The result of human errors and the misinterpretation of the Bible leads many Christians to believe that Jesus is God. The first verse of John is very misleading in explaining the word of God. “In the beginning was the Word; The Word was in God's presence, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). An objective reading of this verse raises the question: If the “Word” was in “God's presence”, how could it be God? When something is in your presence, it has to be, by definition, separate from you. The logical understanding of these lines is that the “Word” originates from God, or represents God. In addition, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory: the glory of an only son coming from the Father filled with enduring love” (John 1:14). This verse makes a clear distinction between the Word and the Father. In no way does it argue for the divinity of Jesus. The Word comes from God, and thus reflects the glory of the Creator. This understanding is confirmed by the fact that throughout the Gospels, Jesus emphasizes that he did not speak on his own, that God told him what to say. This clearly indicates that Jesus delivered the Word of God, not that he was God. Here is an illustration, “whatever I say is spoken just as he instructed me" (John 12:44-50). In John 8:40, Jesus describes himself as "a man who has told you the truth which I have heard from God”. Thus again we see that Jesus delivered the Word of God.
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Human errors and the misinterpretation of the Bible" leading Christians to believe Jesus is God?
No, it is just reading the clear words of Scripture and believing them. Let's read it again:
John 1:
1.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2.
He was in the beginning with God.
3.
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John [the Baptist].
7. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9. That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world.
10.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name:
13. who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14. And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The subject of those verses is THE WORD. V. 14 tells us WHO this WORD is. The only one it could be referring to ("the only begotten of the Father") is Christ, pre-incarnate and incarnate. As the pre-incarnate Word of God, He was in the beginning and He was WITH God and He WAS GOD (v. 1). He created all things and nothing was created without Him (v. 2, 10).
Let me copy and paste here part of a prior post:
The Greek word for "God" used in the second clause of the verse (“and the Word was with God”) is the definite form ho theos, meaning ‘The God’. However, in the third clause (“and the Word was God”), the definite article "ho" (=the) is missing, so the Greek word used for ‘God’ is the indefinite form theos, which means ‘'God". There are rules of Greek grammar that explain that. Let me see if I can articulate them.
First, in the Greek language, there is no indefinite article, like "a". For a sentence to be translated with an "a" the translator may look for the definite article "the" or "ho" and if none is there, he might render it, for example, "boy" or "a boy" depending on the context; he would not render it "the boy".
Secondly, in the third clause of John 1:1, the word order in the original Greek is literally, "and God was the Word" But the subject of the entire verse is "the Word" not God. So to make it clear that "the Word" is the subject, there can be no "the" before "God" or it would be uncertain what the subject of the clause is and what the predicate nominative is. That is, it would be literally, "and the God was the Word." In that case God and Word would be interchangeable and we would not know which is the subject and which is the predicate nominative. The definite article "the" is left out before "God" not so a translator would render it "a God" or "a god" but so that we know "the Word" is the subject and "God" is the predicate nominative.
So, if "the Word" is the subject and "God" is the predicate nominative, what does the clause mean when it says, "and the Word was God"? The use of the definite article and "God" in the second clause, "and the Word was
with [the] God" shows the distinction of persons, one
WITH the other---two persons, the Word (Jesus before the incarnation) and the Father.
But in the third clause, "the Word was God," the word "God" is a descriptive noun telling us not
WHO the Word is, but
WHAT the Word is. He is GOD or DEITY, as to His essence, substance or nature. He is not the Father,
with whom He is, but He is the same as the Father in terms of His essence, substance or nature. He is fully God or Deity, as the Father is, but He is not the Father. He is a separate personage, equal to the Father in His essence, substance or nature. But since that essence, substance, or nature is the SAME for both the Father and the Word, there are not TWO Gods, but ONE.
Consequently, John 1:1, can accurately be translated, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word
was God.”
Now, it is true that when the Word was made flesh, Jesus humbly submitted Himself totally to the Father's will---
said what the Father wanted Him to say,
did what the Father wanted Him to do, and
died when the Father wanted Him to die:
Phil 2:
5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6. who,
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God,
7. but made Himself of no reputation,
taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8. And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11. and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Peace
?)
)
:anger: :raging: :raging: