word is like a double-edged sword"

This list is certainly not exhaustive, and I may be adding to it from time to time. If you have any suggestions, I would like to hear them.

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