Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Deity of Christ

This article, together with others in this short series, each beginning with the words “Jehovah’s Witnesses and…” in their title, deal with the doctrine of Jesus Christ rather than the person. By that we mean, Jesus is an accepted historic fact; it is agreed by all that some two thousand years ago a Jew lived and taught in Palestine; that a person named Jesus Christ really did exist. Even Jehovah’s Witnesses accept this fact! “Is it a historical fact that he lived in Palestine during the early part of our Common Era?” [1]  In answer to their own question they go on to quote from Tacitus, a Roman historian who lived during the latter part of the first century; Josephus, a Jewish historian in the first century; Dr. T. R. Glover, a lecturer in ancient history at Cambridge University; in each case illustrating their belief in the existence of a person called Jesus Christ.

From this moment on, however, our mutual acceptance of the truth sets off in totally different directions! Although we may accept the existence of Jesus Christ, and even have secular history to prove it, it is to the Bible that we must turn for an authentic record of the doctrine concerning Him. Let us not be afraid of this word “doctrine”. It simply means “what is taught”. We are going to examine what the Bible teaches us about Jesus Christ as opposed to the false teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Is Jesus Christ God? Has Jesus Christ always been God from the beginning? Is Jesus Christ still God today? According to the Bible the answer to these three questions is YES! According to Jehovah’s Witnesses the answer is NO! One finds it difficult to understand why a group of people, especially with a title so majestic as “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, should seek to rob Jesus Christ of His deity by stating quite plainly that He “was not Jehovah God, but was ‘existing in the form of God’.” [2] In a second edition of this same publication the wording has been changed to, “existing in God’s form.” [3]

Whether or not there is any significance in this change of wording I am not quite sure, but it does highlight the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses change the “truth” from time to time—and admit to doing so, too! “No other organisation has shown this flexibility to alter its views, to keep up with changing times, to be alert to the increased light that comes from Jehovah from the temple, for other groups are bound by their centuries-old creeds.” [4] Jehovah’s Witnesses actually condemn the Christian Church for adhering to an unchanging doctrine. Presumably they ignore such Scripture when it states, “I the Lord do not change.” [5] If the Lord Himself is unchanging, then that which is taught about Him must be unchanging, too.

Immediately, on their own admission, all doctrine taught by Jehovah’s Witnesses becomes suspect. A truth which keeps changing cannot be a truth! If God was constantly changing He would cease to be God. Why, then, does this cult change the “truth” it teaches? Ted Dencher gives us the answer from his personal experience of the cult. “This changing of doctrine is done lest the Witnesses get tired of hearing the same old thing over and over again. Also, it makes it appear as if they are getting rid of false doctrines!” [6]   Such a reason defies comment!

So we approach Jehovah’s Witness doctrine of Jesus Christ from a point of extreme suspicion as we come back to our original questions. “Some have earnestly believed that Jesus was God himself. But such a conclusion is not warranted by the Scriptures.” [7] We shall prove otherwise, however, using those same Scriptures!

Personally, I honestly cannot see what this cult derives from preaching a false Christ, except perhaps the satisfaction of believing they are presenting the truth. Even this is very difficult to understand when the Word of God contradicts their blasphemous ideas at every turn.

JESUS CHRIST HAS BEEN GOD FROM ALL ETERNITY; HE ALWAYS HAS BEEN GOD, IS GOD TODAY, AND ALWAYS WILL BE GOD IN THE FUTURE.

In spite of what Jehovah’s Witnesses say, this is a cast iron fact. Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father… the Bible says so!

Jesus Himself said, speaking to His Heavenly Father, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” [8] This Scripture quotation contradicts another Jehovah’s Witness statement. Jesus “was before all others of God’s creatures, because he was the first son that Jehovah God brought forth. For this reason he is called ‘the only begotten Son’ of God, for God had no partner in bringing forth his first begotten Son. He was the first of Jehovah God’s creations.” [9] But Jesus said, “…the glory I had with you before the world began.”

Now we can follow this through from the Scriptures. The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” [10] So, when God commenced His creative work—or caused His Son to commence the creation of the universe—in the very beginning Jesus was already in existence, “before the world began.”  Later in this first chapter of the Bible, without any previous reference to creating Jesus, God said to His Son, “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…” [11] Jesus is both God and Man. As God He is a Spirit, and therefore invisible; as Man He walked this earth, visible and recognisable as a man to all mankind, naturally enough, because they were made in His image and likeness in the first place.

Final and conclusive proof that Jesus was not the first of God’s creations, that in the beginning when God began to create the world Jesus existed, can be found in these verses of Scripture which all refer to Jesus. “THROUGH HIM ALL THINGS WERE MADE; without him nothing was made that has been made.” [12] “He was in the world, and though THE WORLD WAS MADE THROUGH HIM, the world did not recognise him.” [13] “By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities: ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM and for him.” [14] The capitals here, and in later Scripture quotations where they do not actually appear in the Bible script, of course, are mine.

To support their theory, that Jesus was a created rather than a divine being, Jehovah’s Witnesses quote from two particular verses of Scripture. [Jesus] “Is the image of the invisible God, THE FIRSTBORN OVER ALL CREATION.” [15] and, “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, THE RULER OF GOD’S CREATION.” [16] Here two factors present themselves of which Jehovah’s Witnesses appear to be completely ignorant. The first is the multitude of Scripture references which far out-weigh these two, proving beyond doubt that Jesus Christ is not a created being, neither first nor otherwise, but divine.

This in no way suggests that the Bible here contradicts itself; that because two verses are far out-weighed by others this renders them as false, contradictory, or that they were mistakenly included in the Bible in the first place, and as such should be ignored or rejected. These are the kind of tactics employed by Jehovah’s Witnesses! “All Scripture is God breathed;” [17] we cannot reject or ignore even one word! The KJV uses the phrase, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

Rightly understood, the Bible never contradicts itself. The second factor ignored by Jehovah’s Witnesses, and is in point of fact the most important, is the correct interpretation of the references quoted. The literal translation from the original Greek of “first-born of every creature” is, “begotten before all creation.” Jesus Himself is not a creature. He was “begotten” or in existence before any creature was made. This is the Bible way of representing eternity—GOD THE FATHER IS ETERNAL; GOD THE SON IS ETERNAL.

“The beginning of the creation of God,” refers not to Jesus as the first being of the creation, as Jehovah’s Witnesses state, but to Christ, the first cause, or “one who began”, the work of creation. Let us remember the Scripture, “Through him all things were made,” [18] and other similar references.

One could no doubt argue that Jesus Christ was created before “the beginning”, but there is no Bible proof to substantiate this. In spite of this, however, Jehovah’s Witnesses state that “the almighty, all-wise God who brought forth his first creation at an unknown time in the past is also able to create now a new world…God’s first creative work was no experimental model. It was his best work of creation till nineteen centuries ago.” [19] It is very generous of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to acknowledge that Jesus was not an “experimental model” but God’s “best work of creation”—at least, until He created the world! This is my personal Saviour they are belittling, the One who saved my soul, who died that I might have eternal life. How dare they reduce Him to a “first created work”!

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” [20] “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” [21]  In the beginning God the Father and God the Son were together—THE BIBLE SAYS SO! If we believe the Bible, then we cannot accept yet another Jehovah’s Witness statement on this subject. “He was before all others of God’s creatures, for he was the first son that God brought forth.” [22] This would suggest that God had more than one son. Such an idea is totally unacceptable!

[There is a sense, of course, in which we who have acknowledged Jesus as Saviour and Lord are all sons—and daughters—of God, but that is another subject outside the scope of this article.]

If Jesus was “the first son that God brought forth,” then the theory that He is not God would hold. It would be logical to conclude that before “the beginning” numerous sons could have been created. One could not accept them all as “Gods”! It is, therefore, necessary for us to acknowledge this aspect of the doctrine of Jesus Christ as being true—that He is the only Son and that He is equal in power and glory with God the Father. There is no other way if other aspects of truth are to make sense. One can liken it to a jig-saw; every piece must fit together perfectly to complete the picture. Distort or reject just one piece and problems will arise.

The same applies to Scripture. We cannot distort or reject even one aspect of truth without causing problems. We must be prepared to take all Scripture references on a particular subject, not just a selected few. We might fabricate the wildest theories by taking verses from their context, or by selecting just the required number to “prove” a theory. Jehovah’s Witnesses are, unfortunately, guilty of this practice—that is, when they are not actually altering or deleting the words of the Bible to form so-called “proof texts”.

Quite apart from the necessity of accepting this doctrine, the Bible itself plainly shows how wrong Jehovah’s Witnesses are in calling the “accepted doctrine of Christendom” spurious. The Bible states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his ONE AND ONLY SON…” [23] and two verses later in the same chapter John refers to Jesus as “GOD’S ONE AND ONLY SON.” [24] On what authority, then, do Jehovah’s Witnesses state that Jesus is only the first son when the Bible says He is God’s one and only Son? The KJV uses the phrase, “the only begotten Son of God.”

As we mentioned earlier, they do try to explain it away by saying, “He is called ‘the only begotten Son’ of God, for God had no partner in bringing forth his first-begotten son.” [25] An interesting theory one might agree, but one that does not reckon with Scripture references, such as, “…the Father sent THE Son to be the Saviour of the world.” [26]  The definite article “the” suggests one Son, not many. If Jesus was but one of many sons the indefinite article “a” would be implied, although there is no such article in the Greek language. The Greek text, however, quite definitely states “the”.

This Scripture verse is not alone! “Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, THE Son of the living God.” [27] “I have seen and I testify that this is THE Son of God.” [28] “You are the Christ, THE Son of the living God.” [29] The implication is that Jesus is “the” Son, “the only” Son, not “a” son, one of many.  

Two interesting thoughts spring quickly to mind. If Jesus is one of many sons, then why send Him to be the Saviour of the world? Why not one of the others? Incidentally, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not tell us how many “others” there are! And if the same Greek word is used to translate “the”, and grace, mercy and truth come from the Father as well as the Son, then if the Son is one of many, as Jehovah’s Witnesses state, then they must translate the other phrase so that the Father becomes one of many, too! So we end up with more than one Jehovah God! Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot have it both ways; either we translate “the” as “the” or we do not and accept the consequences!

For some two thousand years the Christian Church has believed and taught the deity of Jesus Christ. Through the centuries the doctrine of God the Son has been accepted. Both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible proclaim the Lord Jesus as GOD. Christ Himself has on more than one occasion claimed to be equal with His Father. In spite of this, Jehovah’s Witnesses state that “he was a mighty one, although not almighty as Jehovah God is…he was a God, but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah.” [30] How anyone who swears allegiance to this cult can be so blind, and accept such blasphemous nonsense as truth, is completely beyond my understanding. That misguided individuals like Russell and Rutherford invented and accepted it—especially as we have some knowledge of their character—may, up to a point, be just a little understandable. But when thousands of people who appear to be normal, healthy citizens, believe this to be true, it is completely beyond my comprehension.

And the numbers are still growing! Harold J. Berry tells us that “the organisation has grown at a phenomenal rate. From their own statistics, we learn that the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses actively engaged in witnessing in 1945 was 141,606 (Qualified to be Ministers, p.332). During 1971 the number had grown to 1,510,245 (Watchtower, Jan. I, 1972, p.25).” [31] No doubt the up-to-date figures are very much in excess of those for 1972. [Originally written in 1970, the text of this booklet was revised in 1973 to incorporate this information, and we know the figures have increased since then!] Very kindly we can only describe Jehovah’s Witnesses as “poor, blind, misguided fools, heading for a sinner’s grave!” May God open their eyes to the truth before it is too late. May He use this booklet, and others in this short series, each beginning with the words “Jehovah’s Witnesses and…” in their title, to lead them into the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was with this urgency in mind that I wrote the original articles, and with the same urgency now publish them thirty-five or more years later on the Internet with the prayer that at least some Jehovah’s Witnesses will read them and not only learn the truth, but be convinced of it as well.

We cannot get away from the divine truth, even though Jehovah’s Witnesses make their blasphemy so very plausible that it appears almost to be the truth. This is what makes it so dangerous. According to the Bible, the plain and simple answer to the question, IS JESUS GOD? is a resounding YES! The whole Bible, not just the New Testament, refers to Jesus Christ. All the following quotations refer to Jesus, proving His deity: “The mighty God.” [32]  “The great God.”  [33] “The true God.” [34] And the admission of Thomas, when he said, “My Lord and my God.” [35]

So far we have sought to prove that Jesus Christ is, always has been, and always will be GOD…God the Son. Now we sound the final death knell on this aspect of Jehovah’s Witness teaching. It is the one text above all others which kills stone dead any theory that Jesus is not God! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” [36] There is no doubt now, no further argument, no need for further proof, for here we have the Bible telling us in the plainest and most simple way possible that Jesus Christ—the Word—is God.

Surely, we would think, Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot argue further on the subject; this is it, they cannot find a way around this statement!

Don’t you believe it! You will no doubt remember my reply to the lady mentioned in the previous booklet (I do hope you have read it!), who asked concerning my statement that this cult uses the Bible to support their own doctrine, rather than base their doctrine on the truths of Scripture. “Supposing they cannot find ‘proof’ for their doctrine in the Bible, what then?” I replied, “Then they alter the meaning of the Bible to fit their doctrine.” Here we have a glaring example of where Jehovah’s Witnesses tamper with the Word of God. Obviously, if the theory that Jesus Christ is nothing more than a created being is to hold, then this text must go! So Jehovah’s Witnesses do just that and alter the Bible!

“The beginning of God’s creation was the Logos, which term is translated in our Bibles ‘the Word’. The record reads: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with (the) God and the Word was (a) god’…The Logos, the Word, was a god, a mighty one.”  [37] That was what they said in 1921.

“In John, chapter 1, he is spoken of as being the Word of God, that is to say, the mouthpiece or representative speaker for God. In the Greek Bible text the Word is Logos; hence he may be called ‘the Word or Logos’. Being a mighty one and holding this high official capacity as Logos and being before all other creatures, he was a God, but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah… ‘In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with GOD, and the Logos was God. This was in the beginning with GOD’…The typographical difference between GOD and God…the distinction between Jehovah as ’GOD’ and the Logos as ’God’ still more clear, reading as follows: ’In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and a god was the Word. This was in a beginning with the God’” [38] This is what they said in 1946.

“…he was a God, but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah… ‘In the beginning was the LOGOS, and the LOGOS was with GOD, and the LOGOS was God. This was in the beginning with GOD’…Here in our quotation the typographical difference between GOD and God…makes the distinction between Jehovah as ’GOD’ and the Logos as ’God’ still clearer, reading as follows: ’In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and a god was the Word. This was in the beginning with the God.’ Happily the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures (published in 1950) renders John 1:1,2: ‘Originally the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This one was originally with God.’” [39] This is what they said in 1952.

This New World Translation is the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own translation of the Bible, the basic purpose of which is not to produce a work to enable students to understand the Word of God better, as is the case with most modern translations, but an attempt to “fit” the Bible into their own blasphemous system of doctrine.

Before proceeding with a discussion of the Scripture reference quoted, it would be as well to note the words of an eminent scholar concerning the New World Translation. In an article entitled, “How Not To Translate The Bible”, H. H. Rowley says this:

“They profess to offer a rendering into modern English which is as faithful as possible. In fact, the jargon which they use is often scarcely English at all, and it reminds one of nothing so much as a schoolboy’s first painful beginnings in translating Latin into English. The translation is marked by a wooden literalism which will only exasperate any intelligent reader—if such it finds—and instead of showing the reverence for the Bible which the translators profess, it is an insult to the Word of God.”

Several examples are then given, following one of which the writer states, “This is not translation, but tampering with the text.” He then concludes the article thus, “From beginning to end this volume is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated, and a reminder that the Bible is great literature, which deserves to be translated by those who have a feeling for style and who both understand the original and know how to express its meaning with elegance.” [40]      

These are not my words, a mere minister of the true Gospel, or one of “the Clergy of Christendom”, who are condemned en masse by Jehovah’s Witnesses as “forming part of the world”, and “are therefore enemies of God.” [41] These are the words of a scholar, one whose academic knowledge on these matters far surpasses the most learned Jehovah’s Witness—and most of the “condemned clergy”, too!

In the light of this, can we have faith in the New World Translation? I think not! But let Walter R. Martin and Norman H. Klann, who have produced “a thorough expose of the important anti-Biblical teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses”, have the last word, before we move on. “Once it is perceived that Jehovah’s Witnesses are only interested in what they can make the Scriptures say, and not in what the Holy Spirit has already perfectly revealed, then the honest seeker after truth will reject entirely Jehovah’s Witnesses and their Watchtower translations.” [42]

No further word is necessary to confirm that the Bible translation by Jehovah’s Witnesses is as false as the cult itself. No longer can we feel safe with their Scripture interpretations. With this in mind, let us return to the audacious alterations to the divine text.

In spite of elaborate explanations as to why they have felt it necessary to “correct” the Bible truth, one can only experience abhorrence at this attempt by Jehovah’s Witnesses to deliberately pervert the Scriptures. By inserting the article, “a”, they reduce the Lord Jesus Christ from a divine being— “the Word was God”—down to a creature, a part of creation— “the Word was a god”. To add insult to injury they further reduce the Saviour of the World to “a lesser god, one of many” by simply substituting a capital “G” with a small “g”.

If I sound grieved, then rightly so! This is my personal Saviour these people are insulting! Just because one or two men, Russell and Rutherford the inventors in particular, want to condemn themselves to hell (a hell they don’t even believe exists, incidentally!) by this blasphemy, is it reasonable that thousands of others should go the same way by accepting and believing and teaching such a false doctrine? I am amazed at the complete blindness of these people who call themselves “Jehovah’s Witnesses”. To any average, intelligent being, it is obvious just how false and blasphemous is their system of doctrine.

I am not suggesting that all Jehovah’s Witnesses are below average intelligence. Far from it. I have met many who appear to be, if anything, above average! What I am saying, however, of all Jehovah’s Witnesses everywhere, is that their eyes have been blinded and their hearts have been hardened, “that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted.” [43] That is the work of the devil, and he’s having a field day!

If further proof of Christ’s deity is required, basing such proof on John, chapter one and verse one, we have only to turn to the Rev. M. C. Burrell, B.A., who writes:

“One might have assumed that John 1:1, would have settled the issue (of the erroneous teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses concerning Christ’s deity) once and for all, for we are told, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ But Jehovah’s Witnesses make an excursion into the Greek text to avoid the implications of the verse. They translate, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.’

“Now the Greek of John 1:1, reads: ‘En archç çn ho logos kai ho logos çn pros ton theon kai theos çn ho logos.’

“There is no indefinite article (like our ‘a’) in the Greek language, but only the definite article (like our ‘the’). It will be noticed that the Greek article stands before God in the first instance (‘ton theon’) but not in the second (‘theos’). Hence the Jehovah’s Witnesses literal translation. ‘The Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.’ Notice carefully the distinction between ‘the God’, Jehovah, and ‘a god’, Christ. They feel that the translation gives them justification for speaking of Christ as a sort of inferior god, but not as Almighty God.

“But every schoolboy knows that a literal translation is not always the best, and no Greek scholar of any reputation would allow such an interpretation of the verse. One of the best scholars, Alford, said, ‘The omission of the article before “theos” is not mere usage; it could not have been expressed, “ho logos en ho theos…” for this would identify the Word with God in such a way as to destroy the distinct personality of the “logos”.’ He goes on to state that ‘theos’ without the article means, not ‘the God’ which would mean the Father in Person, nor ‘a God’, but simply God in substance and essence. So in spite of what Jehovah’s Witnesses say, there is not the slightest justification for distinguishing between the God and a god in John 1:1. The text is yet another proof of the Deity of Christ.” [44]

This may all have appeared somewhat academic in an article which I am deliberately trying to keep simple and easy to understand, but I felt it was important to include it in an attempt to strengthen my case against the false teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses and their methods of tampering with the Word of God.

“Who do you say I am?” [45] The first part of a composite answer we have given. JESUS CHRIST IS GOD THE SON; JESUS CHRIST IS GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH. If this was not a fact, then there would be little point in continuing to add other articles to this short series with “Jehovah’s Witnesses and…” in their titles

This article has given the most important part of the answer; the part which could be thought of as the “keystone” for all the other article in this short series. (We trust God will bless you as you read them!)

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS GOD.

Of that there is absolutely no doubt. This fact is, as it were, the central stone of an arch which locks all the others in position—the “keystone!” We can now proceed to the other “stones”, the other aspects of the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

© 2010 Denis A. Wheadon. All rights reserved. Website: http://www.Pen4God.co.uk. This document is the property of the Author and
must not be displayed on any other websites without permission. Copies may be downloaded and printed for personal use only. Any contact with
the writer or comments concerning an article, can be made by email addressed to: denis.wheadon@Pen4God.co.uk