117. JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, the TRINITY and THE ... - Answers

That is, when two nouns in the nominative case are linked by the verb ‘to be’ (am, is, are,
was, were, be, being or been), it may not be clear which is the subject and which is the
predicate. Thus, ‘ • •’ could be either ‘the Word was God’ or
‘God was the Word’. However, for the Greek syntax, the predicate () drops the
definite article (‘’) and is placed before the verb. Therefore, ‘ •
•’ can only be ‘The Word was God’, as in the KJV. (see The elements of New
Testament Greek, J.W. Wenham, p.35)
Notice that since this clause uses a linking verb, both the subject and the predicate are in the
nominative case (ie. ‘’ ending on the nouns - ‘•’ and ‘’), so case
endings do not identify the subject. Instead, the definite article ‘the’ points out the subject of
the clause. Greek uses the definite article ‘the’ to accomplish what the English language does
by word order (subject first, verb next, then the object in a sentence). Hence, of the three
ways that John could have written John 1:1, only one is correct.
i) • • FALSE (Not used by John)
can mean either ‘God was the Word’ or ‘the Word was God’. Both the subject and the
predicate having the article would have taught Sabellianism, so John didn’t write it this way;
ii) • • FALSE (Not used by John)
can mean only ‘God was the Word’. This would have clearly taught Sabellianism , so John
didn’t write it this way either;
iii) • • CORRECT (As used by John)
can mean only ‘The Word was God’.
Conclusion. Translations which render the Greek in this verse as ‘a god’ or ‘divine’ are
motivated by theological, not grammatical considerations. The phrase ‘a god’ is particularly
objectionable because it makes Christ a lesser god, which is polytheism and contrary to
Deuteronomy 32:39. If Christ is ‘a god’, then He must be either a ‘true God’ or a ‘false god’.
If a ‘true God’, then we have polytheism. If a ‘false god’, then He is unworthy of our belief.
Of course, the correct translation found in the KJV and most other translations (‘the word
was God’), presents Christ as the one and only true God, Jehovah. Therefore, He is
monotheistic and worthy of our belief. John’s high view of Christ as God begins with John
1:1 and ends his gospel with Thomas addressing Christ as ‘my Lord and my God’ in John
20:28. These and other verses assert the full deity of Christ.
PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE
TO BE.’ And he added: ‘This is what you are
to say to the sons of Israel, “I SHALL
PROVE TO BE has sent me unto you!”’
THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt
thou say unto the children of Israel, ‘I
AM hath sent me unto you.’
The effect is that the NWT completely hides the connection between Christ in John 8:58 and
Jehovah God in Exodus 3:14. The Watchtower aims to keep Jesus from being identified as
God Almighty.
Bible Teaching: Does the evidence point to Jesus calling Himself ‘I AM’ and hence
claiming to be God, or to ‘I have been’?
1) Notice in John 8:58 that Jesus calls Himself ‘ego eimi’ in Greek.
‘Ego eimi’ occurs 134 times in the Greek New Testament.
Ask: Why is it that the New World Translation correctly translates ‘ego eimi’ 133 times as ‘I
am’, except in John 8:58 where a major doctrine of the deity of Christ is at stake, where they
go against all their other correct translations of ‘Ego eimi’ and translate it as ‘I have been’?
Question: What does ‘I AM’ mean?
Answer: Yahweh is the eternal self-existent Being, who has always existed. God is beyond
the realm of time: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to
come.’ (Revelation 4:8b)
‘I am’ in Exodus 3:14 and ‘Yahweh’ in 3:15 are both derivatives of the verb ‘to be’.
2) Church writers before 325 AD, always quote John 8:58 as ‘I am’:
a) Irenaeus (120-202 AD)
Vol 1, p 478
b) Origen (185-254 AD)
Vol 4, p 643
c) Novatian (210-280 AD)
Treatise Concerning the Trinity,
Vol 5, p 624.
d) Thaumaturgus (205-265 AD)
Vol 6, p 51
10. John 8:58
NWT
‘Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.’
KJV
‘Before Abraham was, I am.’
Watchtower Teaching: JWs agree that Jesus was pre-existent (‘I have been’), but will not
agree that Jesus was eternally pre-existent (‘I am’). Jesus in John 8:58 claims to be the ‘I am’
of Exodus 3:14 which clearly refers to Jehovah God. They also mistranslate Exodus 3:14:
NWT
KJV
At this God said to Moses: ‘I SHALL And God said unto Moses, I AM
3) The JW Kingdom Interlinear Translation (1985) reveals that John 8:58 has ‘ego
eimi’ (Greek: ), translating it correctly as ‘I am’.This contradicts the NWT
reading.
4) Jesus claiming the title ‘I have been’ would not have caused the Jews to stone Him.
(John 8:59). Hebrew law gave five cases where stoning was legal:
i) Having a familiar spirit. (Leviticus 20:27)