B-2 Ch5 Returning to John 1:1 that was in the Beginning!

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RESTORING the CORRECT Translation of John 1:1.

Chapter 5.

And by returning to “as John 1:1-3 was in the beginning”, I mean returning to the earlier translations of the Bible before the 1611 authorized King James Version. And I also mean truly considering the translations of the Bible even after the King James version became the accepted translations. For you see, both before and after the KJV, the Word in John 1:1 was translated as the word with a lower case “w” in many other translations. In other words, there are many translations after the KJV that AGREE with many of the English translation BEFORE the KJV. And thus, both before and after the KJV there are many other translations that do NOT capitalize the “the word was God” as being “the Word was God” like the KJV and many modern translations after the KJV.

So then, for all of my readers who are King James ONLY Christians, I implore you to watch the following two videos. And I encourage you to TRULY consider what they are teaching. For you see, it is not wise for any Christian to base their faith SOLELY on the any ONE SINGLE translation of the Bible. For you see, every word in that one single translation may not be the CORRECT God intended meaning. And even just one WRONG word can change to whole meaning of a verse of Scripture. And even capitalizing a word that was NOT INTENDED to be capitalized can MISLEAD Christians to wrongly believe another gospel that is NOT the true gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the IMAGE of God, according to 2 Corinthians 4:3,4.

So then, by not being wise, I mean that if you are truly seeking the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God, then you must NEVER base your faith solely on ANY ONE single TRANSLATION of the Bible ONLY.

In other words, the translators of the King James Version only used around 11 Greek manuscripts out of more than 5,000 plus manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts that we have available today. And my point is that many of the earlier English translations before the KJV did not capitalize the “word” as the Word. And they also referred to the word using the pronoun “it” as opposed to using the pronoun “he”.

And to me, the using the pronoun “it” is the CORRECT sound Biblical TRANSLATION of John 1:1-3. For you see, the word in John 1:1 did not become a separate person until John 1:14. That is when God FULFILLED His word of prophecy and the word was MADE FLESH. Please notice that the Bible itself does not say that the word was made flesh and also remained fully God at the same time. That is an “interpretation” that must be READ INTO the Scriptures.

Here is the link to the first video by a Christian, who like myself, also LOVES the KJV. But neither he nor I are not KJV ONLY Christians. At least not anymore after hearing the TRUTH. The first video is a very short video, around 9 minutes. Whereas, the second video in just over an hour long. But also well worth an hour of your time if you are TRULY seeking the TRUTH concerning the KJV translation.

Is the King James Version the most accurate translation?

And here is the link to a follow up video showing a mountain of evidence of adding words to the KJV translation that are not found in ANY earlier Greek manuscripts before the ONE manuscript that is dated to the 17th century. But to be generous, there are no Greek manuscripts before the 14th century that have the words in 1 John 5:7, “There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one” in them. This controversy is known as “The Comma Johanneum Examined”, which you can also watch.

 And that is not the ONLY verse that has been tampered with in the KJV, and the New King James Version. And by tampered with, I mean that the first KJV translation had many NOTES in the margin explaining OTHER possible translations. But in the later versions of the KJV, those notes in the margin showing other possible translations were REMOVED. 

So then, if you are TRULY seeking the truth from God’s PURE word, then you need to know and understand the TRUTH that the KJV is not as pure as you have been taught. For you see, WHY would those in charge of publishing the KJV at first publish it WITH NOTES in the margin showing other POSSIBLE interpretation and the REMOVE them in the many other EDITED versions. Can you not see that NOT “translation” is by the “inspiration” of the Holy Spirit to have every single word correctly translated? And even the KJV translators understood that, Otherwise, they would not have made NOTES in the margin showing OTHER POSSIBLE meanings. And there would be only ONE EDITION.

Now, the KJV is still a good translation once you know or AFTER you truly understand which verses are NOT to fully trusted to base certain church doctrines upon. For example, the creationist Christians that teach God created the entire universe in six literal 24 hour days use the KJV translation of Genesis 1:2 as one of their main arguments. And even KJV only Bible scholars openly admit that Genesis 1:2 is NOT the CORRECT translation. And it SHOULD have been translated as “the earth BECAME void and without form” and NOT as “the earth WAS void and without form”. For you see, the KJV translation can mislead lead Christians to wrongly believe that God created the earth void and without form.

Here is the second video which explains HOW the KJV came to be and how the Textus Receptus was produced USING the KJV “translation” as its guide. I had always thought that the Textus Receptus existed BEFORE the KJV, but in truth, the Textus Receptus came AFTER the KJV. Take and hour an watch the video and truly consider the FACTS.

The Truth about the KIV TRANSLATION

Now, if after watching both videos, you are still a “hardcore” KJV ONLY Christian, then even the Holy Spirit Himself cannot help you see the true sound Biblical God INTENDED meaning of John 1:1. 

WHY? Why do I say that not even Almighty God Himself through His Holy Spirit can help you see the truth if you continue to wrongly believe that the KJV TRANSLATION has ZERO errors? It is because you yourself have chosen to base you faith SOLELY on a SINGLE TRANSLATION of God’s word and NOT upon the ACTUAL word of Almighty God in its original languages, the Hebrew Old Testament, and the Greek New Testament. And not on MANY “translations” in the plural, but rather, solely on ONE SINGLE translation, the KJV ONLY. And the reason that you are a KJV ONLY Christians is just because some preacher told you that the KJV is the only PURE and correct translation and you believed him.

Again, please understand that I have used the KJV my whole Christians life from age 23. And the KJV is still my PREFERED translation to read and study. But again, it is not the ONLY translation that I use to base my faith upon. And that is the point that I want you to see. I do not NEED these other translations to prove the God INTENDED meaning of John 1:1-3, but they are a great help for Christians who are truly seeking the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. 

For you see, when you know and understand that there are many other translations by godly Bible scholars that “TRANSLATE” John 1:1-3 differently than the KJV, then can see that the different translations are NOT just the OPINIONS of common uneducated Christians. And my point is that if these translations are correct and the KJV was wrong and you reject these translations, then you are rejecting God’s INTENDED meaning of John 1:1.

Here are some early translations of John 1:2,3 before and around the same time that the KJV was printed. The emphasis is mine. Please notice that even in the KJV the Greek word “logos” is referred to by the word the “SAME”. 

Now, the difference in these other TRANSLATIONS is that the “word” in John 1:1 is referred to by the pronoun “it” and NOT by the pronouns “he” and “him” in John 1:2-13. I left the links to the website where I found these translations. Or you can search the name of the Bible to read that translation online for yourself.

• Tyndale(i) 2 The same was in the beginnynge with God. 3 All thinges were made by it and with out it was made nothinge that was made.

• Coverdale(i) 2 The same was in the begynnynge wt God. 3 All thinges were made by the same, and without the same was made nothinge that was made.

• Matthew(i) 2 The same was in the begynnynge wyth God. 3 All thynges were made by it and without it was made nothynge that was made.

• Great(i) 2 The same was in the begynnyng wyth God. 3 All thinges were made by it, & wythout it, was made nothynge that was made.

• Geneva(i) 2 This same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made.

• Bishops(i) 2 The same was in the begynnyng with God 3 All thynges were made by it: and without it, was made nothyng that was made.

Again, these translations were made by godly Bible scholars around the same time that the KJV translation was made. And thus, not EVERY Christian believed that the “logos” in John 1:1 was a separate person of a Godhead Trinity God. They understood that the word did not become a separate person until AFTER the word was made FLESH.

And even if they did believe that the word was God, as in, the word was the Almighty God Himself, they were HONEST enough to translate the words that refer back to the “logos” by the word “SAME” and the pronoun “IT”. And thus, by using ALL of the translations, it is left it to each individual readers to decide for himself or for herself as to whether of not  the Word in John 1:1 was always a separate person of a Godhead Trinity God in the eternity past. 

Or if the word in John 1:1 is the spoken word of prophecy that came out from God. And thus, it was the spoken word of prophecy that was made flesh and not God the Son who manifested himself to become flesh.

Here are some other translations that were made before, around the same time, and after the KJV to show you that many Bible scholars, as well as common Christians, have always believed, and still believe, that the word in John 1:1 is the spoken word of PROPHECY and NOT a second person of a Godhead Trinity God in the eternity past. 

In other words, these Bible scholars believe that “the” word in John 1:1 c was TOWARD the God as oppose to WITH the God. And they believe that the word that was TOWARD the God was a SPECIFIC word. And that specific word was the word “god”, or “a god” was the specific word like the word “light” in Genesis 1:3,4 was a SPECIFIC word that God SAID or spoke into existence. 

In the quotes of these other translations, the emphasis is mine. Notice the green highlighting is to show that the Wycliffe’s Bible was influenced by the Roman Catholic Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. But even being influence by the Latin translation, the translator translates John 1:1 c as “and God was the word” with a lower case “w”, as opposed to “and the Word was God as it was “translated” in the KJV.

• 14th century: “and God was the word” – Wycliffe’s Bible[35] (translated from the 4th-century Latin Vulgate)[36]

• 1808: “and the Word was a god” – Thomas Belsham[37] The New Testament, in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s[38] New Translation: With a Corrected Text, London.

• 1822: “and the Word was a god” – The New Testament in Greek and English (A. Kneeland, 1822.)

• 1829: “and the Word was a god” – The Monotessaron; or, The Gospel History According to the Four Evangelists (J. S. Thompson, 1829)

• 1863: “and the Word was a god” – A Literal Translation of the New Testament (Herman Heinfetter [Pseudonym of Frederick Parker], 1863)

• 1864: “the LOGOS was God” – A New Emphatic Version (right hand column)

• 1864: “and a god was the Word” – The Emphatic Diaglott[39] by Benjamin Wilson,[40] New York and London (left hand column interlinear reading)

• 1867: “and the Son was of God” – The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible[41]

• 1879: “and the Word was a god” – Das Evangelium nach Johannes (J. Becker, 1979)

• 1885: “and the Word was a god” – Concise Commentary on The Holy Bible (R. Young,[42] 1885)

• 1894: “and the SAYING was God” – Scriveners translation from the Textus Receptus  (Basis of KJV / AV translation)

• 1911: “and [a] God was the word” – The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, by George William Horner.[43]

• 1924: “the Logos was divine” – The Bible: James Moffatt Translation, by James Moffatt.[44

Now, NONE of the above translations are what is labeled as the MODERN translations by the KJV ONLY Christians. The so-called “modern” translations did not begin to be published until 1978, which is when the New International Version was first published. And the New King James Version was publish in 1982. My point is that these MODERN translations actually FOLLOW or MIMIC the KJV in the BIAS toward the doctrine of the Trinity.

And the argue that every translation the came after the KJV is a CORRUPT MODERN translation is in truth, NO valid argument at all. For you see, the translations that I quotes above were publish around the SAME time as the KJV.

Now, I want you to also notice that I highlighted two particular translations, the Scrivener’s translation from the Textus Receptus, and the Coptic translation. Again, the Textus Receptus was actually derived from the King James “translation”, according to James White, a well know Bible scholar. And NOT that the KJV was “translated from” the Textus Receptus as Christians have been wrong misled to believe.

Now, I use the online LITERAL translation that was translated from the Textus Receptus, You can click on the link and read John 1:1-3, which I will quote in a moment. But first, I want to say that the word “Textus Receptus”  are Latin, and that they mean “the received text”. So to understand what “RECEIVED text: actually means. Please know and understand that the Mormons RECEIVE the Book of Mormons. But that does not make the Book of Mormon the pure correct word of God just because it is RECEIVED by some Christians.

Again, my point is to NOT place your faith in ONE version of God’s word ONLY. For you see, that one SINGLE version may NOT be the God INTENDED translation that God desires us to use. Now, most Christians, other than hardcore Mormon Christians, know and understand that the Book of Mormons has many errors and that it has been shown to be a deliberate forgery. But the Mormons who are still Mormons either REFUSE the TRUTH or they have never been made aware of the truth.

And likewise, the hardcore KJV ONLY Christians are the same, they either REFUSE to truly CONSIDER these other translations, or they have not been made aware of these other TRANSLATIONS and they have no idea of the many ERRORS in the KJV translation.

So let us read John 1:1-3 from the LITERAL translation that was translated from the Textus Receptus. With an OPEN mind and heart that is TRULY seeking to know the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.

LITERAL translation of John 1:1-3 FROM the Textus Receptus.

“In beginning was the SAYING, and the SAYING was TOWARD the God, and God was the SAYING.

John 1:2. The SAME was in beginning TOWARD the God.

John 1:3. ALL through SAME became, and apart from SAME became not yet one which has become.”

Let me point out some things that I see in this literal word for word translation that was translated FROM the TEXTUS RECEPTUS to show that there are OTHER POSSIBLE translations just like the NOTES in the margin of the FIRST KJV translations shows OTHER possible translations.

I will list the points that I see in a numbers list which I cover more in-depth in another book called “John 1:1 Made SIMPLE!”, which you can read later.

#1. Notice that the literal translation says “In beginning” with the definite article “the” as in, “In the beginning”. This teaches us that the beginning could very well be ANOTHER beginning and NOT the very first beginning in the eternity past as many Christians have been led to believe by the KJV translation.

#2. The Greek word “logos” is translated as the English word “the SAYING”. This teaches us that the Word in the KJV could very well mean the SAYING of God and NOT a separate divine being who was WITH the God at God’s side in the eternity past.

#3. The Greek word “pros” as the SAYING was “TOWARD” THE God as opposed to the Word was WITH God. This teaches us the the SAYING is a PROPHECY of God that prophesied of a person who would be brought into existence to move TOWARD being by the side of THE God. And in truth, this is exactly what was FULFILLED in the Bible and will yet be fulfilled during the AGE of 1000 years in the world to come.

#4. And God was the SAYING has NO definite article “the”. And this teaches us the the Greek word “theos” that is “TRANSLATED” as God with a capital “G” could very well mean that it SHOULD have been translated as “god” with a lower case “g” to show that the PROPHECY was “a god” who would JOIN his God and Father at His right hand side to be SEATED on Yahweh’s throne during the age to come.

#5. The SAYING is referred to as the SAME which teaches us that the “logos” did not actually become a second person from the God UNTIL the SAYING was made FLESH in John 1:14.

Now, the second translation that I highlighted in light blue was the Coptic translation. And since I have quite a few points that I want you to know and understand about the Coptic translation, I will dedicated all of chapter 6 to the Coptic or the Sahidic dialect of the Coptic language. So please be sure to read chapter 6 called “B-2 Ch6 Why is the Coptic the Earliest Translation?”

Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>>D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS!<<<

And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>>C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH!<<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.

Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament. 

To learn more TRUTH, then please return to

AMatterOfTruth.com

VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!

To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>>N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me. 

My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com.

Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.

Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

RETURN to HOMEPAGE at

AMatterOfTruth.com

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Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ!