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John 1 opening: Possible interpretation?
#3
To be fair, i will give a response to your original post in a more direct fashion.
Quote:In James 1:4, it says "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything,? or ?But let patience have her perfect work...? In this verse, patience is given a personality. It is referred to as a she. Now no one would believe that this verse in any way is implying that patience is an actual person, divine or otherwise. It is just a figure of speech, giving personality to a concept or set of ideas.
An article does not imply personality. Very many languages aside from english use gender-specific articles for things that do not have personality.


Quote:So is the opening of John chapter one also an example of the use of such figures of speech?

?[1] 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.? John chapter 1 (New Living Translation).
if you are saying the male article does not imply personality, this is possible, but the rest of the grammar has to be looked at, too.

Quote:The Word in the beginning - There is no timeline on the existence of the soul; it is eternal. Our souls were not created at a certain point in time like our human form - they were imparted unto man after he was created. Our souls were there in the beginning because in the beginning they were still in God before he breathed His spirit or breath of life unto man. Humanity was not there at the beginning but our true selves (our souls) were because they had not yet ?left?. So, the Word [Jesus] was with God and was God in the beginning, but it also applies to us. Does anyone agree?
No. Also, souls are not eternal in the sense that God is eternal. It has a beginning, (earliest the the 6th day), and they will have an end (after time though). All things will cease to exist, even souls.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
Likewise, before creation, before the beginning, God was the only thing that existed.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Note: in the beginning is at the moment of creation. Before that, God was only God. The Word is the vehicle of creation, the tool, the container.

Quote:God created everything through His Word. It does not say in Genesis that the commands of God were fulfilled or executed by Christ when He created the Universe. So as I interpret it, ?he? and ?him? is the Word given a personality in a figurative sense. Everything was created or fulfilled with through the Word. The Word is the miltha, the way in which God promulgates His will.
i agree.

Quote:?So the Word became flesh and made his home among us.? John 1:14 (New Living Translation).
I believe this verse specifically applies to Jesus. Doesn?t this mean that God?s miltha is flesh instead of a burning bush, etc.? In the prophesies about Jesus Christ we hear that God said he would ?put his words in his [Jesus?] mouth?. (Interestingly, in Islam Jesus is revered as ?Kalimatullah? meaning a word from God.)

I do not believe in the Trinity, nor do I believe that Jesus was the totality of God existing in one human form. God is omnipotent and omnipresent, He also said that we cannot see Him in Exodus. God is too vast to fit in one person and too beautiful to describe or fathom. Jesus was God?s miltha but not the totality of God Himself. If he was, why did He pray to God? So to me, ?the Word became flesh? does not mean that God manifested Himself totally as Jesus. The material form is limitation, God sees all, knows all and is omnipresent because He is not localised in one form.
i agree. Though the most important aspect to me is that he is the totality of God to us as ignorant humans, as we cannot percive the totality of God, and Jesus is the best description thereof.

Quote:Also, can ?the Word became flesh? also apply in a general sense to the fulfilment of God?s command? Just as He said, ?Let there be light,? and there was light, so did He call us all to be. So ?the Word became flesh? = the Word is fulfilled? ?The Word became light? = the Word is fulfilled?
i am not sure what you are getting at. It may be you mean that when God created light, he immediately revealed himself therein. This is true in many aspects, such as love, fire, water, ... (you cannot define God, but he makes himself definable in creation). But i don't think that is what you were saying (?).
Jesus is the one true God of the Bible.
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Re: John 1 opening: Possible interpretation? - by Andrej - 01-13-2011, 04:19 AM

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