I'm not sure that the difference in the use of the article is so
important in Jn1:1. The verse reads (best viewed in a fixed width
font) :-
EN ARCHi HN hO LOGOS
KAI hO LOGOS HN PROS TON QEON
KAI QEOS HN hO LOGOS.
Each clause terminates in a noun that commences the next clause in
a climax. The climactic structure manifest in this verse dictates
that QEOS appear as the first noun. Since QEOS is a predicate noun
occurring before the explicit copula, it lacks the article (Colwell's
rule). Thus, the difference in the use of the article depends more
on the constraints of the rhetorical structure than necessarily on a
semantic difference.
If the author of Jn1:1 wished to exploit the function of the articles
to capture a semantic distinction, I think the verse would read "... KAI
hO LOGOS HN QEOS" instead. And we would be the poorer for it.
Stephen Carlson
-- Stephen C. Carlson : Poetry speaks of aspirations, scarlson@mindspring.com : and songs chant the words. http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/ : -- Shujing 2.35