A new argument I have recently seen by one Unitarian for the non-pre-existence for the person behind the name, the one called, “Jesus” is John 1:15, where John the Baptist said:
“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.” KJV
“John testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’”” NASB
The Nominative Greek adjective: “πρῶτός” (protos)?
The problem for this Unitarian is that his argument is a best very weak!
The original Greek is below and the term that this Unitarians latched on to is the Greek adjective “πρῶτός” (protos).
Original Greek
“Ἰωάνης μαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ κέκραγεν λέγων Οὗτος ἦν ὃν εἶπον Ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν.”
The Unitarian (and for obvious theological reasons) is limiting and narrowing the meaning of “protos” to “first, principal, chief, surpass, ranks, precedence, superior, pre-eminent…” so that, Jesus did not pre-exist John the Baptist, but was rather, “first, before, principal, chief, surpass, ranks, precedence, pre-eminent superior…” in relation to John the Baptist whilst in the flesh, the Unitarian choosing which definition best suites his interpretation and theology!
Here “πρῶτος” (protos) like some other related terms* “πρώτη” (prote) and “πρῶτον” (proton) are based on the preposition “πρό” (pro).
* “πρωτα πρώτα πρώτά πρῶτα πρώται πρώταις, πρῶτος, πρώτη, πρῶτον προατος πρατός, πρότερος…”
Greek word order = “ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν” = (English word order = “because He existed before me”) here we have the Greek word order ‘conjunction “ὅτι” + preposition “πρῶ [τος] + (possessive) pronoun “μου” + verb “ἦν”’, thus giving “because + before, prior + (of) me + was”. Here we see that the preposition “pro” (protos = adjective) is used before the possessive genitive pronoun “of me”, this means that when we see the construction “pro[tos] mou” this phrase functions acts as a modifier for the time related verb “ἦν” (was). In other words, the phrase “…πρῶτός μου ἦν” denotes temporality that is time i.e., “before, prior to, earlier than…” and the conjunction “ὅτι” (because) gives the reason why, Jesus is prior to, before, earlier than John:
“…This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’” NASB
John said of Jesus (the person behind that name) that he (Jesus) “proved to be my superior, because…”, thus, in relation to John the Baptist, Jesus proved “superior” (pre-eminent, chief, first, before, principal, surpass, ranks, precedence, superior, pre-eminent) in relation to John and the reason why, is because “He existed before me”
To prove my point and the Unitarian one wrong, I offer a couple of examples, where “pro” is the stem, root:
John 6:62 (See also, John 13:1)
“Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!” NIV
Here we see that the accusative Greek adjective “πρότερον” (proteron) is used to clearly denote, not just a spatial realm, but also temporality, that is time! In John 3:13 we read:
“No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there.” CEV,
…but, here we read in John 6:62 “…the Son of Man ascend to where he was before.”
Math 5:12
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” ESV
The original Greek uses the preposition “πρὸ” (pro); using the Unitarian interpretation, would we say:
“…they persecuted the prophets who were ‘pre-eminent, surpassing…you”
Did the person behind the name Jesus pre-exist?
Texts are from the New International Version of the bible, unless otherwise stated.
John 3:13
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”
John 6:62
“Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!”
John 8:23
“But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
Here we have:
“…except the one who came from heaven…”
“…ascend to where he was before!”
“…the one who came from heaven…”
“You are of this world; I am not of this world.”
Now we come to the nail in the Unitarian coffin!
Phil 2:5-8 ASV
“Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; 8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, …”
The apostle Paul is talking about no other, than the person called “Jesus”, that, Jesus “who, existing in the form of God” (ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων) then, this one “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men”.
Paul clearly is telling his readers, that a person, who is called Jesus was formerly, before this one “emptied himself, and taking the form of a servant” was “existing in the form of God” and “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24), therefore, seeing as God is a Spirit, the one spoken of by Paul, before emptying himself was pre-existing in the same form as God himself, a spirit form, as are the other heavenly sons of God!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God…2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through Him all things were made…4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” BSB
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” BSB
John 17:5 NIV
“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”
“…with the glory I had with you before the world began.”
The proof is there, that, the person behind the earthly given name “Jesus” pre-existed, initially as a spirit person, alongside another spirit person, the Father and had a glory alongside the Father, before the world began, then emptied himself of this spirit form and took on the form of a man, thus, whether formerly existing as a spirit person or a fleshly person, it was always the exact same person, the only thing that changed for this person was the form he was in and whatever form he was in is irrelevant to the person, as it was and is always the same person, not an abstract thought within the mind of God!
The Unitarian position is untenable!
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