John 1:1 first:
>John 1:1
>In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
>and the Word was God.

>Malachi will no doubt try to convince you that it should
>read an the Word was a god.
Yes John 1:1 is more accurately translated:

"In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god."

Let me explain why...and osoclasi has mentioned that Greek grammar doesn't demand that it read "a god"...but let me tell you why it IS consistent with the rules Greek grammar. Greek scholar Philip B. Harner, in his article "Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1", said that clauses like the one in John 1:1, "with an anarthrous predicate preceding the verb, are primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos(word) has the nature of theos(God)" He goes on to say that "Perhaps the clause could be translated, 'the Word had the same nature as God.'"(Journal of Biblical Literature, 1973, pp.85,87) Thus, in this text, the fact that the word "theos" in it's second occurence is without the definite article (ho) and is placed before the verb in the sentence in Greek is significant. Interestingly, translators that insist on rendering John 1:1, "The Word was God," do not hesitate to use the indefinite article (a, an) in their rendering of other passages where a singular anarthrous predicate noun occurs before the verb. Thus at John 6:70, the King James version, as well as others, refers to Judas Iscariot as "a Devil", and at John 9:17 they describe Jesus as "a prophet". So WHY is it that at John 1:1, Greek grammar "doesn't demand" that the indefinite article "a" be used, but at John 6:70 and John 9:17 it does? I'll tell you why, IT IS A BLATANT AND OBVIOUS ATTEMPT TO PROVE THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.

Many Bible Scholars feel the same way. In the book "Dictionary of the Bible", John L McKenzie writes "John 1:1 should rigorously be translated 'the word was with the God, and the word was a divine being.'"

In harmony with the above, The American Translation reads: "the Word was divine"; Moffatt's translation reads: "the Logos was divine"; The New Testament in an Improved Version reads: "the word was a god".

(Sorry I took so long to respond, it's been mad busy here at work.)