Sunday, December 21, 2014

JESUS AND THE WORD

This post was originally posted on 
"The Gospel of the Kingdom of God"
Everyone is so thankful to William Tyndale for giving us our first English translation of the Bible based upon the Hebrew and Greek text.  His New Testament was published in 1526 and revised to its final state in 1534.
However, William Tyndale would probably be considered a heretic for translating John 1:3-4 as,
“All things were made by it, and without it, was made nothing that was made. In it was life, and the life was the light of men.
Tyndale used “it” rather than “him.”  From what I understand, “It” is a translation of the Greek “autou” meaning “he, she, or it.”  Since Tyndale did not read Jesus the Messiah into the “logos” or “word,” it shows he was not influenced by the Latin Vulgate of Wycliffe.
Since Jesus the Messiah is called “The Word of God” in Rev.19:13, the translators of the KJV assumed the “Word” of John 1:1 was also Jesus the Messiah and so capitalized the word “word” and used the pronoun “him”in reference to the “word.” The Greek for “word” is “logos.”  Logos means “the spoken word” or “something said (including the thought).” In that sense the word is an “it,” not a person but a thing.  William Tyndale renders it that way  as does the Matthew’s Bible of 1537, the Great Bible of 1539,the Geneva Bible of 1560, and the Bishop’s Bible of 1568.  Verse 3 should read,
“All things were made through it; and without it was not anything made that was made.”
In other words, God (Yahweh) spoke creation into existence.
The Roman Catholic version of the New Testament was completed in 1582, a result of a battle between the Papists and Protestants and they chose the previous versions based on the Vulgate by using “him” instead of “it.”  From then on all other Bibles, beginning with the King James of 1611 used “him” instead of “it” in their translating of John 1:3-4.  This helped to enforce the pagan idea of a preexisting being and to continue fostering the false teaching of the Trinity.  So whenever the text is read, people read it as:
“In the beginning was the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was God.”
That is not what the Scripture says.  The “logos” (word) means “the spoken word,” and thus is referred to as “it.”  “It” had nothing to do with a pre-existing being.  “It” was not a person, but a thing (logos).  God (Yahweh) alone is the creator of the universe.  He spoke and it came into existence.  God spoke, and it was done.
By the word of Yahweh were the heavens made; and all the host by the breath of his mouth. . . For He spoke and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.   Ps. 33:6,9
Not only did God the Father speak creation into existence, He also spoke His Son, the promised Messiah, into existence.  Jesus had a “genesis,” a “beginning.”  Matthew and Luke tell us about the ‘begetting’ or ‘genesis’ of Jesus, when and how it happened (Matt. 1:1: genesis; 1:18: genesis; 1:20: begetting in Mary).  If Jesus actually preexisted, then he did not really begin to exist as the Bible tells us.
To say that Jesus the Messiah has two natures is pure paganism. We must wake up from this pagan induced delusion and realize that:
JESUS THE MESSIAH WAS NOT TRANSFERRED – HE WAS BEGOTTEN
To say there was a supposed transferring of an already existing person goes way beyond the description of the origin of Jesus as recorded by Luke and Matthew or any parts of Scripture.
Nowhere do the Scriptures speak of any transfer of a life form into Mary’s womb. We are told in Matthew 1:20 which says “that which was begotten (generated) in her.”
To generate something means to bring it into existence.
Paul warned that people would wonder off into myths, and that some will come preaching another Jesus.
For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.  2 Tim. 4:3-4
For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough.” 2 Cor. 11:4
None of the earliest Christians taught or believed that Jesus was a pre-existent being.
The first step towards the Trinity did not begin until the Second Century when some Christians accepted the concept of an eternal pre-existence as taught by Origin later in the second century and became full-blown Trinity in 481 and onward to our day.
The following is a very short explanation of John 1:1,14 by Sean Finnegan:
John 1.1, 14
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God… And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The first and most important thing to realize is that “the word” is God’s word and not Jesus. The word does not become Jesus until John 1.14. The word of God is never in any one of the 42 books of the Bible preceding this verse referred to as a person distinct from the Father. The word is God’s utterance, his plan, his creative power, or his message given to the prophets. John 1.1 begins with the same words as Genesis 1.1. In the Genesis account God speaks and creation happens; in John it says the word was in the beginning with God (see also Psalm 33.6, 9).
God’s word was with him. This expression may sound strange to us, but it is found in other verses as well where something is “with” them but it is really “within” them (Job 10.13; 23.13-14; Proverbs 8.22, 30). In fact, the word “with” in John 1.1 is the word pros, which most often translated “to” or “toward.” So the word was toward God or with God or within God—it was close to his heart.
The last part of John 1.1 reads, “and the word was God.” The word belongs to the sphere of God; because he is divine, his word is divine. It is not a separate being from God any more than my word is a distinct being from me, yet in a metaphoric sense my word is me because it expresses who I am.
Finally in John 1.14 the word of God, his plan for salvation, his will for humanity, his ultimate revealed purpose, becomes a living breathing human being in Jesus of Nazareth. How did this happen? The holy spirit overshadowed the virgin Mary which resulted in a totally unique pregnancy. God’s plan to save the world became flesh. In fact, throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus makes it clear that he spoke the words of God and did the works of God (John 8.28; 12.49-50)
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Therefore, it is correct to say,
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by IT; and without IT was not any thing made that was made.  In IT was life; and the life was the light of men.
Again, this is the reading in Tyndale 1525, Tyndale 1534, Matthew’s Bible 1537, The Great Bible 1539, The Geneva Bible 1560, the Bishop’s Bible (1568).  They all had  the word “it”.
All things were made by IT.   The word (logos) is an it and not a him.  A word is not a person.  Jesus the Messiah was in the (purpose/mind/motive/plan) of God before God (Yahweh) created the universe alone (Isaiah 44:24; Mark 10:6).  The word (logos)  does not become Jesus the Messiah until John 1:14.