John 1 And The Trinity Teaching

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This is a departure from my usual commentary/narrative style. This purpose of this post is to capture some snippets found on the web regarding the trinity teaching, John 1:1, and research done by some whose knowledge of Greek is admittedly much deeper than mine.

(At times, the below-referenced website "jehovah.to" does not respond. If that happens, here is a link to download a 100-page book that contains some of the same material.)

http://jehovah.to/xlation/ma.html (This article provides a rebuttal to Julius Mantey's arguments regarding the New World Translation's rendering of "a god" at John 1:1c.)

http://jehovah.to/exe/translation/coptic.pdf (This article shows how Coptic Greek is very specific in separating God and the Word. Note: In this PDF, there is a link that is either no longer a live website (http://copticjohn.com/) or is a typo.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_1:1  This article on wikipedia demonstrates that Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT the only ones choosing a rendering that disagrees with the mainstream teaching that Jesus is God. It compares 19 translations of John 1:1c, showing which chose to go with "the Word was God" and which chose a rendering that doesn't make Jesus out to be God Himself. 

Two of the more interesting quotes from the Wikipedia article are:

“[It] is clear that in the translation “the Word was God,” the term God is being used to denote his nature or essence, and not his person. But in normal English usage “God” is a proper noun, referring to the person of the Father or corporately to the three persons of the Godhead. Moreover, “the Word was God” suggests that “the Word” and “God” are convertible terms, that the proposition is reciprocating. But the Word is neither the Father nor the Trinity… The rendering cannot stand without explanation.”^[4]Translations by James Moffatt, Hugh J. Schonfield and Edgar Goodspeed render part of the verse as "...and the Word was divine."

An Orthodox Bible Commentary notes: "This second theos could also be translated ‘divine’ as the construction indicates "a qualitative sense for theos". The Word is not God in the sense that he is the same person as the theos mentioned in 1:1a; he is not God the Father (God absolutely as in common NT usage) or the Trinity. The point being made is that the Logos is of the same uncreated nature or essence as God the Father, with whom he eternally exists. This verse is echoed in the Nicene Creed: 'God (qualitative or derivative) from God (personal, the Father), Light from Light, True God from True God… homoousion with the Father.'"^[5]

Additional Notes From The Gospel of John

At John 20:17, Jesus had just been resurrected. Mary Magdalene, thinking Jesus was a gardener, pleads with him to tell her where he has taken Jesus' body. With just a single word from Jesus, she immediately realizes who he is and apparently throws herself on him, clinging to him. Jesus' response is undeniable--he has yet to ascend to his Father, his God. Now, we are talking about the resurrected Jesus, so if he were God, this would have been the time to say so. Here is the word-for-word Greek-to-English rendering.

At John 20:31, John tells his readers why he recounted all the things Jesus did. Was it so that his readers would believe that Jesus was God or that Jesus was the Son of God? He pointedly indicates that it was that Jesus was the (preeminent) Son of God.

I wanted to keep this post only about the gospel of John because that is the main focus of those who believe in the trinity. However, one key scripture that no trinitarian has ever been able to answer is recorded at 1 Corinthians 15:28. In this verse (context here), Paul is talking about after the millennial reign of Christ is over. So he is in heaven and been ruling for some time. Paul plainly writes that Christ turns over the kingdom to God for the purpose of God being all things to all people? How could Jesus "hand over" the kingdom to God and make himself subject to God if Jesus himself is God? How would you answer it?

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Does God Test Us?

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Do you remember the first time your parents trusted you to be left home alone? I can’t say that I remember the exact incident but I do remember thinking to myself, “Wow, this is weird. I’ve never been left alone before.” Like most parents, they gave me the typical warnings, “Don’t do anything you know we wouldn’t permit, OR ELSE!” Every child knows exactly what the “or else” means, it means punishment of some sort or another. What is at stake here is our parent’s ability to trust us. Leaving us alone for the first time was a test of that trust. It is also a test of how much we love our parents.

Do parents have the right to impose such tests on their children? Being left alone is all part of the social growing process—learning responsibility and accountability. Really, if the child never learns those he (or she) becomes a burden to society. So yes, a parent needs to train their child to act responsibly. What then about God training mankind? His tests on us are pretty much the same—tests of trust, loyalty and love.

The very first test recorded in the Bible was one of trust. Jehovah told the first human pair not to eat from just one tree. If we parents need to train our children how to act responsibly, it certainly is not wrong for God to train mankind using the same simple and straightforward lesson. Another such lesson of loyalty and obedience is recorded at Exodus 16:4. The “test” was whether or not the masses would trust in God enough to not hoard the manna and to not go looking for it on the seventh day. Both in this case and in the case of Adam and Eve, God generously provided and all he wanted in return was trust and obedience. In researching the word “test” as used in the Bible and in reference to what God does toward mankind, this was the only type of test God imposed on us—he blesses us richly and then asks back proof that we love and willingly, uncompromisingly trust and obey him. (See the additional references below.)

There is another type of test we face, but it is not something God brings on us. It is a test of our character that Satan and this godless world we live in put on us. Returning to the parent/child illustration, consider the situation when the child gets old enough to start socializing outside the family circle with minimal (maybe no) adult supervision. The parents’ hope is that the training they gave their child is enough to help him or her make wise decisions. So say the child goes to a party with his peers and finds liquor and other recreational drugs being used. Now, the parent didn’t put that test on their child—the situation and peer pressure did. This type of test is one that a parent would rather spare their child from, but they know that eventually they will need to trust that the child has to start being self-accountable. This is in essence the test that Job underwent—would he keep loyal to God or would he get angry and blame God. In fact, at one point his wife told him to blame (curse) God and die. Likewise, even Jesus went through such testing. Why does God allow this? There is a benefit both to our resilient character and to God to have a tested quality that proves the type of person we are. Yes, just as a parent praises a child that faced up to the challenge in an adult way, just so God commends and rewards us for standing firm for what is right.

Finally, there can be tests that no one in particular initiated. The Bible calls those “time and unforeseen circumstances.” They fall on people indiscriminately. These could be adverse weather, or earthquakes and other natural disasters that destroy homes and lives. The “test” in this case is how we react. Will we find fault with God--for him allowing this to happen? Maybe even blaming him for causing this to happen? Or will we see it as a challenge to remain in God’s love, realizing it is not him doing this? In fact, in some cases (as in the Job’s case) it is possible that it is Satan causing these “natural” disasters.

So, according to God’s Word, the Bible, the tests God puts on people are designed to show us how we can reciprocate his love and are very gentle and kind. The tests that those opposed to God put on us are designed to destroy our confidence and loyalty in God and are harsh and cruel. Finally, “time and unforeseen circumstances” should never be blamed on God. Our loyalty and unbreakable love under all such situations is what God is looking for in us.

Additional References:

Judges 3:1-6. Here, Jehovah God allows certain foreign nations that do not serve him to continue occupying some of the promise land. It was a test on the Israelites to see if with such an influence they would still remain loyal to instructions handed down through Moses and the other representatives of God (Joshua, the loyal kings, the prophets).

Psalms 26:1,2. This is a very interesting passage. Here, the writer actually asks God to test him because he wants to demonstrate how much he really loves God. In a much lesser sense, don’t we do the same with people we are trying to impress? Candidates vying for a job may ask, “Just try me out. See if I don’t prove myself worthwhile.”

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God Did Not Make the Devil

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I was reading a news article recently about a mother who tortured to death her own child. It was so disturbing, I could not finish the story. I won’t go into details here, however, the incident I was reading about was/is not unique. If you search the internet for “mother tortures child” you will find more than one case. Most “decent” humans would be completely appalled, if not sickened, at such a thought. The natural anger against such atrocities and the heart-rending compassion that we would have for the young victims demonstrates how we feel about outrageous cruelty.

Now, let me ask you. Do you think that we are more compassionate than God is? I don’t think so. And yet some preachers actually teach that God is just as sadistic as parents who torture their own children. Why do I claim that? Their interpretation of John 8:44 and 1 John 3:8. John, both in his gospel account and in his first letter, speaks of Satan’s “beginning”—that he was “a manslayer when he began” and that “he (Satan) has been sinning from the beginning.” Those preachers interpret that to mean that when Satan was created, God created him as an evil being. They claim that God put Satan on the earth to tempt us. In fact, some preachers go so far as to say that in reality, God and Satan are co-workers. That, dear readers, is an incredibly slanderous lie against God.

The only “test” that God is spoken of as putting on humans are tests of loyalty, not of physical, psychological, and emotional tortures. In fact, James makes it very clear that God does not try mankind with evil. If God were collaborating with the Devil, even under many governments today, that would make him co-conspirator. Never will that be, never can that be. In fact, the latter half of 1 John 3:8 indicates that Christ came to break up the works of the devil. If God were responsible for the devil’s acts, then Christ would have to break up God’s works as well—and that would make no sense at all.

So what reasonable conclusion should we reach when reading John’s words? Just as a criminal makes a start for himself (as a criminal) when he first breaks the law, in the same way Satan made a start of his criminal personality in the garden of Eden. It was at the very beginning of mankind’s existence that he became a manslayer because his words and actions resulted in condemnation to death of Adam and Eve—and by extension, to the whole human family. From the very beginning of our existence, Satan saw an opportunity, lied to Eve and has been lying ever since. But before that event, who was the one that became Satan? He was one of tens-of-thousands (if not millions) of other angels that God had made as perfect. This should not be difficult to understand. Our own first parents (Adam & Eve) were also created perfect and chose a selfish course over loyalty to God. The same with Satan.

In summary then, God made a good angel who acted on selfish desire and, in so doing, that angel made himself “Satan.” It is the same exact thing that happened with our first human parents—they were created “in God’s image” (good in every way), but they knowingly acted on a selfish desire.

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Studying-Getting A Rich Spiritual Tan

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Do not think of it as a drudgery, "Ah man, I've gotta study now." Instead think of it as getting a rich suntan of wisdom on the endless beach of Jehovah's vast knowledge.

As our skin absorbs the sun rays so likewise we need to absorb the rays of knowledge & wisdom not just through reading, but through reflecting (meditating, contemplating) on what we read. Although physical tans can be hurried through various means, acquiring a luxurious spiritual tan takes time because it takes years for our brain to start making inter-relational connections with the things we read. In time, things we are currently reading in the Bible, will start to call back to our minds things we've read in the past.

That is one reason that associating with like-minded believers is so helpful. Listening to them express their faith helps us make new connections in the way we think and reflect on scripture. Learning from other's experience accelerates the learning process BECAUSE what may have taken us years to conclude now can be learned much quicker from others that have done this longer. After more than 40 years of studying the Bible, I can still very humbly admit that many of the new thought-connections I make are because of hearing the perspective of fellow believers. Indeed, more than few of the articles I've written here were because of a comment I heard that I expanded on.

So if you admire the deep spiritual tan (knowledge and insight) that others have, know that you can have it too. All you need to do is study, reflect, and associate with fellow believers.

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How Do We Walk With God?

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A friend invites you to join him on his walk. He knows the path—he’s been down it several times, whereas you are just visiting. So it is natural that you would let him set the distance, path and pace. He sets the distance and path because it is, after all, “his” walk, not yours. He sets the pace because he knows what is best to complete the walk given the needed energy and stamina. In that he is taking the lead and making the decisions, you “walk with him,” not the other way around. Granted, if this had been your “stomping grounds” and you were the authority, the tables would be turned and he would be walking “with” you.

Let’s say your friend is a forest ranger and encourages you to make a career of giving guided tours through the woods in his area. He tells you of all the studies needed to truly become an authority. You study forestry, botany, soil conservation and preservation and much more. Now you have made this “walk” of his into your own “walk of life,” a professional occupation; giving it the commitment of a lifetime “calling.”

With the illustration above as our backdrop, notice how the term “walk with” is used in the next two scriptures.

“And Enoch lived on for sixty-five years. Then he became father to Methuselah. And after his fathering Methuselah Enoch went on walking with the [true] God three hundred years. Meanwhile he became father to sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch amounted to three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch kept walking with the [true] God.” –Genesis 5:21-24

“Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with the [true] God.” –Genesis 6:9

Both Enoch and Noah had the right and humble attitude. They didn’t force God to accept their own standards, making God fit into their lives. No, rather they knew that as Creator, God knew what was best. Both Enoch and Noah “walked with” God, allowing God to set the distance, path and pace.

Now it is true that as you walk, you might suggest to your friend, "Hey, let's check out this side-path." But when we consider that walking with God means that we obey him (Psalms 25:5,9), none of us would ever suggest to our God that he change the direction he has in mind. Any such deviation would not be his course, but one we choose that is not in line with his guidance. (Quoting Deuteronomy 28:14, “And you must not turn aside from all the words that I am commanding YOU today, to the right or to the left, to walk after other gods to serve them.” See also 2 Kings 21:22, Psalms 81:12. In the NWT, “YOU” is plural, referring to more than one person.)

On a day to day basis, how do we "walk with" God? Exodus 16:4 gives us some insight. It reads: “Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Here I am raining down bread for YOU from the heavens; and the people must go out and pick up each his amount day for day, in order that I may put them to the test as to whether they will walk in my law or not."

Leviticus 18:1-5 has similar language, cautioning the people against imitating the immoral ways of the nations around them (“in their statutes YOU must not walk.”) and admonishing them to obey the counsel of Jehovah (“my statutes YOU should keep so as to walk in them.”) See also 1 Kings 3:14; 1 Kings 6:11,12)

Summing it up at Deuteronomy 10:12, we read: “And now, O Israel, what is Jehovah your God asking of you but to fear Jehovah your God, so as to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul." Perhaps it is this scripture that Jesus himself quoted from when providing the first of the two greatest commandments. Yes, one key element of loving God (walking with Him) is obedience as a constant feature of our life, not some sporadic or hit-and-miss lifestyle.

True Christians are likewise admonished to minimize our involvement with the “the system of things of this world” because it is ruled by Satan. Although we may, before becoming believers, have become deeply entrenched with “sons of disobedience,” we have abandoned that association in order to walk with the true God. (“Furthermore, [it is] YOU [God made alive] though YOU were dead in YOUR trespasses and sins, in which YOU at one time walked according to the system of things of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience. Yes, among them we all at one time conducted ourselves in harmony with the desires of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and the thoughts, and we were naturally children of wrath even as the rest.”)  –Ephesians 2:1-3

Yes, like our illustrative friend at the outset, God knows the path we need to take. Whereas we are all individually relative newcomers (and short-lived at that), God is eternal. He knows exactly what we need to do. He sets the “distance,” that is, we keep walking with him for the duration of our lives. He sets the “path,” that is, he defines how to direct our lives. Finally, he sets the pace by teaching us patience and endurance.

Like the ranger that invited his friend to make a career out of forestry, Jehovah also invites us to make a real lifetime commitment not only to ourselves but to helping others see the benefits of following him and his son, Jesus Christ.

Although far from perfect, it is my determination to always “walk with God.”

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Handling Close-Minded and Arrogant People

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Luke18:9-14. This scripture is an illustration spoken by Jesus (recorded by Luke) about self-righteous ones that speak of their own standing before God as if it is so much better than everyone else's.

I met a man today that I allowed to ruin my whole time I spent in my public outreach work. (I realized later that I was the one that ruined it because I allowed the experience to consume my thoughts even though I had enjoyed several much more pleasant conversations.) The man was so completely unreasonable--condemning me because I do not believe as he does; demanding I accept his viewpoint even though it was seriously flawed; refusing to allow me to make any point; and finally, telling me that scripture was unimportant. In fact, at one point he actually said, "All you have to do is believe that Jesus is God and nothing else matters." At that point I asked him if I could share just one point from the Bible. (I wanted to help him reason on the point that if that was indeed all there was to know, why then does the Bible contain so much more instructional information?) However, his response was rude, close-minded and psychologically bullying, so I turned to leave. He acted exactly as I expected, getting one last insult in as I walked away. I refused to stoop to his level of childish behavior and just kept walking.

On top of that, another comment made by another person demonstrating complete ignorance of the facts got me worked up as well. That person made a sweeping generalization of "those people" (me and my fellow-believers), saying that they would never understand how someone could be so stupid. I really wanted to ask that person if they had ever even made an attempt to inquire what and why we believe a particular point or were they just close-minded and wanted to remain uninformed while they spouted their completely wrong perception of us. But I kept silent realizing it was not the right place or time to make an issue of things.

Then, later today, after several prayers but still not being able to shake it off (get it out of mind), I decided to read the Bible. (I am in the latter parts of Luke.) It almost seemed as if the counsel was exactly what I needed. I needed to keep a humble attitude like the tax collector, not comparing myself to others, not insulted or frustrated over other's insensitive arrogance (like what the Pharisee said in the illustration) but just humbly keep working out my own salvation while I try to reach honest-hearted people that are willing to have an intelligent and polite conversation. Here I was angered over others arrogance when in fact, I should just be focusing on what I can do to better myself. And that, in part, is what I feel Jesus’ point was in the this scripture—being humble, not comparing myself to others but focusing on what I can do to improve, refine and expand my relationship with my Creator.

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Birthday Celebrations

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Most people find it odd that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays. I know I did. Even though birthdays had lost any significance to me long before I started talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses, it was one thing to personally pass on the matter; it was another to discover that a particular religion actually believed it was wrong to engage in the practice.

It’s not often I get asked about the belief—the last time was about seven years ago. My immediate supervisor had just circulated a birthday card for one of our co-workers and I found it on my chair covered over with other papers. Without saying anything, I took it back to my supervisor and placed it on his chair. I guess he must have looked at it because he came up to me and asked why I didn't sign it. I told him it had to do with my understanding of some Bible verses and asked him if he’d like me to explain. He said “not at this time.” Months later he came up to me and brought up the subject again.

I asked him if he’d ever had someone in his life that he loved so dearly that he paid very close attention to everything they did and did not do—someone he wanted very much to please. Maybe it was a grandparent, maybe a best friend, maybe a girl friend. Maybe it was something simple like every time you and that person went to a restaurant, he (or she) never put ketchup on a hamburger when everyone else did. And then at gatherings, when everyone else was passing around the ketchup, he always passed it on without using it. Even though that person never said anything, you came to realize that there is something about ketchup that he does not like. My boss said he hadn't observed that quiet disdain before, but he could accept that such a scenario is feasible.

I then told him that there is nothing specifically in the Bible promoting or condemning birthday celebrations. However, there are two indicators about how God might feel about birthdays. The first is that for all the hundreds of years and dozens of faithful men and women recounted in scripture, none are ever recorded as annually commemorating their birth. There are only two mentions of birthdays in the Bible and those are of rulers who did not worship the God of the Bible. In both instances, as part of the celebration, a murder was committed. In the second instance, the murder was of John the Baptist, a faithful servant of God and cousin to Jesus. The second indicator is how God perceives the importance of a person’s birth.

I then told my supervisor that based on those scriptures, and the complete lack of any indication that any faithful servant of God ever commemorated an annual remembrance of their birth, I felt the safe course to take in pleasing God was to avoid birthday celebrations. I assured him I would never interfere with the team’s activities in that vein nor would I ever make anyone feel bad because of my beliefs. He understood my viewpoint and thanked me for explaining it.

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