JOHN 1:1
By Jonathan Mitchell

Meditations on Multiple Translations

In the Jonathan Mitchell New Testament, on offer are multiple renderings of this verse. This study will investigate the implications and interpretations of each of these translations. May the Spirit lead us into all layers of the Truth offered therein. We will discuss a fair amount of grammar and word meanings, along the way. We will observe different paradigms that emerge. Let us read with an open mind and an enquiring spirit. Let us begin...

"Within the midst of a beginning (or: In [the] Origin, in union with Headship and centered in Sovereignty) there was, and continued being, the Logos (the Word; the Thought; the collection of thoughts; the Idea; the Reason; the discourse; the speech and communication; the verbal expression; the Message; the reasoned, laid-out and ordered arrangement). And the Logos (the idea; the thought; the expression; the Word) was, and continued being, facing, [directed, and moving] toward, (or: continued being face to face with) God. And the Logos (the Word; the thought; the idea; the reason; the expression) continued being God."

This verse begins with the preposition en, and this first translation offers four ways to render it:

a) "Within the midst of" which presents us with the sense of location; what follows is located "within the midst of a beginning." Notice that there is no definite article before the noun "beginning." The subject of the first statement is in reference to "a beginning," not "the beginning."

b) In the parenthetical expansion, on offer is the simple rendering "in" which is broader, and more ambiguous. Because of the semantic range of this preposition, any of the other meanings could be nuanced from the phrase "in [the] Origin." The definite article "the" is inserted, bracketed, since it is not in the Greek text but this is a possible rendering into English, even though it would not carry the sense of the definite article, were it in the text. Notice the alternate rending of archè as "Origin," rather than the first rendering, "beginning." This would emphasize the nuance of "source," rather than the sense of the "start" of something.

c) Next is the emphasis of the preposition in relationship, as well as location: "in union with Headship," offering another meaning of the noun. Here archè also has the sense of relationship - as with that of a "head" to its "body." The context could also refer to the position of the leader, or progenitor, of a tribe or other social organization.

d) Finally, in this first expanded rendering of the verse, we have "centered in Sovereignty." This rendering of the noun, is similar to "Headship," but suggests a political or governmental context, such as a "reign" or a "kingdom." Here, the statement which follows has its center in Sovereignty. We will consider other renderings of this opening phrase, below.

Before moving on in this verse, let us briefly look at a couple other places where we find the term archè. The foremost, where we find it in the same Greek phrase, is in Gen. 1:1 (LXX):

"Within the midst of beginning (or: In union with Headship and centered in Sovereignty), God produced (or: formed; constructed) the atmosphere and the land (territory; ground; soil)."

We can observe how closely these two verses are connected when we read Jn. 1:3,

"All things suddenly happened and came to be (or: occur and come to be; were birthed) by means of It, or Him (or: He at some point gives birth to all humanity through It), and apart from It (or: Him) not even one thing comes into being (occurs; was birthed; came into being; happens) which has come into being (which has occurred; which has happened)."

The subject of John's prologue (Jn. 1:1-18) fleshes out the topic of the first verse, but this study will be focused on 1:1. Now John later records Jesus as referring to Himself as the archè, in Jn. 8:25,

"They then began saying to Him, "YOU! - what (or: who) ARE you?" Jesus says to them, 'That which I am even habitually telling you: the Beginning, the Origin, the Source and the Chief One (or: The Archè).'"

We find more instruction in Rev. 21:6b,

"I am the Alpha and the Omega: The Beginning (Origin; Source; Headship; First Principle) and The End (The Goal; Consummation; The Final Act; The Finished Product; The Destiny; The Purpose)."

We will stop here, and move on to the rest of the first clause of 1:1;

"there was, and continued being, the Logos (the Word; the Thought; the collection of thoughts; the Idea; the Reason; the discourse; the speech and communication; the verbal expression; the Message; the reasoned, laid-out and ordered arrangement)."

The verb of this clause is the imperfect tense of the verb "to be; to exist." This tense indicates continued action that began in the past and may continue on to the present time. Thus, the verb is given as "was, and continued being." In this rendering, the subject of the verb is "there," and the predicate is "the Logos (etc.)." This same verb, in the same tense, is also used in the next two statements of this verse.

The term "Logos" has become a common loan word from the Greek, and is a transliteration of the Greek noun. In the next two declarative statement, "Logos" is set as the subject of those sentences, and is the primary subject of vss. 1-14. However, in all these verses, we realize that the Logos also is incarnated (made flesh) in Jesus Christ, but we will not develop that thought here. So our next step is to examine the semantic range of this Greek term, as given in the first rendering of vs. 1. Other meanings will be presented, below.

As we observe, in the parenthetical expansion, the term Logos has a very broad semantic range. It comes from the verb legò, which begins with the core idea of laying something out in a particular arranged order. It can also signify gathering things together to present a thought or an idea. The most common rendering of this verb is "to say; to make a verbal expression; to speak a message; to make a declaration; etc." Therefore, what is said is "a word; a thought; etc." The definite article is present, so the offered renderings are: "the Word; the Thought; the collection of thoughts; the Idea; the Reason; the discourse; the speech and communication; the verbal expression; the Message; the reasoned, laid-out and ordered arrangement." That's a mouthful.

A word usually begins with a thought. Messages usually involve reason, and by extension, the reason usually has purpose. This term can also signify a collection of thoughts, or, an idea. It can refer to discourse, a speech or communication, such as "a message." All of this was "in union with a beginning," and it was "the reasoned, laid-out and ordered arrangement" that was "centered in" a particular beginning. All these terms are easily understood, but meditating upon each of these options (substituting one, after another, into this opening clause can really color our world). But on to the next statement...

"And the Logos (the idea; the thought; the expression; the Word) was, and continued being, facing, [directed, and moving] toward, (or: continued being face to face with) God."

We just discussed the subject, Logos (etc.), and the verb in the previous section (they are repeated here) and so let us move on to the prepositional phrase that ends this statement, serving as a predicate. The preposition is pros, and, like all Greek prepositions, can serve different functions. The basic idea of this preposition is movement toward something, and by implication, "facing" the object of this preposition. Here I inserted "[directed, and moving]" to aid the reader in getting a mental picture of what is being described. The expanded rendering, including the verb, is "continued being face to face with." And this brings us to the object of this facing, moving toward, and being face to face with: God.

Now the phrase is commonly rendered "with God," which is grammatically correct, but leaves a lot out of what John could have been saying about the relationship between the Logos and God. If we consider the idea of directed motion, we see that God is the destiny of this directed motion. If we ponder what it means to be "face-to-face" with God, this gives much more to consider. Focus on God, moving toward God, and being present with God is what this statement is telling us about "the Logos." Now before rushing on, alternatively read this statement while one-after-another substituting each semantic meaning of Logos as the subject. Below we get to do this in a number of different ways. But now, to the next sentence...

"And the Logos (the Word; the thought; the idea; the reason; the expression) continued being God."

Now the only difference in this statement from the last is that the predicate is "God." It is common in English translations to omit the definite article, "the," before a proper name, and the term God is often classified as a proper name, as in the second statement of this verse. There, the Greek has "toward the God." But in our present statement, John did not put the definite article before "God." We mention this because theological debate has arisen where some have claimed that the term God, without the article, is not saying that the Logos was "the God" of the previous statement, and of the virtual conflation of the first two statements in the following verse (1:2):

"This (or: This One) [i.e., the Logos] was continuing in existence, within a power of beginning and in union with Headship and Sovereign principle, facing [directed, and moving] toward (or: staying with) [the] God." Here, for clarity of my point, I added the definite article that is in the Greek text, before the word "God."

We suggest that this final statement of vs. 1, above, is defining the essence, being, character and source of the Logos. The Logos is the subject of the sentence, since it has the definite article. The term God is the predicate of the sentence: it gives us information about the Logos. We might compare this to the statement that "God is Spirit" (Jn. 4:24). Here we could simply say "The Logos is God."

Let us now give attention to the first alternate rendering of verse 1:

"Originally, within the midst of the first principle, the Word, a Patterned Design, was existing and continued to be; and then the Word, or Patterned Design, was being [projected] toward God. And this Word, or Patterned Design... It continued existing actually and essentially being God."

On offer here are two renderings of the opening prepositional phrase. The first one gives us the whole phrase in one word: "Originally." The second one modifies "Originally," adding the information that this origin was "within the midst of the 'first principle' (archè)." I joined the first and second clauses into a compound sentence while instead of rendering the conjunction between them as "and," rendering it as "and then." This reading of the Greek suggests a dynamic: a movement from beginning to development. Thus we have: "the Word, a Patterned Design, was existing and continued to be; and then the Word, or Patterned Design, was being [projected] toward God." Take note of the expanded rendering of "the Word" as being "a Patterned Design." This second meaning of Logos was taken from the theological discussions of logos in Information and the Nature of Reality, Paul Davies & Niels Henrik Gregersen, Editors, Cambridge Univ. Press 2010. I draw from this work once again in the final rendering, below.

In the final clause I rendered the definite article as a demonstrative, "this," which, according to A.T. Robertson, was the original function of the article. It was like a finger, pointing: "this Word, or Patterned Design." The three dots that follow suggest a pause in John's thoughts, and then he continues, "It continued existing actually and essentially being God. Here, "continued existing actually and essentially being" is an expanded rendering of the verb, offering the nuances inherent in the verb "to be; to exist." This Word was an essential aspect - dare we say infusing ingredient (?) - of Who and What God is. This Word was within the midst of the First Principle, which is God, Himself. The idea of a Patterned Design can be seen in language, in DNA, in fractals, to mention just a few, and it is a characteristic of logos.

Next:

"In command was Reason {the ontological "structure of the mind which enables the mind to grasp and transform reality" [Paul Tillich]}, and Reason was staying with God, for Reason {this ontological mental structure} was just what God was."

A cognate of archè is the noun archòn: one invested with power; a chief; a ruler; a prince; a magistrate; a high official; a lord; the one in first place. This person was normally "in command." Then on offer is one of the central meanings of logos: reason. I inserted Paul Tillich's definition of reason in brackets: "the ontological structure... etc." The enabling of "the mind to grasp and transform reality" fits well with the idea of "creating." Reason guided the creation (Jn. 1:3). In the next clause I rendered the verb and the preposition, "was staying with," since the verb is in the imperfect tense, and "being with" is one of the meanings of the preposition. The final clause ends in a paraphrase, "was just what God was," which is a more emphatic way of reading the Greek.

Now reason may be thought of as involving "words" and "thoughts," but it holds for us a more purposed, even patterned, way of thinking or communicating. Should we read John's prologue with this as the meaning of logos, we might arrive at a different picture from this passage. I recommend doing this.

Then, another rendering:

"The Thought, or The Concept, was in the midst of [the] Source. The Thought, or The Concept, was oriented toward the Deity. And the Thought, or The Concept, was Deity."

Here I focused on "thought" and "concept," from among our choices for logos. "Source" views "the beginning" as the environment from which the thought or the concept emerged. Rearranging the order, placing Thought/Concept where normal English subjects stand in a sentence, takes our emphasis away from "in the beginning" to the main topic of the Prologue: the Logos. The Logos was within the midst of, in union with, and centered in God (the Source). The Logos (Thought/Concept) "was oriented toward the Deity (an alternate rendering of theos). "And the Thought, or The Concept, was Deity." Using different terms can be a catalyst for new thinking. Such famous verses, as Jn. 1:1, can often be passed over without our letting them speak deeper into us. Since John equates the Concept with Deity, can we see in a new way how it was Deity that did the work of creation (vs. 3)? That is not a new idea, but it might enable us to see the Deity in all that He created from out of Himself.

And then:

"In beginning, the collected and put side by side Thoughts continued in progressive existence, and the collected and put side by side Thoughts continued being a progression to God, and God {"the Divine Mystery"

- Paul Tillich's definition of theos} was in continued existence being those collected and put side by side Thoughts."

I now rendered the opening phrase (rendered literally, here) as functioning as a participle that sets the stage for the action that will be following, in subsequent verses. But in this beginning the Actor (Thoughts) is described and identified. "The collected and put side by side Thoughts" is an expansion of logos, drawing from the basic idea of JOHN 1:1ò, cited above. The verb, being in the imperfect tense, can indicate progressive action - or in this case, progressive being or existence. As Paul said in Rom. 11:36, all things are from out of the midst of God, pass through the midst of God, and return into the midst of God (my translation). There is a dynamic, a progression, and as Paul instructs us, it is a progression "to God."

In the final clause, some will object that since here God does not have the definite article that it cannot be the subject of the clause. However, I chose to break with that rule and simply follow the order of the words in the text, reading this whole verse as one sentence. In the text, we have "a progression to [the] God, and God... was in continued existence being... Thoughts." It seems reasonable that if we don't insert a break between "the God" and "and God" (there was no punctuation in the oldest manuscripts), that the term God is the same in both cases. The final "the logos" has the article, not because it is the subject of the clause, but because throughout this verse it has been indicated as "the Word/this Word" - in its various renderings. "God was in continued existence being those collected and put side by side Thoughts." Notice that because logos can mean "thoughts," and not just "a thought," or an "idea," that I translated a singular noun into a plural. We have the same thing in the rendering "message."

And now:

"In union with [the] beginning there was the continued existence of the laid-out Idea {the blueprint - Rohr}, and the laid-out Idea {blueprint} was continued existence face to face with God, and the laid-out Idea {blueprint} continued in existence being "the Divine Mystery."

The emphasis, here, is on the preposition being rendered "in union with," and on the expanded rendering of logos as "the laid-out idea (the blueprint)." As indicated, I follow Richard Rohr with translating the logos as "the blueprint." This is a brilliant and insightful capturing of a central idea inherent in this word. It corresponds to Yahweh telling Moses to construct the tabernacle "according to the pattern" - and that was during the time of the creation of Israel as a People of God. The Logos is the Pattern; the Blueprint. The Blueprint involved Reason; it was God's Idea - and that Idea is Christ!

This Idea/Blueprint is constantly "face to face with God." This Blueprint continued in existence being "the Divine Mystery" (Tillich), the Mystery (Secret) of which Paul has expounded in his letters.

Next:

"At a starting point, the Word continued Being. Then the Word was Being [directed] toward God. And then {or: yet} the Word was Being God {essential Deity; Divine Essence}."

Now we have the archè phrase as: "At the starting point." This simply provides the picture using different words. By rendering the verb, "continued Being," we indicate that the Word had "being" before the "starting point" of creation, and by capitalizing "Being," we indicate its participation in, or essential existence as, God - as the rest of the verse goes on to explain. The Word continued existing as "Being." Also, it was "Being [directed] toward God." It has a focus, a destiny, a purpose. It would take all that It created (1:3) into the midst of God.

The conjunction opening the final clause is offered in two ways: "And then," or, "And yet." Now possibly the simple rendering "And," would be better, but in that case our readers might not ponder these possibilities. "And then," suggests a progression, based upon the "toward" of the previous clause. "And yet," as the rendering, might have John affirming that even though the Word was being "[directed] toward God," It was, in fact, "Being God {essential Deity; Divine Essence}." Choices in translating the smallest word can make a difference.

And another:

"Within the power of beginning - which is the controlling principle and power of the entire process - there existed the Idea {the creative and unifying principle of the cosmos}, and the Idea was aimed at and moving toward God. Also, the Idea existed being God."

The opening phrase combines the idea of the power of one who leads, with the project which he is beginning. Next is the qualifier that explains this power: "the controlling principle and power of the entire process." This expansion, which is derived from the root concepts of archè, presents the ideas of process (implied from "at the start" or "in a beginning) along with the principle of position (leadership; headship) combined with the power of the position that is held. So "within the power of beginning, there existed the Idea." This idea can be seen as "the creative and unifying principle of the cosmos" ("All things [that] suddenly happened and came to be" - Jn. 1:3a). This Idea (that existed in a beginning) "was aimed at and moving toward God." God is the target; God is the goal; God is the destiny toward which this Idea (Logos) is moving. The Logos is pointing to God. And then we see that "the Idea existed being God." It is God from beginning to end; from the Alpha to the Omega. God was the Power of this beginning, and of the process that followed, and which continues moving forward into the midst of God.

Next is an expanded rendering, including paraphrases, based upon the insights of Jean-Yves Leloup:

"The Logos continued being within Archè (Source; = The Son was in the midst of [the] Father; [note: I owe to Jean-Yves Leloup the connecting of Archè with the Father]), and the Logos continued being in a movement toward God (= The Son existed in a movement toward the Father), and the Logos continued being God (= The Son was [part of? Within?] the Father)."

We begin with transliterations of the Greek words that are now familiar to our readers. In the parenthetical expansion, I offer archè as "Source," followed by a paraphrase, "The Son was in the midst of [the] Father." Then we have "the Logos continued being in a movement toward (Greek: pros) God. I followed this with another paraphrase: "The Son existed in a movement toward the Father." The Son, the Logos, is the Way to union with God. The Son (Logos) is the Pattern and the Path. The last clause is, "the Logos continued being God." Paraphrasing this clause we have "The Son was..." But here the analogy may break down, so I inserted potential qualifiers, "[part of? Within?]," before the predicate, "the Father." Now Leloup did not equate the term "God" with "the Father," in this verse, but assigning the Son and the Father as being identities in the verse seems to lead to the interpretation of God being the Father, in this scene. This rendering was included in my NT to cause the reader to think. May His Reason shed light on it.

Finally, a full paraphrase:

"= Centered in, and in union with, a starting of a Beginning, there was existing, and continued being, the transfer and input of Information that was conveying Meaning [= the Word and Will], and this transfer and input of Information that conveyed [purposed, causal] Meaning continued being projected with God as its Aim, and God continued in existence in this transfer and conveyance of Meaning-bearing Information {or: this "Flow of Information that is a Pattern-forming Influence;" = "God's self-expression in a creation"})."

I owe the concepts of these interpretive renderings in this final option to an essay, "The science of complexity: a new theological resource?" by Arthur Peacocke, citing John Macquarrie, in Information and the Nature of Reality, cited above.

Here I conflated both the preposition (Centered in, and in union with) and the noun (a starting of a Beginning). The renderings of logos are drawn from the authors cited:

"the transfer and input of Information that was conveying Meaning [= the Word and Will], and this transfer and input of Information that conveyed [purposed, causal] Meaning..."

These expanded renderings were based upon interpreting the logos in terms of Quantum Physics/Mechanics. This connection between science and Scripture is very logical. What the scientists who offered essays in this book perceived in terms of Quantum theory, the theologians identified as the Logos.

The "conveyed [purposed, causal] Meaning (of the universe) continued being projected (pros) with God as its Aim." This is the plan of the Ages.

"And God continued in existence in this transfer and conveyance of Meaning-bearing Information," or, this rendering of logos said another way: "this 'Flow of Information that is a Pattern-forming Influence.'" And a last interpretation: "= 'God's self-expression in a creation.'"

Scripture is here for our meditating and our pondering of ideas that the Spirit causes to rise within us. Our speculating on layers of interpretation that come to us, while holding them loosely to see if the Spirit either confirms or adjusts what we see, brings and inflow of the Life of Christ. A flat reading of Scripture will leave us with a flat earth, and a heaven that is far, far away. The Logos came to be here with us; to become flesh (1:14) and set up Its tent among us; and then to join itself to us and lead us on the heavenly circuit, through the midst of God.

Jonathan

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