John 1:1 — "The Word Was God"

Biblical Unitarians interpret John 1:1 as referring to God's eternally existing word, plan, or wisdom—the logos as a divine attribute or mode of expression, not as a pre-existent divine person separate from the Father. They argue that the phrase 'the Word was with God' (pros ton theon) indicates a relationship between God's word and God himself, not between two distinct divine persons. The statement 'the Word was God' is understood to mean that the Word shared in God's divine attribute or purpose, not that it was a numerically distinct person who was fully God.

Biblical Unitarians point to the prologue's philosophical context in Hellenistic Judaism, where logos theology (influenced by Philo) referred to God's creative reason or wisdom. John 1:3 ('all things were made through him') is read as referring to God's creative word or plan, consistent with Proverbs 8 and Wisdom literature where divine wisdom is personified but not presented as a separate person. This interpretation allows John 1:1 to be reconciled with the monotheism established in John 17:3 and 1 Corinthians 8:6, where Jesus directs worship to God as the sole true God.