The Prologue Has Two Bookends — Read John 1:18 Before You Argue About John 1:1
John 1:1 says "the Word was a god" (NWT). The Word is Jesus in his
prehuman existence: Jehovah's first creation, his Spokesman, a mighty
god but not Almighty God. John 1:18 confirms this by calling him "the
only-begotten god" — lowercase — who was produced by Jehovah and holds
a unique position in God's arrangement as the one who explains Him.
"In the beginning" in John 1:1 refers to the beginning of the Word's
own existence, or of creation, when Jehovah made his Son first and
then made everything else through him.
Point out that verse numbers were added long after John wrote: verses 1-18 are one introduction, held together like books between two bookends (scholars call this an "inclusio": opening and closing a section with the same ideas). Read verse 18 in the NWT: "No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is at the Father's side is the one who has explained Him." Set it beside . "In the beginning was the Word" — verse 18 says he "is" at the Father's side, still there. "The Word was with God" — "at the Father's side," so the God he was with is the Father. "The Word was a god" — verse 18 calls him "god" again, and the NWT's own study note admits the earliest manuscripts read "god" here, not "Son." Then ask: who could make known a God no one has ever seen? Not a creature looking in from outside, but the one who has always been at his side, who became flesh in . If there's time, note that verse 1 opens with the words of : when the beginning began, the Word already was, and puts every created thing on the other side of him.
Verse 18 is the other bookend of verse 1. The only one who can explain the unseen God is the one who shares what God is and has always been at his side.
Verse 18 says 'god' with a small g, just like verse 1. That proves Jesus is a lesser god.
Greek manuscripts from John's day don't have capital and small letters the way English does, so the small "g" is a translator's choice, not something in the text. But let's take your Bible as it stands. How many gods are in verse 18? There's "God" whom no one has seen, and an "only-begotten god" at his side. That makes two. Now read in your NWT: "Before me no God was formed, and after me there has been none." If the Word is a god who was formed, how does that fit with what Jehovah says there?
Some Bibles say 'only-begotten Son' in verse 18, not 'god.'
That's true, and it's a fair point to raise. The King James and a few others follow later manuscripts that read "Son." But your own study edition says the earliest and most authoritative manuscripts read "god," and I agree with your translators on this one. Even if we read "Son," though, the bookends still hold: the one who is at the Father's side and alone explains the unseen God is the same Word who was "with God" in verse 1. Can we look at what verse 18 says he does before we decide what verse 1 means?
Only-begotten means Jehovah produced him. He had a beginning.
Look at how the same word is used of Isaac in . He's called Abraham's "only-begotten son," yet Abraham also fathered Ishmael. The word is about uniqueness: Isaac was the one-of-a-kind son of promise. And notice that neither bookend says the Word came into existence. Verse 1 says he "was" in the beginning; verse 18 says he "is" at the Father's side. Verse 3 says nothing that came into existence did so apart from him. If he was created, where do you place him in verse 3?
Isaiah only saw a vision. No one has literally seen Jehovah, just as verse 18 says.
I agree no one has seen the Father, and that's exactly John's point. But in the prophet says "I saw Jehovah sitting on a lofty and elevated throne," and adds "my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of armies himself!" So who did Isaiah see? John answers in : Isaiah "saw his glory, and he spoke about him," and your study note says that refers to Jesus' prehuman glory. The God no one has seen is made known by the Son who is at his side. Doesn't that put the Son on God's side of the line, not ours?
Why are you jumping to verse 18? We were talking about verse 1.
Fair question. John didn't write in numbered verses; the chapter and verse divisions were added centuries later to help us find things. He wrote one introduction, and he chose to end it where he began it. If I quoted only the first line of a letter you wrote, you would want me to read the rest. Can we read verses 1 to 18 as one piece before we decide what verse 1 means?
Don't lead with the word "inclusio" or with Greek; the doorstep version is "verse 18 is the other bookend, so let's read it." Don't rest the case on the Exodus 3:14 link: "the one who is" in verse 18 is the same Greek participle the Greek Old Testament uses at Exodus 3:14, but it is also an ordinary Greek phrase (John 6:46 uses it of the one who is from God), so it is a suggestive echo, not proof. Don't pretend the "god"/"Son" variant is settled beyond all debate; say honestly that the earliest manuscripts favour "god" and that the bookends work either way. Don't hop to Isaiah 6 or John 20:28 until the JW has seen the two bookends side by side. Use their NWT and study notes at the door, not outside commentaries. And don't treat the JW as an opponent; they are a person who has been taught to read verse 1 on its own.
(1) Read aloud in one sitting, several times, until you can say the three parallels from memory: "was" and "is," "with God" and "at the Father's side," "God" and "only-begotten god." (2) Open the NWT Study Edition on jw.org at and read its study note on "only-begotten god," which concedes the earliest manuscripts read "god." (3) Read and side by side and notice that both begin "In the beginning" and both have God creating by his word. (4) Practise the doorstep question out loud. (5) Prepare for the "why are you jumping to verse 18?" redirect: the verse numbers were added later, and John wrote one paragraph.