I find it so odd, that people can discuss john 1:1 literally for a decade, and care so little about the Coptic. Regardless of what “a god” means, it doesn't seem to simply mean “the god” as the definite article could have been used at John 1:1c, but wasn't. Rather, the indefinite article was. And yes, it could mean “a god,” “divine,” or three…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Nov. 22 2013,10:30)Quote (kerwin @ Nov. 20 2013,20:59)David,I found this quote on a forum and if a true quote then those scholars are not really saying anything different than can be derived by the translations of some.Quote “We propose that the best way to take the indefinite article in John 1:1c is as an attempt by the Copts…[Read more]

Mike, that won't happen.  It would be interesting if it did.  After minutes of research, I am going to confidently say to kerwin:–Coptic was the first language the New Testament was translated into that uses the indefinite article!! And equally important:–Coptic was the only language that uses indefinite articles that was produced while koine G…[Read more]

After days of research, I am going to confidently say to kerwin:–Coptic was the first language the New Testament was translated into that uses the indefinite article!! And equally important:–Coptic was the only language that uses indefinite articles that was produced while koine Greek was spoken.

After days of research, I am going to confidently say to kerwin:–Coptic was the first language the New Testament was translated into that uses the indefinite article!! And equally important:–Coptic was the only language that uses indefinite articles that was produced while koine Greek was spoken.

What did “a god” mean to them?

1800 years ago, (“no later than the third century”) John 1:1 was translated into Coptic, a language which does have the indefinite article (unlike Greek, Latin, syriac, aramaic, and most every language that existed for a millenium).  And the translators, who lived at a time when koine Greek was still spoken and at a time when they definitely…[Read more]

Quote (david @ Oct. 15 2008,13:20)Was the Word “God” or “a god”?”That question has to be considered when Bible translators handle the first verse of the Gospel of John. In the New World Translation, the verse is rendered: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (John 1:1) Some other translation…[Read more]

Quote (david @ Oct. 15 2008,13:14)https://www.heavennet.net/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=1342;st=1250Thanks T8.  I was thinking of making a thread on this myself.  The link above is where we started discussing it in the other thread (just for my own record.)FOR A SIMPLE INTRODUCTION TO THIS, START H…[Read more]

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Aug. 18 2013,02:38)Thanks for posting that, t8.  I'm sure much of it sounds familiar by now.  The thing to really remember is that the Coptic language, like English, uses an indefinite article.  It is the first language into which the NT was translated that does so.And that means that the first chance anyone ever got at tr…[Read more]

Quote (t8 @ Aug. 15 2013,15:46)I post this not to prove the NWT, but to look at the Sahidic Coptic translation of John 1:1. Does the following page make sense. I don't know anything about the Sahidic Coptic translation.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081013161836AASBOMFThe Sahidic Coptic was translated in the 3rd century, about a…[Read more]

Quote (Kangaroo Jack Jr. @ April 05 2011,06:16)David said:Quote I have never said that the coptic definitively proves anything one way or the other.An honest man! What a breath of fresh air!Thumbs up David.KJThis post deserves a bump.

Quote (Kangaroo Jack Jr. @ Mar. 24 2011,07:59)TO ALL,On another thread Mike said this to WJ about the Coptic versions of John 1:1:Quote Anyway, the scholars I quoted have more than enough credentials to prove the grammatical possibility of “a god”.  Add those guys to the Coptic version (AS SUPPORTED BY THE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS FROM THE COPTIC)…[Read more]

Quote QuoteIn a recent issue of The Journal of Theological Studies Brian J. Wright and Tim Ricchuiti reason that the indefinite article in the Coptic translation, of John 1:1, has a qualitative meaning. Many such occurrences for qualitative nouns are identified in the Coptic New Testament, including 1 John 1:5 and 1 John 4:8. Moreover the…[Read more]

Quote (kerwin @ Nov. 21 2013,10:41)Quote (david @ Nov. 21 2013,04:48)Quote A certain scholar has recently advanced the hypothesis that the indefinite article as used in John 1:1 on this Coptic language translation has a “qualitative meaning” as if saying the word was a (one) theos.–kerwinWas it WJ?He's not really a scholar. :-)So, the father is…[Read more]

Quote Kerwin,What if it said, “and the Word was Abraham Lincoln”?Would you believe that the Word actually WAS Abraham Lincoln – as was clearly stated? Or would you pretend that the words, and the Word WAS Abraham Lincoln” only meant that the word “wore a top hat like Abraham Lincoln”?I think for this analogy it would be better to replace Abraham…[Read more]

Them is fighting words.

Quote A certain scholar has recently advanced the hypothesis that the indefinite article as used in John 1:1 on this Coptic language translation has a “qualitative meaning” as if saying the word was a (one) theos.–kerwinWas it WJ?He's not really a scholar. :-)So, the father is “God” and the word is “a one god,” according to the scholar. Ok.

Quote (mikeboll64 @ Nov. 21 2013,07:59)Quote (kerwin @ Nov. 19 2013,23:06)The bible was probably translated in the native language of the people that believed the word……………..So in other words, you have NO PROOF WHATSOEVER that there actually WERE other indefinite article languages that the NT was translated into during the first 300…[Read more]

Quote (kerwin @ Nov. 20 2013,16:06)Quote (mikeboll64 @ Nov. 20 2013,06:38)Quote (kerwin @ Nov. 18 2013,22:19)I don't know but I do know that it is unsound to use the word “all” unless you know “all” languages used during that age.Kerwin,Unless you actually know of another language of that time period that DID use an indefinite article, and into…[Read more]