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John opens his account of [[Jesus]]' life on earth with the beautiful statement of the divinity of Jesus. The text of the verse reads, ": ''{{web_verse|john|1|1}}" '' The phrase "the Word" (a translation of the Greek word "[[Logos]]") refers to Jesus, as indicated in other verses later in the same chapter. This verse, as well as a number of others throughout John and elsewhere in the Bible, set the stage for developments in [[Trinity|Trinitarian]] theology and [[Christology]].

εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογοςThe verse begins with "In the beginning" - the same expression that [[Genesis 1:1]] starts with. Jesus, the Word, is said to have existed before creation and to not only be with [[God]], but to be God. The has been controversy in the past regarding the exact translation. The Greek text reads: ''{{greek_verse|john|1|1}}. the point of the debate is a grammatical one which has theological repercussion. The standard translation finishes with: ''And the Word was God''. Some have translated it instead as: ''And the word was a god''. Those who attempt to translate the verse as ''a god'' neglect to note a standard [[Koine Greek]] grammatical rule, which has been called [[Colwell's rule]] - "In sentences in which the copula is expressed, a definite predicate nominative has the article when it follows the verb; it does not have the article when it precedes the verb."