“Hi Rhi,
I’m just responding to a letter I received in the mail from you. It takes courage to live out what you believe, and to make yourself vulnerable and share with others your faith, and I find that admirable.
The reason I write, is because I think you would agree that while living out faith is important, and while we may have pure intentions in doing it, we all have to ensure that our faith is according to Truth. There are of course many faiths out there, many gods, even many versions of Jesus. Muslims believe in Allah and in Jesus, but is it the same Jesus as the Bible? According to them, Jesus wasn’t the Son of God, he didn’t die or rise from the dead, and he doesn’t forgive sins. So even though they call him Jesus, it is a false Jesus. Mormons also believe in God, and in Jesus, but according to them, God is an exalted man, and is one of billions of gods, and we ourselves can become Gods of our own universe.
In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul writes about his concern that others would come in preaching a false Jesus and a false gospel. Obviously his concern was justified, given that many false Jesus’ and many false gospels have arisen over the past 2000 years.
So it’s my job, according to Paul, to ensure I believe in the correct Jesus, and I’m sure you would agree it’s your job to ensure you believe in the correct Jesus. This matters, because believing in a different Jesus than the Bible teaches, means you believe in a Jesus who can’t save you.
In searching the scriptures, a few passages come to mind in learning the identity of who Jesus is and who God is. So that we can have common ground on the translation, I am only quoting from the New World Translation.
In Isaiah 6, we read of Isaiah’s encounter with Jehovah God:
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw Jehovah sitting on a lofty and elevated throne, and the skirts of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were standing above him; each had six wings. Each covered his face with two and covered his feet with two, and each of them would fly about with two.
And one called to the other:
“Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of armies. The whole earth is filled with his glory.”
And the pivots of the thresholds quivered at the sound of the shouting, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then I said: “Woe to me! I am as good as dead. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of armies himself!”
Then in the New Testament, we see this same encounter referenced in John 12:36-41:
“Jesus said these things and went off and hid from them. Although he had performed so many signs before them, they were not putting faith in him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, who said: “Jehovah, who has put faith in the thing heard from us? And as for the arm of Jehovah, to whom has it been revealed?” The reason why they were not able to believe is that again Isaiah said: “He has blinded their eyes and has made their hearts hard, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts and turn around and I heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him.”
Here we read that it was Jesus that Isaiah saw in his encounter. Isaiah says it was Jehovah, John says it was Jesus. If we believe that all scripture is divinely inspired, as stated in 2 Timothy which you pointed out in your letter, then we don’t believe that there are any contradictions or errors in the Bible. Therefore, if this is not a contradiction, then one must conclude that Jesus and Jehovah are one and the same.
Another passage is John 20:28 and in the original Greek, it reads as “ho kurios mou kai ho theos mou”. This passage references Thomas’ encounter with the risen Jesus Christ. He looks at Jesus and says (direct translation) “the Lord of me and the God of me”. Here we see the definite article being used when referencing Jesus as ‘the’ God.
Other verses that come to mind are:
Isaiah 43:10: “Before me no God was formed, and after me there has been none”.
Isaiah 44:6: “I am the first and the last, there is no God but me”.
Revelation 2:8: “These are the things that he says, ‘the First and the Last’, who became dead and came to life again”
If I read these three verses, I come to three conclusions:
There is only one God
God is the First and the Last
Jesus (the one who became dead and came to life again) is the First and the Last
Again, if we believe in divine inspiration, and that scripture contains no errors, then the only way that God and Jesus can both be the First and the Last, is if they are one and the same.
My main concern with believing the JW interpretation of John 1:1 and the overall identity of Jesus, is that it leads one to believe in polytheism. If Jesus is “a” god, then another god was formed after Jehovah, and there is a god besides Jehovah. In sincerely comparing Watchtower teaching to the Bible, I cannot come to the conclusion that Watchtower teaching is Truth. Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, so if anyone has the wrong Jesus, then they don’t have the Truth. When I read the Bible, I see that Jesus is the Eternal, Almighty, Unchanging God. He was with the Father in eternity, and, together with the Holy Spirit, he forms the Trinity - one Being, one God, three co-equal, co-eternal Persons. Jesus became a man, died a sacrificial death on the cross, and rose again and is now seated in heaven with all authority having been given to him. He offers salvation to all people who come to Him in faith.
My concern with believing the message that JW’s are preaching, is that it is not the Jesus, nor the God of the Bible. Like the muslims have a false God and false Christ, and the mormons have a false God and false Christ, after reading the previous scriptures, as well as Colossians 1, Hebrews 1 and many others, I inevitably come to the conclusion that JW’s have a false God and a false Christ. I don’t say this in condemnation of you, or in anger towards you, but in sincere concern that you are following an incorrect teaching that cannot save you.
Kind regards”
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“Hi there,
Thank you for your kind reply. It is rare to meet someone who has an appreciation for the bible and spiritual things and I appreciate that you’ve taken the time to read my letter and give such a thorough reply. I’m sorry it has taken a while to reply. You gave me some really interesting questions.
I do agree with you that faith can not be blind, it needs to be based on truth and facts. Hebrews 11:1 says “Faith is the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen”. Faith can only come about from proof that convinces us even if we cannot see it. For instance, we cannot see gravity, however we know its a force that exists and can feel the effects of it.
The reason I give you this illustration is that I did not grow up in a religious family. I came to learn and love bible truths and the creator of the universe Jehovah God in my adult years with a lot of study and research.
I respect that you are on the search for truth and do not wish to be misguided. We all should take Paul’s admonition in 2 Corinthians 13:5 seriously to ‘Keep testing whether you are in the faith; keep proving what you yourselves are. Or do you not recognise that Jesus Christ is in union with you? Unless you are disapproved.” So we want to test out or discover the nature or character of our faith and we can do this by comparing our daily conduct, attitudes and decisions with sacred truths from the bible, proving whether we are true Christians or not.
You mentioned Isaiah 6 and John 12:36-41 and I found it especially interesting that in Isaiah 6:8 when Isaiah saw the heavenly courts where Jehovah was sitting it says “whom shall I send, and who will go for US?” indicating that at least one other person was with God in this vision. Jesus has been referred to as God's son on numerous occasions throughout the bible. So, for me it is reasonable to conclude that when John wrote that Isaiah “saw his glory,” this refers to Jesus’ pre human glory alongside Jehovah. A large part of Isaiah’s writings focus on the foretold messiah, messiah meaning “anointed one”. To be anointed you need a superior to anoint you. Hence, Jehovah is superior to Jesus.
You also mentioned John 1:1 which does sound confusing but the thing that stood out to me is that it says “the Word was with God”. If you move down to verse 14 it says “so the Word became flesh and resided among us, and we had a view of his glory, a glory such as belongs to an only-begotten son from a father; and he was full of divine favour.”
Moving along with John 1:1 “beginning” can depend on context. Here the Greek word ‘ar.khe’ cannot refer to “the beginning” of God, the creator, because he is eternal, having no beginning. The alpha and omega meaning before Jehovah there was no Almighty God and there will be no Almighty God after him, again, he is eternal. So this must refer to the time when God began creating everything. God’s first creation was termed “the Word” – Jesus. He is the one whom can rightly be called the firstborn of all creation by God. By means of Jesus all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth – Colossians 1:6
The Word is used as a title and Jesus was God’s Word of communication or spokesman. He conveyed information and instruction to Jehovah’s other spirit creatures and to humans. So Jesus played a big role in creation from the very beginning as a helper to his father Jehovah God. When that scripture says “the Word was a god” it means he was a godlike one. Calling the Word “a god” or “a mighty one” would be in line with the prophecy at Isaiah 9:6 foretelling that the Messiah would be called mighty god, not Almighty God which refers to Jehovah God.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life in that he came to earth to sacrifice his life so that we could have a repaired relationship with Jehovah God. May I encourage you to look at Matthew 16:16 where Peter identifies Jesus as the son of the living God. Philippians 2:5,6 which mentions that although Jesus existed in God’s form, he did not consider himself to be equal to God. And lastly John 3:16 “for God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life”
I think this answers two of your questions 1. Jesus is a created being, 2. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in Polytheism
As for Jesus being Michael the arch-angle. The word archangel means chief of the angles. The bible only mentions one archangel, and his name is Michael. He is the leader of God's army of faithful angels. In Revelation 12:7 it says –“Michael and his angels battled with the dragon (Satan); and when we look at Revelation 19:13-16 we can see that this leader of faithful angles is described as “clothed with an outer garment stained with blood, and he is called by the name “The Word” which ties in with what is mentioned above.
I have always found that the bible defends itself, scripture backs up scripture and God does not cloud himself in mystery or riddles. He is Almighty God, our Eternal Father. He wants to be known by us and speaks to us as if we are his beloved children and He gave his son as a sacrifice and a model to follow his steps closely – 1 Peter 2:21
I would like to thank you again for replying to my letter and I hope you find this information interesting.
Kind regards
Rhi”
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“Hi Rhi,
Thank you for your gracious response. I think it’s great that a Christian can engage with a Jehovah’s Witness, and vice versa, in calm and good faith discourse even though we disagree quite extensively on doctrinal issues.
I found your response very interesting, and I would like to say a few things on it, not in argumentation, but in friendly discourse.
I actually would agree with you that Isaiah saw multiple persons in his vision. However the text says he saw the King, Jehovah Almighty, and made no mention of anyone else. You say it was Jehovah and Jesus, and Isaiah beheld both their glory. Isaiah 42:8 tells us that Jehovah shares his glory with no one. Jehovah’s glory belongs only to Himself, no one else. If Jehovah doesn’t give it, and Jesus is claimed to have it (John 12:41, John 17:5), then it leads to an inevitable conclusion - Jesus is Jehovah God.
Isaiah saw the One God, Jehovah in Three Persons - Father, Word and Holy Spirit. The seraphim were proclaiming “Holy, Holy, Holy”. A thrice Holy God. Holy Father, Holy Word, Holy Spirit. Jehovah then asks “Whom shall I send (singular)? Who will go for Us (plural)?” This makes sense if you believe that Jehovah is One God (singular) and three Persons (plural). In creation, we see God say “Let Us (plural) make man in Our (plural) Image (singular). Plural Persons, only One Image. Christ commands us to baptise in the Name (singular) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (plural). Three Persons, only One Name.
Jehovah is One Being, One Image, One God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In taking on human form, Christ subjected himself to the Father as the only begotten Son of God. He was obedient to the Father, sent by the Father, anointed by the Father. He prayed to the Father, sought the will of the Father, and was lesser than the Father. In does not negate the fact however that He was and is the Eternal and Almighty God, living in intimate relationship with the other two Persons of the Godhead (John 1:1). I would agree that God doesn’t have a beginning, and John 1:1 isn’t referring to the Word having a beginning either. It doesn’t say “in the beginning, God created the Word”. It’s simply saying that in the beginning, the Word was there. En arche can also mean “forever ago” or “go back as far as you can go, then go further”, which is to say that no matter how far back you go, the Word was already there. So whether referring to the beginning of creation, or eternity past, the Word was there, he was with the Father, and he was God.
If verse 1 should be translated as “a god”, then, to be consistent, so must verse 18, as it doesn’t contain the definite article either. It would then read “no one has seen a god at any time”, but that doesn’t make sense. John 1:3 says “all thing came into existence through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into existence”. If Jesus is a created being that came into existence, then following your logic, he must have come into existence through himself - but that makes no sense either.
Jesus says in John 14:6 “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by me.
The Jesus of the Bible, the one who died and rose again and offers salvation to those who would repent and put their faith in him, is the only way we can come to the Father. If anyone has a false Jesus, they aren’t able to come to the Father. You and I would agree on that.
So, as I said previously, you and I have to ensure we have the correct Jesus, otherwise we don’t have the Way, we don’t have the Truth, we don’t have the Life, and we aren’t able to come to the Father. John 3:16-18 states that whosoever believes in the Son has everlasting life, but whoever does not, stands condemned. Similarly, 1 John 5:12 states that whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life and 1 John 2:23 states that whoever denies the Son, does not have the Father.
You would agree with me, that the Jesus of Islam is not able to bring us to the Father, as that Jesus didn’t die on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, he didn’t rise from the dead and he isn’t the Son of God. Therefore that Jesus is not the Way, Truth or Life. By believing in the Jesus of Islam, the Muslim will stand condemned.
Similarly, the Jesus of Mormonism is one of many gods, is Lucifer’s brother, and one day we can become a god just like Jesus if we live in the correct way. That is not the Jesus of the Bible, therefore that Jesus cannot bring us to the Father, and by believing in that Jesus, the Mormon will stand condemned.
So now you and I have a dilemma
Your Jesus is Michael the Arch-angel. My Jesus is the creator of Michael the Arch-angel. Your Jesus is a created being, and one of the foremost princes (Daniel 10:13). My Jesus is the Pre-eminent, Pre-existent, Almighty God and Creator of all things. These are fundamentally different Jesus’. We aren’t talking about trivial differences like the colour of his eyes or the length of his hair, we are talking about two completely different people, and only one of these Jesus’ can be the true Jesus. Only one of us has the Jesus who can lead us to the Father and give us eternal life, and the other is following a false Jesus, is denying the Son, and stands condemned.
I would submit this to you, in Christian love and genuine care for you - you are following a false Jesus that is not the Way, Truth or Life and cannot lead you to the Father. By believing in the Jesus of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and not of the inspired Word of God, you stand condemned. But the hope of the gospel is that if you would repent and turn to the true Jesus, he will forgive your sins and grant you eternal life.
I would make this request of you - read the Bible in a different translation than the NWT. You will find that reading any other version of the Bible will lead you to the conclusion that Jesus is the Eternal, Almighty God. You say you came to learn and love bible truths and the creator of the universe Jehovah God in your adult years with a lot of study and research, but did you ever do that study and research independent of the Watchtower? This is not an attack on you or Jehovah’s Witnesses, because there are many many lovely JW’s who are very gracious and kind, and I believe that to be true of you. This is simply saying that despite good intentions, people can be led astray, and I believe the Watchtower is leading you astray.
By reading other translations, you will see how different, for example, Colossians 1 is, where the standard Bible translations say “all things” instead of “all other things”. The word “other” does not exist in the Greek text, but the Watchtower added it in because it didn’t fit with their beliefs. The inspired Word of God needed to be changed, rather than the Watchtower’s beliefs. You will read other passages like:
Micah 5:2, Zechariah 12:10, Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:5-6, 2 Peter 1:1, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8
and gain a completely different understanding of the text, seeing that Jesus is in fact, God.
Even without these verses though, the verse I quoted in my previous email, John 20:28, still stands, where Thomas encounters the risen Jesus Christ and says to Him, “the Lord of me and the God of me”.
Can you say that? Can you say of Jesus that he is the Lord of you and the God of you? I pray that you will come to be able to say that.
Kind regards”
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