Bill Schlegel | John 1 IS NOT Genesis 1: Eight Evidences, "the Beginning" of John 1 is NOT Genesis 1 beginning @billschlegel1 | Uploaded November 2022 | Updated October 2024, 2 hours ago.
#GospelofJohn, #John1, #nontrinitarian, #deityofchrist, #newcreation, #billschlegel
Eight reasons, yea verily nine, why John 1 is not about the Genesis creation, but about God’s bringing about new life in the man Jesus (time stamps below):
If John 1 is about the redemption, the new beginning that God is bringing about in and through the man Christ Jesus, there is no need to speculate about a second divine figure or second God who was involved in the Genesis creation.
1. 03:19 In the Gospel of John “the beginning” refers to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus (John 8:25, cf. 8:44, 15:27, 16:4). How the very same author uses the phrase “the beginning” in the body of his Gospel is evidence for what he intended by the same phrase in John 1:1.
2. 05:07 “in the beginning” ἐν ἀρχῇ : Needs context
The phrase “in the beginning” must be interpreted in its context. Other places where the exact same phrase, “in the beginning” is used in the NT but in which it does not refer to the Genesis creation:
Acts 11:15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at/in the beginning.”
Phil. 4:15, “in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia”.
The phrase “in the beginning” ἐν ἀρχῇ occurse some 31 times in the all of the Bible (LXX and New Testament). The vast majority of occurrences do not refer to the Genesis creation.
3. 08:45 The other Gospels have a “beginning” that is also associated with the beginning of Jesus and his ministry (Mark 1:1, Luke 1:1-2, Matthew 1:1, cf. Acts 1:1, 1:22-23). It makes sense that John as well has a beginning that is parallel to the other Gospels.
4. 10:03 Parallels and agreement with other NT literature of a New Beginning, a New Creation in Messiah Jesus.
Expectation and fulfillment: Isaiah 42:9, 66:7 and Rom. 8:21-23, 2 Peter 3:13, Rev. 21:5
Paul (Col. 3:12-18) and Revelation (1:5, 3:14) describing Jesus as being “the firstborn from the dead, the beginning of God’s creation”.
It makes sense that God is doing something with and in Jesus that has continuity with what God has done in the past, but is “new” with Jesus.
5. 12:17 The subject of John 1 is not the creation of the heavens and the earth, the seas, dry land, plants and animals, but rather about the coming to be of new life through the man Jesus. In John’s Gospel, the man Jesus Christ is the one through whom new life comes to be, through whom new men and women are born. The word "create“ does not appear in John 1. The noun “logos” does not occur anywhere in Genesis creation. Some English translations may have "create/d" in John 1, but the word is not "create" - the word is "came to be". In John 1, "that which came to be in him was life (1:3b-4a). The subject of what came to be is not seas, dry land, plants, animals, planets, stars, sun, etc. But human life, individually and corporately. “corporately” because the word “world” in 1:9-10, is not planet earth. It is a word which means a segment of human society. John 1 is about life for humans, how a person can be “born of God”, and to be part of the family of God (1:12-13).
6. 15:09 “that which came to be in him was life, and the life was the light of men” (1:3b-4a): Although Genesis creation language is being intentionally used, this is not Genesis creation life and light. In Genesis, light comes first and then life. In John 1:4, life comes first, in which is then light for all men. As life came through God's word in Genesis, so new life come through God's Word, the man Messiah Jesus, as described in the Gospel of John.
The life, light and darkness of John 1 are not the life, light and darkness of Genesis 1. Even so, the beginning of John 1 is a different beginning from Genesis 1.
The re-appropriation of some language from Genesis 1 is mistaken by some as an indication of identity, claiming that Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 refer to identical events. But John is re-purposing some of Genesis 1 language for his own purpose, to describe the new beginning that God is working through Jesus.
7. 18:54 Themes introduced in John 1:1-13 are developed in the body of the Gospel of John, evidence that the first 13 verses are about the ministry of the man Jesus, not Genesis creation.
(8.) 21:35 “Consolation Prize” Recognition by commentators that the Gospel of John is introducing a new creation.
Example: F.F Bruce, The Gospel of John: A Verse-by-Verse Exposition:
“It is not by accident that the Gospel begins with the same phrase as the book of Genesis. In Genesis 1:1, ‘In the beginning’ introduces the story of the old creation; here it introduces the story of the new creation.”
9. 23:44 John the Baptist has no reason appearing so early (1:6-8) in an account of the Genesis creation. On the other hand, the Baptizer’s presence already in verse 6 fits perfectly with understanding the Prologue as an introduction to the new life coming to be through the man Jesus.
"He was not the light". John is compared to the man Jesus, the light of the world.
#GospelofJohn, #John1, #nontrinitarian, #deityofchrist, #newcreation, #billschlegel
Eight reasons, yea verily nine, why John 1 is not about the Genesis creation, but about God’s bringing about new life in the man Jesus (time stamps below):
If John 1 is about the redemption, the new beginning that God is bringing about in and through the man Christ Jesus, there is no need to speculate about a second divine figure or second God who was involved in the Genesis creation.
1. 03:19 In the Gospel of John “the beginning” refers to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus (John 8:25, cf. 8:44, 15:27, 16:4). How the very same author uses the phrase “the beginning” in the body of his Gospel is evidence for what he intended by the same phrase in John 1:1.
2. 05:07 “in the beginning” ἐν ἀρχῇ : Needs context
The phrase “in the beginning” must be interpreted in its context. Other places where the exact same phrase, “in the beginning” is used in the NT but in which it does not refer to the Genesis creation:
Acts 11:15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at/in the beginning.”
Phil. 4:15, “in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia”.
The phrase “in the beginning” ἐν ἀρχῇ occurse some 31 times in the all of the Bible (LXX and New Testament). The vast majority of occurrences do not refer to the Genesis creation.
3. 08:45 The other Gospels have a “beginning” that is also associated with the beginning of Jesus and his ministry (Mark 1:1, Luke 1:1-2, Matthew 1:1, cf. Acts 1:1, 1:22-23). It makes sense that John as well has a beginning that is parallel to the other Gospels.
4. 10:03 Parallels and agreement with other NT literature of a New Beginning, a New Creation in Messiah Jesus.
Expectation and fulfillment: Isaiah 42:9, 66:7 and Rom. 8:21-23, 2 Peter 3:13, Rev. 21:5
Paul (Col. 3:12-18) and Revelation (1:5, 3:14) describing Jesus as being “the firstborn from the dead, the beginning of God’s creation”.
It makes sense that God is doing something with and in Jesus that has continuity with what God has done in the past, but is “new” with Jesus.
5. 12:17 The subject of John 1 is not the creation of the heavens and the earth, the seas, dry land, plants and animals, but rather about the coming to be of new life through the man Jesus. In John’s Gospel, the man Jesus Christ is the one through whom new life comes to be, through whom new men and women are born. The word "create“ does not appear in John 1. The noun “logos” does not occur anywhere in Genesis creation. Some English translations may have "create/d" in John 1, but the word is not "create" - the word is "came to be". In John 1, "that which came to be in him was life (1:3b-4a). The subject of what came to be is not seas, dry land, plants, animals, planets, stars, sun, etc. But human life, individually and corporately. “corporately” because the word “world” in 1:9-10, is not planet earth. It is a word which means a segment of human society. John 1 is about life for humans, how a person can be “born of God”, and to be part of the family of God (1:12-13).
6. 15:09 “that which came to be in him was life, and the life was the light of men” (1:3b-4a): Although Genesis creation language is being intentionally used, this is not Genesis creation life and light. In Genesis, light comes first and then life. In John 1:4, life comes first, in which is then light for all men. As life came through God's word in Genesis, so new life come through God's Word, the man Messiah Jesus, as described in the Gospel of John.
The life, light and darkness of John 1 are not the life, light and darkness of Genesis 1. Even so, the beginning of John 1 is a different beginning from Genesis 1.
The re-appropriation of some language from Genesis 1 is mistaken by some as an indication of identity, claiming that Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 refer to identical events. But John is re-purposing some of Genesis 1 language for his own purpose, to describe the new beginning that God is working through Jesus.
7. 18:54 Themes introduced in John 1:1-13 are developed in the body of the Gospel of John, evidence that the first 13 verses are about the ministry of the man Jesus, not Genesis creation.
(8.) 21:35 “Consolation Prize” Recognition by commentators that the Gospel of John is introducing a new creation.
Example: F.F Bruce, The Gospel of John: A Verse-by-Verse Exposition:
“It is not by accident that the Gospel begins with the same phrase as the book of Genesis. In Genesis 1:1, ‘In the beginning’ introduces the story of the old creation; here it introduces the story of the new creation.”
9. 23:44 John the Baptist has no reason appearing so early (1:6-8) in an account of the Genesis creation. On the other hand, the Baptizer’s presence already in verse 6 fits perfectly with understanding the Prologue as an introduction to the new life coming to be through the man Jesus.
"He was not the light". John is compared to the man Jesus, the light of the world.
