John verses

[Alpha]

I didn't know the rules were so fixated on abstract logic. If that's what you want, that's what you get.

Why did the Jews pick up stones to stone Jesus unless he was claiming to be the great "I AM" ? Surely Christ was not claiming to be the pre-existing "plan" of God. Isn't every being a pre-existing plan of God? Such a thing would not demand a stoning unless Christ was claiming to be Jehovah himself.

Concerning John 1 ::

"Opponents of the Deity of Christ try to make the translation seem invalid. A simple lesson in Greek grammar and Bible translation will dispel that accusation. The subject of the verse is the Word, and the subject of the clause is God. No indication for an indefinite article is presented, therefore the correct rendering is “The Word was God.” Even if an indefinite article was added, then the verse clearly teaches that Jesus is a god. However, there cannot be two Gods (Deuteronomy 4:35; I Samuel 2:2; II Samuel 7:22; I Chronicles 17:20; Isaiah 37:16; 45:5). This teaches that Jesus is God."

Though Unitarians might make the argument that the bible refers to Satan being the god of this world, this is a negative statement referring to Satan influencing this world in sin. Notice, Satan is referred to being the only god of this negative influence. However, the God of the Bible is the God of positive influence in this world, and there can only be one God that is holy. Therefore, if Christ was referred to "a god" in John 1, then that means there are "two Gods" of positive influence, which is blasphemy itself. Therefore, the proper rendering has to be:

"The Word was God", not "the Word was a god".

Keep in mind also, that biblicalunitarian.com would say,

Although context is the final arbiter, it is almost always the case in the New Testament that when “God” refers to the Father, the definite article appears in the Greek text (this article can be seen only in the Greek text, it is never translated into English).

Yes, context is very important. There cannot be two God's.

Since the definite article is missing from the second occurrence of “theos” (“God,”) the usual meaning would be “god” or “divine.”

That's nice and all, but there's one problem:

"No indication for an indefinite article is presented, therefore the correct rendering is 'The Word was God.' (Quoted earlier as well).

I am not Greek by the way. How do you suppose we resolve this problem of he said, she said?

[Aineo]

The Forum Rules are far from abstract but give members concrete rules that should be followed. What is abstract logic is the site you linked to. However since there an active thread dealing with John 1 why start another one? Therefore, this thread is locked and I will respond to your post on the existing thread.