"The Word was with God." "With" is a translation of the preposition pros, which with

accusative means "near to". It presents a plane of equality and intimacy, face to face with

each other.  In I John 2: 1 a like use of pros occurs "we have a Paraclete with the

Father", and in I Cor. 13: 12 there is a triple use of pros, prosopon pros prosopon,

"face to face".

Dr. Basil S. 100: Atkinson in his The Theology of Prepositions states that pros gives the

sense of home. "I will arise and go home to my father . . . . . and he arose and went home

to his father" (Luke 15: 18, 20), "now I go home unto Him that sent Me" (John 16: 5) . . .

the idea of `rest at home with' is found in the great Logos passage at the opening of

John's Gospel. "The Word was in God's home" (p.19). This stresses again the closeness

and intimacy between the Word and the Father.

"And the Word was God." We have exact and careful language here. The subject is

made plain by the article (ho logos), and the predicate without it (theos). The emphatic

position of theos (God) demands that we translate, "the Word was God". Only people

who are not versed in Greek grammar and do not believe the deity of Christ sometimes

translate "the Word was a God". John is certainly not saying as Jehovah's Witnesses do

that Christ was only one of many gods. He is saying just the opposite. Christ, ho logos,

is God in the sense that no one else is or ever could be. He is, as Paul describes Him,

"our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2: 13, R.V. and N.I.V.).

For those who can appreciate N.T. Greek we append the following note. Some years

ago Dr. E. 100: Colwell of the University of Chicago pointed out that "a definite predicate

nominative has the article when it follows the verb; it does not have the article when it

precedes the verb".

In the lengthy appendix of the Jehovah Witness New World Translation which

attempts to justify their rendering "a god", they quote 35 other passages in John where

the predicate noun has the definite article in the Greek. These are attempts to prove that

the absence of the article in John 1: 1 requires the translation "a god"; but none of the 35

instances are parallel, for in every case (bearing in mind the rule stated by Dr. Colwell)

the predicate noun standing after the verb, properly has the article. Furthermore, the

additional references quoted in the above translation from the Septuagint, are exactly in

conformity with the rule and show its accuracy. Other passages which they quote are not

properly relevant to the question. Their evidence turns against themselves. Moreover

they are completely inconsistent.  In John 1: 14 we have "the Word became flesh".

Why not "the Word became a flesh"? or I John 1: 5, "God is light; why not "God is a

"He was with God in the beginning" (1: 2). This reinforces what has already been said,

for before the beginning He existed in close relationship with the One Who is called the

Father. He shared the nature and being of God. The N.E.B. renders the phrase "what

God was, the Word was", a paraphrase which brings out the meaning of the words.

Professor 100: K. Barrett sums up in this way: