Where in my Logos 4 program can I find the best answer to the contention that John 1:1 refers to "a" god as opposed to "The" God?
Look at various commentaries or journal on the text under question. This link might be of assistance. http://blog.logos.com/archives/2008/05/god_or_a_god_a_look_at_nt_greek_syntax.html
Dan Wallace also addresses this at length in his grammer, "Exegetical Syntax of the Greek New Testament."
here is what Word Biblical Commentary has to say on this:
1 “In the beginning” recalls Gen 1:1. But it relates here not to the act of creation, but to what existed when creation came into being, namely the Word, who was with God and was God. As Haenchen pointed out (116) the subject is surprising; one expects to read, “In the beginning … God,” but it is “the Word”; yet it would be impossible to read in its place any other title that has been appropriated for Jesus, e.g., “In the beginning was the Christ,” or “the Son,” or “the Son of Man.” Not even the lofty title “the Lord” or the more ancient “the Wisdom” could adequately convey the associations of the following utterances, for the connotation of “the Word” is unique; and its without parallel in the languages of modern culture. Its richness has to be searched out and conveyed by explanation (see above, pp. 6–10).
πρὸς τὸν θεόν = “with God,” in the sense, of “in the presence of God” (cf. Mark 6:3), or “in the fellowship of God” (1 John 1:2–3), or even (as the next clause suggests) “in union with God.”
καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος: θεός without the article signifies less than ὁ θεός; but it cannot be understood as “a god,” as though the Logos were a lesser god alongside the supreme God; nor as simply “divine,” for which the term θεῖος was well known (in 2 Pet 1:4 believers are said to be θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως, “sharers of the divine nature”); nor as indicating the exercise of divine functions without possessing the divine nature; rather it denotes God in his nature, as truly God as he with whom he “was,” yet without exhausting the being of God (observe that the Evangelist did not write καὶ λόγος ἦν ὁ θεός (“and God was the Word”). The divine nature of the Logos is seen in his activity in creation (1–5), revelation (5, 9–12, 18) and redemption (12–14, 16–17); in all these God expresses himself through the Word, hence the dictum of Bultmann, “From the outset God must be understood as the ‘one who speaks,’ the God who reveals himself” (35).
Welcome [:D]
A.T. Robertson's word pictures on John 1:1 worth reading => logosres:rwp;ref=Bible.Jn1.1 (included in Scholar's library and above)
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Thread topic could have been John 1:1 Resource ?
Keep Smiling [:)]
There is a collection gathering interested which contains books on original languages. A few of them deal with John and the greek style in writing attributed to him. Check out the first two dealing with John's vocabulary and grammar. Along with Robertson's work mentioned in this thread, this would be good, too: http://www.logos.com/product/4679/biblical-languages-reference-grammars-and-introductions
But, given the Shema (Deut 6:4) and the fact that John is a Jew, he means the Word is God.
