No, I am not running away from any truth.
However I believe that those who go to other versions than the kjv do so primarily because of itching ears (see 2 Timothy 4:1-5).
In John 8:58 in the kjv, the truth is clear that Jesus is breaking normal grammatical usage in order to claim that He is the great I AM.
Unfortunately, the version that you were looking at avoids this clear proclamation of truth as it is biased against the Deity of Jesus Christ.
I feel it is those who avoid the kjv who are "lacking courage to face the truth," and "running from the truth".
----Good Day once more------
JBF: I see you still want to cling on to ONE verse, some use dozens more (maybe you have them all stacked ready to deploy), to deliberately change scripture from the son of God to mean God (Lord God, Almighty or YHWH) for some reason. And of course, you are in the majority with other like-minded thinkers.
At any rate, let me try and put my mind as yours and try to see what you are ‘seeing.’
The KJV for John 8:58 is as follows
(Joh 8:58) Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (KJV)
There can only be three logic choices drawn from this verse and if read in context with what was being said, it is reduced to only one viable choice however.
I gave you one of the logic answers yesterday and here I will give you the only viable one (I neglected to complete it yesterday). The other choice is yours, I believe, even though you really have not yet clearly stated it. And I believe it is wrong.
Now I believe if you were to defend your choice, you might say, Jesus lived or existed before Abraham based on this translation. Looking at just this verse without not knowing the local speak and the context from which it was said I can even see this in my mind. But, I would want to dig a bit deeper to valid this mind-view because Jesus never said such a thing to anyone like this before in his own lips, if this is what he meant! Sounds reasonable right? We would want to really be sure that Jesus was saying he was born way back thousands of years ago, and if we really wanted to get carried away, or even before or even at creation, right, and then even throw in the famous I AM Exodus verse? to make his God. Of course, as we get carried away, we surely have to note that God said he birthed a child on earth some two thousand years ago who was called the
son of God.
Now I will admit I never meant that Jesus was just much more important than Abraham.
I in keeping in your mind I will say that Jesus was ‘alive’ before Abraham was ‘alive.’ But how, is the question!
Now does this mean that Jesus was God? You decide.
Ego eimi -I am, does not identify Jesus with God, but it does focus on Jesus in the sternness way possible as I said before. Here are some places the expression is used in the NT.
‘I am he’—Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8; John 13:19; 18:5, 6 and 8. ‘It is I’—Matt. 14:27; Mark 6:50; John 6:20. ‘I am the one I claim to be’—John 8:24 and 28.
Let me go further and offer another choice that is in context.
Jesus was more important in the mind of God than Abraham would ever be, eons before Abraham was born and Jesus was born around 4 BC. This is the more complete answer I should have given you. What I first gave you was ½ an answer. This is the complete and scripture safe explanation.
Now I can point to at least two other pieces of scripture of the NT that supports my answer, where this is said of Jesus, with part of the answer seen explicitly and the other half implicitly. Here are two verse...
(Joh 17:5) And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (KJV)
(Joh 17:24) Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. (KJV)
Now collectively these two verses in context tells me that God knew Jesus before he was created and now Jesus upon nearly the end of his mission wanted the glory that was coming to him – which was his immortality. Jesus wanted/ prayed that believers also become immortal in his realm, in the future. As we know this shall happen to all believers, right?
Now many folks as yourself bark at such an explanation and say, see, this proves that Jesus was created at creation or before, or he was even God.
Yet if I showed you another verse that speaks to God loving or knowing others in eons past at least, in your mind you would agree with me. Funny how that is…
The verse is 2 Tim 1:9:
(2Ti 1:9) Who hath saved us, and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, (KJV)
We know we were not 'alive' at creation or before, right? We were in the mind of God only, as WAS Jesus!
I would like you to also check this out before you attach Exodus 3:14 to John 8:58 again as your support for Jesus is God in the future. In Exodus 3:14, does not translate as you think. 'I am that I am,' is a mis-transliterated expression from Hebrew to English. It does not translate to ‘I am that (who, which) I am.’ It really says, ‘I will be what I will be.’ Exodus has the meaning of ‘to be’ and not’ I am.’ Quite different!
(Exo 3:14) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (KJV)
Here’s a Messianic Jewish version of Exodus 3:14 note the footnote concerning the original Hebrew language:
(Exo 3:14) And Elohim said to Mosheh, “I am that which I am.”a And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Yisra’ěl, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” (TS2009)
Footnote: aThe Heḇrew text reads:
’eheyeh ’asher ’eheyeh, the word
’eheyeh being derived from
hayah which means
to be, to exist, but the Aramaic text here in v. 14 reads:
ayah ashar ayah.
JBF: I hope you are enjoying your new home in CA. For a short spell I lived around Santa Clara, Sunnyvale (Silicon Valley) and worked in a TS facility.
Bless you,
APAK
PS I am also not an Arian of old. I may have some aspects that coincidently are common with them.