IF John 1:1 is read
properly, i.e. honestly and with an open-mind, the term "Jesus" isn't in it at all, either directly or by inference.
Only when one
WRONGLY ASSUMES that they can substitute “Jesus” into
BOTH John 1:14
AND John 1:1 (when “Jesus” doesn't appear in either verse) for the term “the Word”, can one
misinterpret those two very simple and easy to understand verses.
Please see the following link for an example of the
false logic being used by “Christians” to read something into John 1:1 which simply isn't there.
https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/111/Illicit_Substitution_of_Identicals
An
illicit substitution is one of the many forms of non sequitur logical fallacies, i.e.
faulty deductions that simply
do not logically follow from the information at hand. Along with the examples at the link above, please consider the following illicit substitution, to realize how
dangerous this type of
irrational thinking really is.
Mr. Hatfield owns a .45 caliber pistol.
Mr. McCoy was shot by a man with a .45 caliber pistol.
Mr. Hatfield is therefore guilty of shooting Mr. McCoy.
Hopefully this illustrates how dangerous illicit substitutions can be, causing people to jump to
erroneous conclusions using this
false logic (i.e.
illogic). Bearing this in mind, please consider there are at least 4 different ways that God's Word is referred to, or defined as, in the Bible.
a) The Word of the "I AM" came to the Prophets/God's Messengers
by vision/dream. (telepathically).
b) The Word of the "I AM" was
verbally spoken by the Prophets/God's Messengers.
c) The Word of the "I AM" was recorded
in writing by the Prophets/God's Messengers (including the Disciples and Apostles), in what we refer to as the Bible (the written Word of God).
d) The Word of the "I AM" was also
MADE into
a flesh and blood example for us (The Way -
John 14:6), in the form of the human+Being Jesus+Christ.
So why do “Christians”
arbitrarily choose one of the four methods in which the Word of the "I AM" has been delivered to us, in preference to the other three, to use in their illicit substitution into John 1:1? Is it not because “Christians” want to read into those verses something that
isn't actually there?
By substituting the four different forms in which the Word was delivered from God to us listed above, John 1:1 would read as follows:-
In [the] beginning was the vision/dream, and the vision/dream was with THE God, and the vision/dream was God.
In [the] beginning was the spoken Word, and the spoken Word was with THE God, and the spoken Word was God.
In [the] beginning was the Bible, and the Bible was with THE God, and God was the Bible.
In [the] beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with THE God, and Jesus was God.
Hopefully the fundamental flaw in these types of
illicit substitutions is self-evident, but just in case it isn't, please consider the following
insurmountable difficulties in claiming Jesus is God:-
1) Clearly God was
NOT a vision, even if that vision came from Him. It was
the TRUTH of that vision that was, since the beginning, with God and was God, because God
IS the
TRUTH and, unlike satan and humans, God cannot lie.
2) Clearly God was
NOT a verbal message, even if that verbal message was His Word, being delivered by His Messengers. It was
the TRUTH contained within that verbal message that was, since the beginning, with God and was God, because God
IS the
TRUTH and, unlike satan and humans, God cannot lie.
3) Clearly God was
NOT a book, even if that book was the Bible. It was
the TRUTH contained within the Bible that was, since the beginning, with God and was God, because God
IS the
TRUTH and, unlike satan and humans, God cannot lie.
4) It therefore
LOGICALLY follows that God was
NOT Jesus, even if Jesus was the flesh and blood example God gave us. It was
the TRUTH that Jesus spoke and did that was, since the beginning, with God and was God, because God
IS the
TRUTH and, unlike satan and humans, God cannot lie.
5) How could anyone be
WITH someone at the same time they were that someone? No one claims some part of them was “with them” (my head was with me) nor would anyone claim to be with themselves (I was with me), except in jest.
6) There is also a tense problem with John 1:1 that is being ignored, which likewise proves the illicit substitution of “Jesus” for "the Word" in that verse simply does
NOT work. The last phrase of the verse is as follows:
“...and the Word
WAS God” (or “...Jesus
WAS God” – past tense).
IF Jesus actually
IS God, then
ALL of the verb tenses in John 1:1 should be present tense,
NOT past tense. But that is
NOT what it says, is it? "Jesus
WAS God", is clearly
PAST TENSE.
It seems noteworthy that the "tense blindness" is not only
misapplied in John 1:1, but in the other verse Christians routinely quote as evidence that Jesus allegedly claimed to be God: John 8:58 KJV (
John 8:49 King of kings' Bible).
Where using the illicit substitution in John 1:1 ignores the past tense reference ("Jesus
WAS God") that proves its error, John 8:58 KJV ignores the fact that the present tense form of "to be" is used because using the past tense form would indicate Christ (speaking through the mouth of Jesus - see
John 8:14,
John 17:5,
John 18:36) no longer existed (it's "I
am going to live forever",
NOT "I
was going to live forever", the latter of which would mean that is no longer going to happen).
7) And finally, to further illustrate how absurd this substitution idea really is, please consider how substituting both the pagan Babylonian/Roman “trinity” and the Son Jesus into John 1:1 would render that verse:-
John 1:1 In [the] beginning was the Word, and the Word was with THE God, and the Word was God.
...would become...
John 1:1 In [the] beginning was the Son Jesus, and the Son Jesus was with THE Father, Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and the Son Jesus was the Father, Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Which should leave no reasonable doubt in any rationally-minded human+Being that Jesus is
NOT God.
Who Jesus really
WAS, as explained in great detail in the Scriptures, is the
mortal human Son born of the virgin body of Mary, Who
WAS definitely
OF this world (and descended from the line of David). Hence His designation as “the Son of Man”.
Christ, which means “the Anointed One” (same as Messiah does in Hebrew or Mahdi does in Arabic)
IS the
Firstborn Son of God (
Rom. 8:29,
Col. 1:15,
Rev. 3:14), Who is an
IMMORTAL Spirit-Being and definitely is
NOT OF THIS WORLD (
John 8:14,
17:5,
18:36).
2000 years ago, when Christ incarnated Jesus (
John 1:14), They became the human+Being known as Jesus+Christ. The human body of Jesus is now long-gone. Which is why Christ prophesied that during His Second Coming, He (Christ) will be here in a
NEW BODY (from Joseph-Ephraim -
Gen. 49:10,
22-24) with a
NEW NAME (
Rev. 2:17,
3:12,
19:12).
We have the Word of
THE ONE TRUE GOD (the "I AM) on that.