Well, to be fair, I see why you're convicted and how you might think I'm misconstruing. But Jesus was the one who said 'seek and you shall find', not 'read the KJV and accept it for what it is'.
He said 'you shall know them by their fruits', he spoke of 'dark and light', as did God, as did John. John said none who practice evils against another have seen the light, and that God was a being of 'pure light', and 'darkness is not found in him', and King James did practice such evils against another person. Yet christ said 'love your enemies', not 'torture them for witchcraft'.
We are told numerous times to test the spirits and find the God. Jesus himself, to my reading, never claimed to be God, however, I see how you see that he did.
What I proposed were my issues, and they do not have to be your issues, as you have demonstrated. However, I don't personally use the King James version for the reasons above and that is a choice made out of wanting to understand the God that is a compassionaire to enemies, who takes no pleasure in suffering and who is above all.
Personally I feel that Jesus isn't God, for many reasons, but I know the debate has been flogged to death and engaging in it really serves little purpose. I've heard all the arguments for it, as you have probably heard all the arguments for the contrary.
Your bible is your choice, as mine is mine.
well,im not convicted lol.
and i could already tell your stance on who the lord Jesus is by you chosen self interpretation of scripture.
i believe he is the word of God and the word became flesh just as the bible clearly states and as witnessed to me by the Holy spirit whom he sent &the witness of two,is true.
Convicted just means 'certain'. You seem certain.
But John
can be interpreted differently, given the similarities with the genesis account.
'In the beginning was the word' --- 'In the beginning ...... 'God spoke'
And the word was with God, and God was the word' -- 'God spoke 'let there be light', and there was light'
'It was in the beginning with God, when all things were created by it' -- 'let there be light' (God creating by his word, or 'speech')
'All things were created by him. Not a single thing that was created was created apart from him' - self explanatory
'In him was life and that life was the light of men and the light shines on the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it' - 'he separated the light from the darkness'.
John's giving an account of the creation of the Earth by God, and explaining the premise of light and dark. Just like genesis does, in physical terms, while John does it in philosophical terms. The light is unhindered vision into reality, to God, and the dark is the blindness to the light.
Hinduism says the same. Buddha explains light and dark like this. In fact the essence of many eastern creation stories, or stories of the realities of existence, use this premise. Jesus himself talks about light and dark, how being in the light illuminates the dark and the dark no longer causes a person to blindly stumble, how in seeing through the dark, illuminating it with light, the light leads a person to guide those in darkness, rather than fear them or despise them. Jesus was the 'light of the world', just as buddha was 'enlightened'.
John doesn't prove anything about Jesus divinity here. The word in greek for 'it' and 'this thing' and 'that' and 'he' and 'him' are exactly the same and can be translated as either, validly, in this text.
Considering the many times Jesus points
to the Father, separate from himself, and calls the father greater than him, it would be logical to translate these verses in light of that - that God is greater.
Most people don't. That's up to them.
