The Eternal Existence of Jesus in the Johannine Prologue

Ἐν (ἀρχῇ) / In the Beginning

If John had wanted to say that Jesus was created in the beginning, he could suitably have used the Greek words ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς. This formulation appears, for example, in John 8:44 [3]. It would support the idea that Jesus began to exist at a certain point in time [4]. But John does not use ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, but rather ἐν ἀρχῇ – that is, “in the beginning.” That is decisive!

For the preposition ἐν (in) describes a state or location, not a movement or origin [5]. Baumgarten explains:

“The use of the preposition ἐν instead of ἀπό means that John is describing the status of the Word at the time of the beginning, and not that the Word came into existence from this beginning (originating from this beginning).” [6]

In other words: the Word was in the beginning, it did not become.

ἦν – was

Throughout the entire prologue (John 1:1–18), John also makes a clear distinction between two verbs that are important for our topic:

ἦν (from εἰμί) – means “was” or “is” → describes continuous existence

ἦν (from εἰμί) – means “was” or “is” → describes continuous existence

ἐγένετο (from γίνομαι) – means “became” or “came into being” → describes coming into being, creation

ἐγένετο (from γίνομαι) – means “became” or “came into being” → describes coming into being, creation

This distinction is central. The word ἦν does not express an origin, but simply describes a continuous existence [7]. John uses ἦν for the Word (Jesus) in verse 1 in the eternal state, while he uses ἐγένετο for example for creation in verse 3.

Baumgarten puts it this way:

“Furthermore, if John had wanted to communicate the origin of the Word, the simplest way would have been to use the verb ἐγένετο (γίνομαι): ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐγένετο ὁ λόγος (‘In the beginning the Word came to be’).” [9]

But that is precisely what John does not do. Instead he consistently emphasizes: The Word was. Not: The Word “became.”

Another example of this linguistic distinction is seen in John 8:58:

Here γενέσθαι (form of γίνομαι – “to become”) stands for Abraham’s coming into being, and εἰμί (form of “to be”) for Jesus’ being – the exact same distinction as in John 1:1.

Conclusion

The linguistic subtleties in the Johannine prologue – the differences between ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς and ἐν ἀρχῇ as well as between ἐγένετο and ἦν – show us clearly: Jesus Christ is eternal. This precise word choice of Holy Scripture not only demonstrates its precision but also helps us to identify false teachings and meet them with a biblically grounded response.

[1] The Holy Scripture. Translated from the original text. Elberfeld Translation. CSV edition Hückeswagen, 7th edition (Hückeswagen: Christliche Schriftenverbreitung, 2015), John 1:1[2] The Lord Jesus bases his entire argument in Matt 22:32 on the tense of a verb: "is". This shows that every word matters[3]

cf. [1][4] Baumgarten, Kenneth J. A Critique of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures’ Treatment of Nine Texts Employing Θεός in Reference to Jesus Christ. Master’s thesis, South African Theological Seminary, 2007. Supervisor: Dr. KG Smith. p. 24[5] Wallace D. B.: Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan 1996. p. 357 (cited as source in Baumgarten’s thesis)[6] Baumgarten, ibid., p. 25[7] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), John 1:1[8] Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 24[9] Baumgarten, ibid., pp. 24–25