John 1:1 — "The Word Was God"

Branhamism interprets John 1:1 in harmony with its Oneness theology, affirming that Jesus is the manifestation of God (not a separate person), and that the logos is God's eternal thought or word expressing itself. In William Branham's teaching, God is one person (not three), but Jesus embodies the fullness of the Godhead bodily as God's ultimate self-revelation. The 'Word was God' means that the Word is the divine self-expression, not a second person alongside the Father.

Branham taught that what people perceive as 'Father, Son, and Holy Spirit' are three manifestations or offices of the one God, with Jesus being the supreme revelation of God's character and redemptive purpose. John 1:1-3 is understood to mean that through Jesus (the manifested Word), all things were created—God spoke the universe into being through his Word/Thought, which becomes flesh in Jesus. This interpretation differs from both Trinitarianism (which posits three eternal persons) and from classical Unitarianism (which denies Jesus's divine status), instead proposing that Jesus is the full revelation of the one God.