A question for my fellow Atheists: What does this Bible verse mean to you?

Question

John 1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

It doesn't mean anything to me. Just curious, I know this question was asked previously today but the question didn't solicit opinions from non-Christians. This question does not solicit opinions from Christians, they should go to that other question for them to answer with their opinion. Since we are now dividing up who can answer an opinion about a Bible verse, I'm just following the pattern set by the other person.

Hint: This isn't a question about the Bible verse now is it?

Answer 1

Looks like a lot of people aren't respecting your stipulations concerning who you'd like to answer.

That Bible verse means nothing to me as the Bible is utterly useless.

Answer 2

Logos is not well translated as Word, so lets skip that. As someone already pointed out , there s no english equivalent for it. It means the spoken thought, but it also means the Reason. Logos is reason, therefore logical means reasonable. Logos is to me the Mind behind the Universe, the Thought behind the Universe, the System that runs the Universe. Therefore Logos is God in the Bibles sence, and before anything else, that existed. To me (i m an agnostik) this verse is an open door to understand god in different ways. All it suggests is that there is a mind, some kind of sence behind the universe, not necessarily a God as a Person. Maybe the Universe it self is an organism with a conscious, like the human body is like the earth is etc. Every little cell exist, functioning the way it can, not necessarily beeing aware of the whole and its unity. But there is a reason and a system behind everything.
PS to some. i didnt realise that a word has to be written to be identified as a word....
PS2. Dear John 1, i m not a christian but that doesnt mean i m an atheist. There are many more options u know. I hope i as an agnostic m not violating your wish, i wouldnt want to.

Answer 3

Let's parse this in light of what 'word' means. The original word is 'logos', which has no english equivalent. It is not, as some think, just a word in the sense of 'a symbol that has an agreed upon meaning which is composed of phonomes'. Logos, instead, is the thought that comes BEFORE the word, and leads logically TO The word.

In essence, it is saying nothing about the beginning of the universe, it's speaking about the self-creation of an infinitely existing God.

And I don't care if it wasn't really a question about the verse, answer the obvious question was more fun. :P

Answer 4

"The works of Plato were extensively studied by the Church Fathers, one of whom joyfully recognizes in the great teacher, the schoolmaster who, in the fullness of time, was destined to educate the heathen for Christ, as Moses did the Jews. The celebrated passage : "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word Was God" is a fragment of some Pagan treatise on the Platonic philosophy, evidently written by Irenaeus. It is quoted by Amelius, a Pagan philosopher as strictly applicable to the Logos, or Mercury, the Word, apparently as an honorable testimony borne to the Pagan deity by a barbarian........We see then that the title "Word" or "Logos," being applied to Jesus, is another piece of Pagan amalgamation with Christianity. It did not receive its authorized Christian form until the middle of the second century after Christ. The ancient pagan Romans worshipped a Trinity. An oracle is said to have declared that there was 'First God, then the Word, and with them the Spirit'. Here we see the distinctly enumerated, God, the Logos, and the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost, in ancient Rome, where the most celebrated temple of this capital - that of Jupiter Capitolinus - was dedicated to three deities, which three deities were honored with joint worship."
Bible Myths and their parallels in other religions, pp. 375-376.
Trinities were not confined to these groups alone, but the Persians, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians, the Scandinavians, the Druids, the inhabitants of Siberia, the ancient Mexicans, the Peruvians, and many others, all worshipped "Trinitarian" pagan deities (among a great multitude of other gods) long before the council of Nicea of 325 C.E officially recognized this to be God's "true" nature.

Answer 5

and the person who first wrote words defined the words... the story.. the rules... and created power over many. Oh and one of those first rules if I recall was that those who disagreed were okay to kill (which is my answer to your real question).

The only meaning I see in the verse is the power of language, writing, and having a skill that most others lacked.

PS - I'm cracking up about how much some of these answers are reading in - holy trinity, etc. That's just such a stretch!

Answer 6

In the beginning there was no word. Writing hadn't been invented yet.
Most of history were stories passed down through generations until someone did write them down.
Did you ever do that exercise in public school where the teacher told one child a sentence and that child told the next until it went all the way around the classroom?
Was the final sentence the same as the first? That's ancient history for you.

Answer 7

In the beginning ( does not infer that Christ as God had a beginning,because as God He had no beginning,but rather refers to the time of Creation) was the Word ( the Holy Spirit through John describes Jesus as 'the Eternal Logos'), and the Word was with God (''was in relationship with God,'' and expresses the idea of the Trinity),and the Word was God ( meaning that He did not cease to be God during the Incarnation;He ''was'' and ''is'' God from eternity past to eternity future)

Answer 8

what it means to me is that at one time there was an elite class in a hierarchical, rather primitive and superstitious tribe of nomadic goat herders. this class of elites included the high priesthood of the common religion. the elites could read and write while the rest of the population could not. the written word was considered magical, sacred and powerful, used to convey secret messages and invocations from the patriarchal tribal deity. the Word was with God and was God and anyone who could read and write the Word was co creator with that god and so very powerful within the tribal context.

Answer 9

Jim,

God, whoever He is, is not a deceiver. God, if there is one, must be truth. Why? Why should he deceive? Do you agree?

If God is truth, then what is truth? Science pursues the truth, rigorously. God is all about the start of the universe and the start of life. So, science wants to understand the fingerprints of creation, or god, on this world. Believe what you like, you still have to take a step of faith, to believe, whatever you believe..

Answer 10

The 'Word' here is Jesus and the prophecies relating to the coming of Jesus. But you are not reading it in 'context' , and you are not reading it with the guidance of the Holy Spirit either. Neither do I. I don't know how anyone could read simple statements out of context, and I just don't believe in the supernatural at all... hence no Holy Spirit.