ARTICLE GUIDE
At a Glance
This essay examines the biblical, syntactical, and historical evidence for the personal preexistence and full deity of Jesus Christ, taking as its primary conversation partner Bowman and Komoszewski’s The Incarnate Christ and His Critics (2024), especially the Johannine Logos material and the sharing of unique divine attributes between the Father and the Son.
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What This Study Explores
Promise-Plan Theology
What does John 1 claim about the Logos before creation?
John presents the Logos as already existing when creation begins, personally oriented toward the Father, and fully sharing the divine nature. The Word does not enter the class of created things; all created reality comes into being through him.
This Johannine claim is reinforced by Paul and Hebrews, where the Son creates, sustains, and rules the cosmos. His incarnation is therefore not the elevation of a creature but the voluntary entrance of the eternal divine Son into Israel’s covenantal story.
Key Claims
- The imperfect ēn in John 1:1 contrasts the Word’s continuing existence with the created order that “came to be.”
- Pros ton theon expresses personal distinction and communion between the Logos and the Father.
- The anarthrous theos in John 1:1c is primarily qualitative: what God was, the Word was.
- John 1:3’s exhaustive negation excludes the Logos from every originated thing.
- Colossians 1, Philippians 2, and Hebrews 1 corroborate personal preexistence and shared divine identity.
Interpretive Context
The essay distinguishes John’s Hebraic Word, Wisdom, tabernacle, and glory framework from Philonic or Stoic metaphysics. Greek and Targumic backgrounds illuminate the linguistic environment, but Genesis and Exodus govern the prologue’s theology.
The Logos fulfills the promise-plan from Genesis 3:15 through Abraham, Sinai, David, and the new covenant. The God who created and placed his Name among Israel has tabernacled in flesh without revoking Israel’s calling.
Selected Scholarship
- Robert M. Bowman Jr. and J. Ed Komoszewski, The Incarnate Christ and His Critics (2024).
- Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel (2008).
- Larry W. Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ (2003).
- Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (1996).
- Walter C. Kaiser Jr., The Promise-Plan of God (2008).
Scripture Connections
John 1:1–18; Colossians 1:15–20; Philippians 2:5–11; Hebrews 1:1–4; John 1:1; Genesis 3:15; Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36
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The complete article remains on Rabbit Room Apologetics at Substack.
Originally published September 6, 2026. This WordPress page is a discovery guide; the complete article is hosted on Substack.