Clear asked (post #278) : M2C :
How would one write the words “The Word was THE God” in clear koine greek?
How would one write the words : “The Word was A God” in clear koine greek?
Which result matches what John wrote? (Pick any word order you want for the translation of this simple phrase since it doesn't matter in Greek)
JM2C replied (post #288) Either one denies the Trinity. “and the Word was the God” AND “and the Word was a god” are all Unitarians, from the Jews, Muslims, Arians/jw, Modalist, Sabellianism they all denied the Trinity. The predicate nominative in the 3rd clause is the word “theos/God” and the linking verb is the word “en/was” and the subject is the “ho logos/the Word”. Think of the linking verb “was/en” as an equal sign. Then it would read like this: “and the Word = God”. IOW, John made it “Clear” in the 3rd clause that the “Word” is NOT an “a god” as the 1st clause suggested that “In the beginning was the Word”, and NOT “the God” as the 2nd clause suggested “and the Word was with God” and therefore John’s conclusion in the 3rd clause can only be “and the Word was God”. There is no other logical conclusion in the 3rd clause but “and the Word was God”. You can’t argue from this if you can only read the whole verse and not just the 3rd clause like all these Unitarians have done for hundreds of years.
JM2C :
Nothing in your post answered the very, very, simple question I asked, but instead, your post simply restates your position with irrelevant, confused and incorrect Jargon that is not actual koine Greek grammar. (ην is NOT the same as an equal sign") Creating incorrect rules to support your theory does not enlighten, but confuses readers.
JM2C, The greek involved is very, very, very simple.
I asked you :
How would one write the words “The Word was THE God” in clear koine greek?
How would one write the words : “The Word was A God” in clear koine greek?
Readers can then simply compare with their own eyes, the resulting sentences to what John wrote and see simply and clearly what Johns sentence says. If you need help with this, ask someone you trust who actually can read greek to help you with these two five-word sentences.
FORUM READERS
If the religious context is becoming a stumbling block for others of you, then pick any words without religious bias and plug them into the greek and see what the results are.
For example : Pick ANY greek nouns you want and plug it into this sentence and the result is the same.
Instead of translating "The Word was A God." and "The Word was THE God.", try translating "The dog was A friend" and "The dog was THE friend",
or "The man was A brother" versus "The man was THE brother.",
or "The pencil was A tool." versus "The pencil was THE tool."
Then, simply match the result to Johns usage and you will see if John 1:1 can or should mean "The word was A God.", or "The word was THE God." when it is not forced by a specific theological context.
If you switch nouns in all three clauses, the result is the same. For example, : "In the beginning was the "Pencil", and the "Pencil" was with God, and the "Pencil was a God." Pick any noun you want, the results will be the same. This is a very, very, very simple point. It does not require support from confusing irrelevant and incorrect and confusing jargon to see the point.
When JM2C provides us all with a correct answer of the simple question of translation I asked him to provide, you will see that this is correct.
Clear
εινεδρει