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NASB | John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 1:1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. [Gen 1:1; Is 9:6] |
Subject: is jesus god? |
Bible Note: Greetings Kalos! I hate to find myself in any way appearing to agree with the NWT, but this particular meaning is possible - though I would not add the word "Son" to the text. Here is what I mean: 1) First of all, there is a textual question concerning this verse. Unfortunately, the evidence is almost evenly split between the readings "of God" and "of Lord". 2) Secondly, 'idios' is used differently in this passage than anywhere else. There are two other verses which refer to 'His own blood' (Heb. 9:12 and Heb. 13:12). In both of those though, the Greek phrase is 'the of His own blood'. Whereas, Acts 20:28 reads, 'of the blood of His own'. Why is this important? Because, the articular form of 'idios' can refer to a family member, it is possible here that this phrase does refer to 'His own (Son)'. The only reason I bring this up is because it might be better to use other verses to witness to JW's, since there are arguments both ways for this verse. Fortunately, there are plenty of others which show that Jesus is God. 1) Rom. 9:5 - "Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen." 2) Col. 2:9 - "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form," 3) Titus 2:13 - "while we wait for the blessed hope?the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ," And, of course, Col. 1:15-20 and Phil. 2:5-11. If nothing else, at least we can be aware of how a JW might respond to this verse! :-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |