The Apostles & Ante-Nicene Fathers Call Jesus God

Ignatius, student of the Apostle John (Epistle of Ignatius) continues teaching the correct message found in the Bible.

“…and elected through the true passion by the will of the Father, and Jesus Christ, our God…”

Formal Equivalence (Word-For-Word)

  • Received Text (Textus Receptus)

    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. … 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 KJV (48.83% / 66.58%)

    –

    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. … 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 NKJV (60.32% / 65.21%)

  • Majority Text

    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. … 14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 WEB (World English Bible)

  • Critical Text

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. … 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 LSB (NASB ‘95 61.65% / 67.99%)

    –

    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. … 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[a] from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 ESV (62.36% / 68.74%)

Dynamic Equivalence (Thought-For-Thought)

  • Critical Text

    In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God,and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. … 14 So the Word became human[a] and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.[b] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. — John 1:1-3,14 NLT (70.08% / 39.90%)

    –

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. … 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 NIV (67.20% / 53.10%)

    –

    1 In the beginning[a] was the Word, and the Word was with God,[b] and the Word was fully God.[c] 2 The Word[d] was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created[e] by him, and apart from him not one thing was created[f] that has been created.[g] … 14 Now[a] the Word became flesh[b] and took up residence[c] among us. We[d] saw his glory—the glory of the one and only,[e] full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. — John 1:1-3,14 NET (66.28% / 53.94%)

  • NET Bible Translator Notes

    c. John 1:1 NET tn Or “and what God was the Word was.” Colwell’s Rule is often invoked to support the translation of θεός (theos) as definite (“God”) rather than indefinite (“a god”) here. However, Colwell’s Rule merely permits, but does not demand, that a predicate nominative ahead of an equative verb be translated as definite rather than indefinite. Furthermore, Colwell’s Rule did not deal with a third possibility, that the anarthrous predicate noun may have more of a qualitative nuance when placed ahead of the verb. A definite meaning for the term is reflected in the traditional rendering “the word was God.” From a technical standpoint, though, it is preferable to see a qualitative aspect to anarthrous θεός in John 1:1c NET (ExSyn 266-69). Translations like the NEB, REB, and Moffatt are helpful in capturing the sense in John 1:1c NET, that the Word was fully deity in essence (just as much God as God the Father). However, in contemporary English “the Word was divine” (Moffatt) does not quite catch the meaning since “divine” as a descriptive term is not used in contemporary English exclusively of God. The translation “what God was the Word was” is perhaps the most nuanced rendering, conveying that everything God was in essence, the Word was too. This points to unity of essence between the Father and the Son without equating the persons. However, in surveying a number of native speakers of English, some of whom had formal theological training and some of whom did not, the editors concluded that the fine distinctions indicated by “what God was the Word was” would not be understood by many contemporary readers. Thus the translation “the Word was fully God” was chosen because it is more likely to convey the meaning to the average English reader that the Logos (which “became flesh and took up residence among us” in John 1:14 NET and is thereafter identified in the Fourth Gospel as Jesus) is one in essence with God the Father. The previous phrase, “the Word was with God,” shows that the Logos is distinct in person from God the Father.sn And the Word was fully God. John’s theology consistently drives toward the conclusion that Jesus, the incarnate Word, is just as much God as God the Father. This can be seen, for example, in texts like John 10:30 NET (“The Father and I are one”), John 17:11 NET (“so that they may be one just as we are one”), and John 8:58 NET (“before Abraham came into existence, I am”). The construction in John 1:1c NET does not equate the Word with the person of God (this is ruled out by 1:1b, “the Word was with God”); rather it affirms that the Word and God are one in essence.

Messianic Bible translations

  • Critical Text

    In the beginning was the Word.[a] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. … 14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory,[a] the glory of the one and only[b] from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 TLV (Tree of Life Version, Formal Equivalent)

    –

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing made had being. … 14 The Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw his Sh’khinah, the Sh’khinah of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. — John 1:1-3,14 CJB (Complete Jewish Bible, Dynamic Equivalent)

Highly Idiomatic Translation / Paraphrase

  • Critical Text

    1-2 The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one. 3-5 Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!—came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out. … 14 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. — John 1:1-3,14 MSG (The Message)

Conclusion

🚫 BEWARE: the cultists known as Jehovah Witnesses. This cult, in an act of unparalleled bias, has deliberately changed the underlying greek text to conform to their false doctrines by inserting articles where they don’t belong. To defend against this, please read this article.

⚠️ Warning: The cults will attempt to twist the word begotten (μονογενής, ές (monogenés)) and force it to mean that Jesus was “created” in a feeble attempt to strip Jesus of his deity. Consider John 3:16 where Jesus is speaking to a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus:

“For God [speaking of the Father] so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Educated Greek scholars and professors reveal that monogenés comes from two Greek terms: monos meaning “one” and the noun genes which means “kind” or “type.” So, you put these two words together and you have monogenes which means: “unique,” “only,” or “one of its kind.”

That’s what Jesus is talking about in John 3:16. He is not saying that God the Father created Him. He’s saying that He is God’s only, unique, one of a kind Savior! This is why Peter could boldly pronounce to the Sanhedrin in Acts 4:12:

“…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”

Jesus is the “monogenes,” the only, one of a kind Savior! There is salvation in no one else. That’s what John 3:16 is saying.