ver five years ago, I debated a friend on the topic of whether or not Yeshua the Messiah had a pre-carnal existence. My Biblical Unitarian[1] friend believed He did not; I believe He did. Sadly, as we made preparations for our public debate, a trust issue relating to this topic ended our friendship. Prior to that time, I had devoted very little time into studying this topic; over the years, the basic proof text I cited in support of my position was Yeshua’s prayer to His Father in John 17:5. Here's what He said: 

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

 

        Taken at face value, this verse means Yeshua had “glory” with the Father before the world was. I had previously researched and determined that the King James Version translation of John 17:5 is accurate, so anyone well-versed in the Greek language will agree with the above English translation of the Greek text. Thus, Yeshua was with the Father before the world came into existence. But that's not how my friend interpreted the verse. We both agreed that regardless of who is right, Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of Yahweh, and we mutually agreed to not allow any specifics interfere with our relationship. That plan worked for over 20 years.

 

        The dynamics of our relationship began to change in 2018 when my friend published a book that was designed to promote his view as the correct one, which in turn established, at least in his mind, that my view is incorrect. One thing led to another, and we had a private debate in our home in Plano, Texas, followed by a public debate in Rising Star, Texas in June 2019.

 

        Since that debate, I have come across additional evidence validating Yeshua's pre-carnal existence. Some of these findings are addressed in my three-part study “Did Yeshua Messiah Have a Pre-Carnal Existence,” which I completed in 2020. But even more evidence has been brought to my attention since 2020.  For the purposes of this particular newsletter, I will only focus on one: John 1:1. Prior to our debate, I was only aware of a so-called original Greek text of the book of John. Three years later, I learned of a Hebrew book of John that was discovered in the vast archives of the Vatican library. The manuscript is known as Vatican Ebr. 100, and was translated into English by the Van Rensburg family in Australia. The translators offer an extensive trove of evidence validating that this Hebrew book of John is authentic, having been derived from the original Hebrew text.[2] One of the most surprising variations from the Greek manuscript is the fact that the Greek phrase translated “In the beginning was the Word” is “In the beginning was the Son of Eloah” in the Hebrew manuscript. This one element from the Hebrew book of John, in and of itself, shatters the belief that Yeshua did not have a pre-carnal existence.

 

        Let's examine the Greek text of John 1:1:

 

1 εν αρχη ην ο λόγος, και ο λόγος ην προς τον θεόν, και θεος ην ο λόγος.

 

        Here's a literal translation of the above:

 

1 In beginning was the Word and the Word was toward the Theon [Almighty] and Theos [the Almighty] was the Word.

 

        Biblical Unitarians are persuaded that the Greek word logos (λόγος) is misunderstood by “Pre-Genesis Created Messiah” believers such as myself.[3] I am persuaded that logos, as used in John 1:1, is a direct reference to Yeshua as the beginning of all Creation, and that He is the "Word/Logos of Yahweh." Biblical Unitarians teach that this is an incorrect interpretation, and that Logos should instead be understood as the "Plan of Yahweh," which means Yeshua was in the "Plan of Yahweh." In a warm-up debate held in our home on March 9, 2019, Biblical Unitarian Chuck Henry presented the following interpretation of John 1:1:

                                                                                                                                   

The logos or plan for the Messiah became flesh when He came into existence. The Messiah is not Elohim in the flesh; rather, He is the plan of Elohim.

 

           Here’s a screen capture taken from the videoed presentation that day:

 

 

        Chuck also incorporated the above interpretation into his August 2019 revision, which is currently available online:

  

 

        Please notice that Chuck unequivocally states that John 1:14 says the logos became flesh, not the Son became flesh.  But that’s not what we glean from the Hebrew John 1:14. According to Hebrew John 1:14, “El was made flesh,” and we can reasonably deduce that He became flesh in the person of His Son Yeshua. Notice the English translation from the Hebrew text:

 

 

           According to the Hebrew text of John 1:14 , “El was made flesh” and dwelt with mankind. How could that have happened? The only explanation is that, indeed, Yeshua was “El in flesh form.”

 

           Of course, Chuck Henry isn’t the only Biblical Unitarian professing that the Greek word logos, as used in John 1:1, does not refer to the Son of Yahweh. In his book, Chuck often quotes a man named Anthony Buzzard. Buzzard, on his website focusonthekingdom.org, includes an article titled “John 1:1 Caveat Lector (Reader Beware),” and the subtitle states, “‘In the beginning was the word’ does not mean ‘In the beginning was the Son’”:

 

        Buzzard, in scrambling to make sense of the book of John, concludes, “In all probability John has been ‘turned on his head.’” The reality from the Hebrew John reveals that it’s the Biblical Unitarians whose heads have been turned–the wrong way. With their multiple re-interpretations, replete with explanations of what otherwise plain texts “really mean,” it is now clear they are bent on retrofitting any and all verses that conflict with their contorted understanding of truth.

 

        Regrettably, Chuck Henry passed away in 2022.  I would like to know what impact Hebrew John 1:1, as well as Hebrew John 1:14, would have had on his doctrinal belief. That's because Hebrew John 1:1 does not refer to the Word (Hebrew dabar) of Elohim as I would have expected; rather it presents that in the beginning was the Son [Heb. ben] of Eloah, and this fact changes everything. Here’s the text as it appears in the Hebrew manuscript:

 

 

        Here’s a literal translation of Hebrew John 1:1 (each translated word is displayed in brackets):

 

[He was] [Son] [in the starting] [the Eloah] [and Son] [the El] [with] [the El] [and Son] [the El] [he was] [Eloah].[4]

         Here’s the basic translation:

 

       

    Unless an individual chooses to interpretationally insert words so as to manipulate the text and give it a Biblical Unitarian spin, Hebrew John 1:1 proves that in the beginning was the Son of Eloah. He had a pre-carnal existence with the Father.

 

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[1] Biblical Unitarians teach that Yeshua did not exist prior to His birth in Bethlehem.

[2] Cf., The Hebrew Gospels from Sepharad: The Gospel according to John, translated by the Van Rensburg family, Version 1.1, "Evidence of Authenticity and Interesting Readings," April 2021, pp. iii - xviii.

[3] In his book Trinity, Oneness, Duality, and Pre-Existence, Biblical Unitarian Chuck Henry mis-classified those of my persuasion as "Dualists," even though we clearly do not fit that classification. Since I am persuaded that Yeshua emanated from the Father as the "Firstborn of all Creation" (Colossians 1:15), and the "beginning of the Creation of Elohim" (Rev. 3:14), and since this occurred before the world began (John 17:5), I opt to classify myself as a “Pre-Genesis Created Messiah” believer.

[4] Special thanks to my daughter, Colista, for supplying this literal translation of Hebrew John 1:1.