Verse No. 8
When confronted by Jews; Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58)
Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith": This  proves;

a) Jesus existed before his birth. 
b) Jesus was the same entity who replied to prophet Moses when he asked his God; What was His name? What shall he say to his people? From behind the Burning Bush God replied; "I AM THAT I AM." (Exodus 3:14).

Answer No. 8
a) Jesus was consecrated (anointed) by God before he was born and so was prophet Jeremiah. The Bible records, God came to prophet Jeremiah and said to him; "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jer. 1:5. 

God "loved" his chosen prophets before they were born. The Bible confirms; God "loved" Jesus before the foundation of the world. (Jn. 17:24). This act of loving by an entity called God, undoubtedly proves that Jesus was not God "Himself", before he was born or after he was born. Jesus was a distinctly separate entity that was "being loved" by God, records this verse for the people who are upright and open minded. 

King Melchizedek of Salem was an eternal priest with no records of his beginning and ending. (Heb. 7:1-3). No Christian would admit, based upon this stated of "eternal life span", that the King of Salem was God, so how can Jesus be who claimed his existence before Abraham?

b) The entire concept is based upon a simple conjecture. In the foot notes of Exodus 3:14 the editors of K.J.V. write;

"Jesus probably alluded to this name of God in John 8:58, 'Before Abraham was, I AM." The use of phrase "probably alluded" indicates; this does not happen to be an established truth or certainty. 

Study Supportive Passage:
Repeating the same phrase "I am",  Jesus said; "I am (he),  and that I do nothing on my own; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things." (John 8:28). God of Moses had no instructor. If he had one, then that entity would be the God's mentor or boss!

Study No. 9
One of the two great achievements of an eminent biblical scholar of the nineteenth century, Lobegott Friedrich Konstantin Von Tischendorf, was the historical discovery of the oldest known Bible manuscript 'Codex Sinaiticus' from St. Catherine's Monastery in Mt. Sinai. 

Dr. Tischendorf discovered that in this 5th century document the gospel of Mark ended at 16:8. In other words, the last 12 verses (9 to 20) were "injected" sometime after the 5th century. Clement of Alexandria and Origen never quoted these verses.  You have quoted verse number 19. Today, in many of the revised versions of the Bible, the said last twelve verses appear within parentheses. (For further information please read 'Secrets of Mount Sinai' by James Bentley, Orbis, London, 1985). 

Peake's Commentary on the Bible records; "It is now generally agreed that 9-20 are not an original part of Mk. They are not found in the oldest MSS, and indeed were apparently not in the copies used by Mt. and Lk. A 10th-cent. Armenian MS ascribes the passage to Aristion, the presbyter mentioned by Papias (ap.Eus.HE III, xxxix, 15)." 

Study Supportive Passage:
Acknowledgement of the quoted verse to be authentic rather proves; Jesus is not God. Paul postulates that while upon this earth Jesus "who was in the form of God" simply acted and "took upon him the form of a servant". (Phil. 2:7). Once in heaven, the part of acting was over and done with. Why Jesus the full fledged God was not sitting on the center seat? Since someone else had occupied the center seat and He  "Commanded" Jesus to seat on his right hand (Lk. 20:42 and Acts 2:32-37) proves Jesus was neither the Almighty God during his Ministry, nor he is now in the Heaven. Having two seats, one for the First Person of the Trinity and one for the Second Person of the Trinity, clearly shows DUALITY. One asking another to "seat on my right hand" shows unequally within the Duality.

Study No. 10
The editors of the New Testament have created perplexity and confusion by translating the Greek word 'Theos' (meaning, God) as "Lord" and also translating the Greek word 'Kurios' (meaning, Master, Owner, Head of a house, Teacher) as "Lord".

In the Greek scripture the word used is "Kurios". It does not translate God.

Study Supportive Passage:
"And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Saviour; There is none except Me. Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:21-22. 

Verse No. 11
" In the beginning was the Word, 
   and the Word was with God, 
   and the Word was God."        (John 1:1) 
Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith": The verse says; 
In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God.

Study No. 11
   The text does not read "In the beginning was Jesus". John did not write the word Jesus in his original manuscript. If he had meant that, he could have simply used the name Jesus. John wrote what he knew to be the Truth. In the beginning was the "Spoken Word" (i.e. God's Command). "Jesus" happens to be a SUBSTITUTION of the Greek word "Logos" used by the apostle. In reality the bible readers are implying, suggesting, alluding or insinuating the name of Jesus. The concept of SUBSTITUTING the original Greek term 'Logos' with "Jesus" has been the traditional norm for the past many centuries. Hence it is not easy to believe otherwise. Is this "substitution" any where closer to the literal translation of the Greek word "Logos"? The answer is, No. 

    The Greek term 'Logos' is derived from the root word 'Lego' meaning "to speak".  The literal translation of the word 'Logos' is "something spoken, thought". A Command that is spoken. A thought that is expressed. The verification of this literal translation is very simple. Please refer to any good English Dictionary. Under the word 'Decalogue' you will find the meaning; "The Ten Commandments", (deka = ten; logous = commands). The dictionary also translates the word 'Logos' as "discourse, reason, (rarely) word". 

With the traditional "substitution" the verse reads; "and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God." How can Jesus be "with" God, and "was" God, as well? It defies the logic(the chain of thoughts).

The literal translation reads:
      In the beginning was the 'spoken word, command', 
      and the 'spoken word, command' was with God, 
      and the 'spoken word, command' was Divine.  (John 1:1) 

The opening of John's Gospel coincides perfectly with the prologue of the Book of Genesis which reads; "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the God said, Let there be light; and there was light." 
(Genesis 1:1/ 3).

The translation of 'Logos' as "Divine" in the last line is based upon the usage of Greek grammar. Here is the brief explanation for those who are interested in the grammar. In the second line, the phrase used by John for "God" is 'ho theo', meaning 'the God'. In the last line it is simply 'theo', the definitive article 'the' is missing. It is not written because here  'Theo' is a predicate of the preceding subject. The predicate is used to denote the nature, quality, attribute or property of the subject. In this instance the nature of the God's spoken command happens to be "Divine".

In 'New translation of the Bible' (1922) by the famous Dr. James Moffatt, it reads; "the Logos was Divine". And, the similar translations appear in 'The Complete Bible - An American Translation' (Smith-Goodspeed); 'The Authentic New Testament' by Hugh J. Schonfield and the translations done by; Haenchen, Lyder Brun and Madsen.

Notes:
John 1:2 & 3 would also translate perfectly with the literal translation and further compliment the opening passages from the Book Of Genesis.  The Greek word  'houtos' {3778} should be literally translated as "the same" (meaning, the spoken word),  instead of "he". In the King James Version, it reads; "The same was in the beginning with God", which supports the above clarification. Hence, John 1:2 & 3 should read: 

It (the Command) was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through it (the Command) and without it (the Command) not one thing came into being.

I made the earth and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their hosts.

Notes: John 1: 4 
With the literal translation John 1:4 would read: In it (the spoken Command) was life, and the life was the light for all people. 

Notes: John 1: 6 to 9 Here we aretold that John the Baptist was sent into this world in advance.  He himself was not the light. But John was sent as a witness to testify that light, so that all might believe through him in what was to come. This true light, which enlightens everyone , was coming into this world after him. The rest is easy to follow once we understand the most important verse number 14.

Notes: John 1:14 And the "Logos" (the spoken word, Command, wherein was life and light) became flesh (by entering the womb of Virgin Mary). No Bible reader can deny the fact that whenever God wanted to create anything (e.g. Light, Vegetation, Living Creatures, etc.,) He had been using His Commands to do just that. In this instance, He chose to make His Righteous Messiah through this unique "one of a kind" (John 3:16) Command.  Briefly, it was the Command of God that became flesh (the body of Jesus within Mary). This also explains the Virgin Birth through Mary. 

To say that God Himself became flesh (Jesus, upon this earth) is not only a grave blasphemy but has been explicitly and repeatedly negated by Jesus himself, as shown from the beginning of this article. The only other alternative would be to say; the God Incarnate came to this earth and the God made an utterly false statement, concerning the CRUCIAL issue of having "the eternal life", in John 17:3.  The choice is yours, which to adopt and what to reject.

Study Supportive Passage:
If John wanted to write "Jesus", why would he write "Logos" instead? There is no record of Jesus being ever addressed as "Logos" by any one in the New Testament.
"...if any one proclaims  to you a Gospel contrary to what you have received, let that one be accursed." Galatians 1:9. 
 

Study No. 12
1. The opening sentence reads; "Child is born". It speaks of someone who had already been born.

2. The second sentence reads; "His name shall be". No one called Jesus by any of these four names.

3. In the the Old Testament, according to the Masoretic Text, the name is called; Pele-joez-el-gibbor-Abi-ad-sar-shalom; that is, Wonderful in counsel is God the Mighty, the everlasting Father, the Ruler of peace.  These are not the names of Jesus but the Attributes of Almighty God.

Study Supportive Passage:
It is inconceivable the Almighty God, the very symbol of Honesty, Truth and Piety, would unjustly rebuke His diligent students, and say to them; "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." (Mark 10:18)! It is also inconceivable, Him being a Judge of the Day of Judgment! The TRUTH is; what Jesus taught was the TRUTH. One may accept it at its face value or reject it is a different matter.

Verse No. 13
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel; which translated means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23.
Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith": This prophecy was for Jesus, who was "God with us".

Study No. 13
Matthew repeats this prophecy from Isaiah 7:14. However the translated Hebrew text of the Old Testament differs from the translated Greek text of Matthew. Here is the translation of 
Isaiah 7:14 from the N.R.S.V. - 1989: 
"Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." 

 The Old Testament text tell us that Isaiah was speaking about a child bearing (pregnant) young woman whereas the New Testament text speaks of a virgin. 

The Old Testament text reads the woman is (in the past tense), whereas the New Testament text reads shall be (in the future tense).

The Old Testament text reads the young woman shall name her child "Immanuel", which the Virgin Mary did not do. In the New Testament text it reads; They shall call his name "Immanuel". We have no records of anyone calling Jesus by that name.

Most of the scholars agree today that this prophecy does to belong to Jesus. "Some have compared this young woman to Isaiah's young wife and newborn son (8:1-4)" records the marginal notes to Is. 7:14 in N.R.S.V.

Study Supportive Passage:
Before the birth of Jesus, an angel of the God told Mary; 
"You shall call His name Jesus," (Matthew 1:21). If the son of virgin Mary was to be called "Immanuel", why did the angel of God tell virgin Mary to call him Jesus, INSTEAD? 

Answer No. 14 
Performance of extraordinary miracles is not the litmus test 
for being God. If that shall be the criteria then we should be ready to acknowledge many more Miracle performing Gods.

1. Prophet Joshua commanded the Sun and the Moon to stop 
for one whole day. Moved a shadow of the sun-dial ten degrees backward.    (Joshua 10:13 and 2 Kings 20:10). 

2. Prophet Elisha brought back to life a dead son of a Shunammite woman. Resurrected himself. After being dead and buried, he stood up on his feet. Healed a Syrian named Naaman of leprosy.         (2 Kings 4:35; 13:21 and 5:14). 

3. Prophet Ezekiel made dry bones come together, grow 
flesh, cover with skin and come to life.      (Ezekiel 37:3-10). 

4. Prophet Elijah brought back to life a son of a widow. Made a bowl of flour and a jar of oil, inexhaustible for days. 
                         (1 Kings 17:22 and 14). 

Study Supportive Passage:
    "...Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles    and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst..."     (Acts 2:22). God was the Master Performer and Jesus was His medium.

Answer No. 15
1. The Greek word used for "form" is 'morphe' (3444) which means; shape, fig, image, appearance. Hence, the phrase simply means, "in the image of God", as it reads in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "...Christ, who is the image of God." 

2. "The image of God" does not mean "God". Genesis 1:26 confirms that man was also made in the "image of God". 

3. In the New English Bible the word 'morphe' is translated as
"nature". The text conveys; Jesus had the Divine nature. 

Study Supportive Passage(s):
"Here is my servant, whom I have chosen..." (Mt. 12:18).
"...the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus" (Acts 3:13)  N.R.S.V.
"and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God." 
                                                  1 Corin. 3:23

Verse No. 16
    "I am the Alpha and the Omega." (Rev. 1:8)
Perceived by the "man of extraordinary faith": One who claimed this was Lord Jesus.

Answer No. 16
1. The entire text in N.R.S.V. reads: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Following the verses of Greetings to the Churches in Asia, which end with the word "Amen", this happens to be an opening statement of a fact praising the "Lord God - the Almighty". The testimony of Jesus begins with verse number 9.

2. In K.J.V. the above phrase is repeated in verse number 11. Since this phrase has been removed from the majority of the revises versions, it shows it was a superfluous addition.
The need of injecting this phrase in verse 11 gives rise to the indication that the phrase in verse 8 was not spoken by Jesus.

3. In chapter 21 the phrase is once again repeated. Before we examine this particular verse it is essential to note that the Revelation is written in "apocalyptic" form - a style of ancient Jewish literature wherein symbolic imagery is used to demonstrate the ultimate triumph of the Almighty God, to those who are under constant persecutions (author John was a Jew). The author saw the vision of God, God's angel and of Jesus besides other things. Upon the reading of the verse number 6 of the earlier chapter (20), we notice that the God and the Christ are "two" separate entities. And, in verse number 9 the author speaks of a fire coming down from "God". And, in verse 11 the author saw the throne of "God". And, the One who was seating on that White throne spoke the phrase and not Jesus.

4. In 1:1 John clearly mentions, at the very beginning of his book, that the Revelation was of Jesus Christ which 
God gave him.

5. In 1:2 John writes, he was testifying; the word of God and of Jesus.

Study Supportive Passage:
If John had seen, heard, known and believed that his Rabbi Teacher Jesus was the Almighty Alpha and Omega Himself then he would not have written (or allowed it to remain unaltered), that the sole aim of the writing of his Gospel was to prove that Jesus was the expected "Messiah", in John 20:31. 

If Jesus was "Alpha and Omega" then it would also contradict the verse 1 Corin. 15:28 of the New Testament.

To visit the Home Page or to read other articles by the author, click:
INDEX

---

     Please send your comments to author 
Akbarally Meherally at webmaster9@mostmerciful.com