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Did Jesus Claim to Be God?
I have
been studying with a particular Jehovah’s
Witness for several years and he told me they use
their own Bible because they say other versions
of the Bible have been tampered with. Is this
true? They say there is no Trinity. They believe
there is only one God and that God is Jehovah (the
Father). They say that Jesus was created by
Jehovah as a separate and distinct being. When
Jesus came to Earth, they say He came as “a
perfect human,” not as God in the flesh.
They say that Jesus Himself never claims to be
God in the Bible. They say that Jesus is not the
Alpha and the Omega, but instead, Jehovah is the
Alpha and Omega. I will respond with several
Bible texts that will expand the truth verses
error.
The
apostle Paul wrote, “For we cannot do
anything against the truth, but only for the
truth.” (2 Corinthians 13:8) It may seem
strange at first, but no religion on Earth has
all the truth about God. Every religion on Earth
is theologically corrupt in one way or another.
This does not mean that religion is inherently
evil. It just means that people need to
understand that religion is not a destination. It
is only a means to an end and that end is “a
beautiful reflection of God’s love” in
every believer. Unfortunately, all kinds of false
doctrines are floating around and the only way we
can separate truth from error is closely test
everything according to God’s Word. Paul
wrote, “Test everything. Hold on to the
good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
Jehovah’s
Witnesses have created their own Bible, which
they believe is superior to all other versions.
Their Bible is called the “New World
Translation” (NWT). Their Bible is not
regarded as a legitimate translation by most
Hebrew and Greek scholars because (a) it does not
stay within accepted rules regarding the use of
vocabulary and syntax, and (b) JW created it to
support their unusual beliefs. In other words, it
is a self-serving translation, and no other
organization uses it. (For further discussion on
their version of Scripture, see Dr. Walter Martin’s
book, The Kingdom of the Cults.) As far as
I am concerned, willfully altering Bible text and
calling it “God’s Word” in order
to accommodate parochial presuppositions shows a
complete disregard for God’s authority. This
is why I also reject the use of external
authority. No rabbi, priest, pope, bishop,
apostle or prophet can change or alter God’s
Word. It is what it is and it remains
unchanged through all ages even though people may
think to change it. The Bible is all that we have
to test claims about God and His will. If all
religious organizations manipulated the Bible to
favor their parochial views as JW have done, then
in a few generations no one would be able to
determine truth from error! God’s Word would
disappear.
This
may surprise you, but Jehovah’s Witnesses
were not the first denomination to insist that
their version of the Bible is superior to all
others. The Catholic Church did the same thing.
Catholics maintain the “Douay-Rheims Version”
of the Bible is the only authentic English
version of the Bible. In A.D. 382, Pope Damasus (A.D.
366 to 384) commissioned his personal secretary,
Jerome, to gather up all of the Greek and Hebrew
texts of the Bible and translate them into Latin
(the official language of the Roman Empire at
that time). This translation became known as the
Latin Vulgate or the Versio Vulgata, which
means “the published translation.”
Jerome tedious efforts and through scholarship
had few rivals for a long time. As centuries
passed, the use of Latin all but disappeared as
the Roman Empire faded into a consortium of
nations and languages called Europe.
In the
sixteenth century, Protestants translated and
distributed bibles in various European languages
because (a) they were demanding a reformation of
the Church based on Bible truth, and (b) very few
people could read or understand Latin. As various
translations of the Bible circulated (and lay
people discerned the errors of the Church), the
Catholic Church finally responded in 1546. (This
was 29 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95
theses to the church door in Wittenberg.) To keep
the laity from reading conflicting Protestant
bibles, the Church declared Jerome’s Latin
Vulgate to be the only authentic and official
version of the Bible.
To
overcome a growing number of Protestant
translations which people could read, the Church
finally translated the Vulgate’s New
Testament and it was first published in English
in Rheims (France) in 1582 and the Old Testament
was subsequently published in Douay (France) in
1609. In 1604, Protestants realizes their
need for one authorized Bible, instead of many
different translations, so they created the King
James Version (KJV) of the Bible, which they
published in 1611. Both the original KJV and the
Douay-Rheims Version of the Vulgate contained 73
books. Both versions originally included seven
extra books that are called the Apocrypha. Jerome
did not believe God inspired the apocryphal books,
but Pope Damasus believed they were, so naturally,
Jerome’s Bible included the apocryphal books.
Today, Catholic scholars generally believe that
Pope Damasus was right because the Dead Sea
Scrolls, discovered in 1946, confirmed that the
apocryphal books were included in a version of
the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation of the
original Hebrew writings that did not include the
apocryphal books.
Even
though I have several Bible translations in my
personal library, I favor the New International
Version (NIV) for investigative study and the KJV
for poetic language and literary style. For me,
the strengths of the New International Version
are (a) it’s a conservative [as literal as
possible] translation using contemporary English,
and (b) during its preparation, every humanly
possible effort was put forth to reduce religious
bias. One hundred scholars were selected
from diverse religious backgrounds to produce the
NIV. Of course, now translation is perfect,
including the NIV. The work of translation and
editorial review was divided in a way that
religiously diverse scholars had to edit and
review each other’s work. As a student of
biblical Greek and realizing the challenges that
go with translation, I sincerely appreciate the
unusual effort that the NIV committee took to
produce “a neutral translation of the Bible.”
I must
hasten to write that I also love the King James
Version. I find the use of the Old English in the
KJV to be eloquent and poetic even though the
King’s English is very difficult to
understand in places. Approximately sixty
translators of Oxford (England) who wanted to put
God’s Word in the King’s English
translated the KJV over a period of seven years.
These translations basically appended William
Tyndale’s 1524 version of the English New
Testament to their work and this is how the King
James Version came to be. Ironically, this
so-called “authorized” version of the
English Bible was never authorized. King James
approved the translation of this Bible, but
neither he nor parliament “authorized”
it once it was completed. Through the years, the
KJV has undergone more than 500 changes. While
some people may dislike these next words, I must
say that the KJV is not perfect, either. The
original publication of the KJV included the
seven apocryphal books, but they were not
included in subsequent printings because
Protestants eventually rejected the apocryphal
books as uninspired. However, the KJV remains one
of my favorite English translations.
Jehovah’s
Witnesses and the Trinity
I find
that Jehovah’s Witnesses maintain a view of
the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit (the
Trinity) that does not align with all the
Scripture has to say on the topic. To support
their conclusions, a certain amount of Scriptural
distortion is necessary (hence their need for a
Bible that favors their views). JW often say,
“The word “Trinity” is not used in
the Bible. This is true, but neither are the
words “Saturday” and “millennium”
found in the Bible. Does this mean that Saturday
or the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20
doesn’t exist? Of course not.
Jehovah’s
Witnesses believe the Roman Catholic Church
corrupted the truth about God during the first
centuries of Christian development and they are
convinced they have been “raised up” by
Jehovah God to exclusively restore His
unvarnished truth. When it comes to the doctrine
of the Trinity, JW interpret verses from the
Bible like, “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our
God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4),
and “Have we not all one Father? Did not
one God create us? (Malachi 2:10) to mean
there is only one God. They naturally reject the
Catholic view of the Trinity that teaches that
there is one God who is manifested in three
different ways, as in the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. (Note: I also reject the Catholic
version of the Trinity because I believe the
Bible teaches there are three separate and
distinct, and co-eternal Gods. These Gods are one
in purpose, plan and action. Even though these
Gods are separate and distinct, they can be
regarded as one God as a husband and wife
are regarded as one flesh. “For this
reason a man will leave his father and mother and
be united to his wife, and they will become one
flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) As you will learn,
my understanding of the trinity is also
unacceptable to JW.)
Their
”one Almighty God is Jehovah”
supposition logically forces Jesus into a
position lower than that of Jehovah. They reason
that if there were two or more co-eternal God’s
in Heaven, having the same substance in knowledge,
authority, and power, and then this would
constitute polytheism (the worship of Gods).
Incidentally, this why Orthodox Jews and Muslims
consider Christians to be polytheists. This also
explains why early Christians favored the one God
with three different manifestations instead of
three Gods. JW believe that the Holy Spirit is a
“spiritual force” that emanates from
Jehovah as He directs. JW believe that Jehovah
created Jesus, and they reject the idea that when
Jesus was born on Earth, God was actually living
among man in the form of a man. They also believe
that Jesus was a perfect man (the second Adam)
who died to redeem the first Adam and his
offspring. Because the curse of sin came on
mankind through the failure of the first Adam,
salvation comes to us through the redemption of
the first Adam. In other words, the death of
Jesus – the perfect man – was “an
atonement death” to satisfy Jehovah’s
demand for justice. As I read, JW believe that
Jesus is a separate and distinct being from
Jehovah and that He is a servant of Jehovah. If
you wish to review a summery of their views, here
is their official website: http://www.watchtower.org
Getting
Acquainted with the Jehovah’s Witnesses
Paradigm
I
would like to demonstrate how JW can stay within
their belief that Jehovah is God alone and Jesus
is not God. Keep in mind that I am not an
authority on their views. I am relaying
information that I have read in their literature
and taken from discussions. My intent is not to
denigrate, but to factually represent their
position:
“Therefore
the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Since the name Immanuel means, “God with us,”
most Christians interpret this verse to mean that
God would come to Earth in the form of a baby boy,
born of a virgin. Since Jesus is the only child
born of a virgin, Jesus must be God. On the other
hand, JW interpret this verse to mean that the
virgin birth of Immanuel was a sign that Jehovah
deeply cared for His people; in other words, the
presence of this miracle child should be
interpreted to mean that “God has not
forgotten us” instead of “God, in the
form of a human being, is among us.”
“Then
he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here;
see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into
my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Thomas
said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
(John 20:27,28) In this passage, Thomas called
Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” Notice
that Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for calling Him
“my God.” How could Thomas escape
censure unless Jesus was truly God? In other
words, how could Jesus receive adoration that
belonged only to God if Jesus isn’t God? JW
claim that Thomas was referring to Jesus as
“my lord and my god,” that is, Thomas
humbly regarded Jesus as a superior being sent
from God (something like an angel). JW have an
understanding of the term “God” that is
different than that of most Christians and this
brings us to the following text:
“But
Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many
great miracles from the Father. For which of
these do you stone me?’ ‘We are not
stoning you for any of these,’ relied the
Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a
mere man, claim to be God.’ Jesus answered
them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, ‘I
have said you are gods?’ If he called them
‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came
– and the [integrity of] Scripture
cannot be broken – what about the one whom
the Father set apart as his very own and sent
into the world? Why then do you accuse me of
blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s
Son?’” (John 10:32-36, insertion
mine) Many Christians do not understand the depth
or nature of this exchange. The Jews were about
to stone Jesus for blasphemy. They watched Jesus
perform miracles and that was fine. But they also
understood Jesus to say that He was, in fact, God,
and this aroused their anger. JW respond by
saying, “True, the Jews made the claim that
Jesus claimed to be God, but Jesus did not, in
fact utter these words!” JW then proceed to
use this text to show that the term “god”
does not necessarily have to mean God, having the
substance of Jehovah God.
Here
is an explanation of what happened in John 10. “I
and the Father are one [equals].” (John
10:30) When Jesus said these words, the Jews
became outraged because this statement equates
Jesus with the Father in substance. The Jews
actions prove this is what they understood Jesus
to say by picking up stones to stone Him for blasphemy.
They said, “…you, a mere man, claim
to be God.” Considering the behavior of
the Jews, it is reasonable to say that their
actions were consistent with their understanding
of Jesus words.
Jesus
momentarily diffused their anger by bringing up
the subject that requires some explanation. Jesus
said, [why are you so angry at My words, that I
am One with the Father? Isn’t this privilege
also yours?] ‘Is it not written in your
Law, ‘I have said you are gods?’ If he
called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of
God came – and the Scripture cannot be
broken – what about the one whom the Father
set apart as his very own and sent into the world?
Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I
said, ‘I am God’s Son’”? [insertion
mine]
These
words resonated among the hostile Jews (even
though they do not make sense to most Christians
today). This is the background: When Moses wrote
the book of
Genesis,
he used the term “sons of God” to
differentiate between born-again believers in God
and non-believers. The term, “sons of God”
or “gods,” was used to trace the
trustees of the Edenic covenant that was given to
Adam when he was expelled from Eden. Noah’s
flood became necessary because “The sons
of God [the trustees of the Edenic covenant] saw
that the daughters of [carnal] men were
beautiful, and they married any of them they
chose [that is, believers in God (the sons of
God) exchanged their spiritual birthright for
sensual women].” (Genesis 6:2, insertion
mine) These mixed marriages (believers with non-believers)
brought ruin upon the world, and consequently,
Noah’s flood is history.
The
Jews also called Adam “the son of God.”
(Luke 3:38) If Adam was “the son of God,”
then his offspring can be called ‘gods”
if they are one in the Spirit with God.
Paul well understood this ancient language
because he wrote, “…because those
who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
(Romans 8:14) John underscores this beautiful
relationship, “Behold, what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it
knew him not.” (1 John 3:1, KJV) The
point is that when the Jews accosted Jesus for
claiming to be the Son of God, Jesus responded by
effectively saying, “Why be angry at my
claim that my Father and I are one? Aren’t
you sons of God, too?” Paraphrasing, Jesus
continued, “Even in your own law, whose
integrity cannot be broken, the sons of Israel
are called ‘gods.’ “Jesus
referring to Psalm 82. “A psalm of Asaph.
God presides in the great assembly; he gives
judgment among the ‘gods’…’I
said, ‘You are ‘gods’; you are
sons of the Most High.’” (Psalm 82:1,6)
Jesus
paralyzed His accusers for a few moments with a
thoughtful response. How could they accuse Him of
saying “I am one with God” when they
were lawfully entitled to say the same
thing? Jesus was very clever! Then, He said,
“[Since my Father and I are one.] ‘Do
not believe me unless I do what my Father does.
But if I do it, even though you do not believe me,
believe the miracles [are of divine origin], that
you may know and understand that the Father is in
me, and I in the Father.’ Again they tried
to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.” (John
10:37-39, insertion mine)
So,
considering John 10 and Thomas’ declaration
he made in John 20 from the supposition that
there is only one God, JW do not interpret the
words of Jesus “I and the Father are one”
as the Jews did. Instead, they interpret these
texts to mean that Jesus was no different than
human beings in substance. In this sense, Jesus
was a “sons of God” just like we can be
“sons of God.” This
interpretation protects their position and keeps
Jesus less than equal with Jehovah.
“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning…. He was in
the world, and though the world was
made through him, the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own
did not receive him.” (John 1:1,10,11)
Christians claim that John left no room for
debate on the divinity of Jesus. Here, John
simply said that Jesus, the Word [Logos] was God.
JW distort this verse to change John’s
declaration. They do this by inserting the
article (a) so that the text reads, “…and
the Word was with God, and the Word was (a) god.”
Since we have already read from Scripture that
human beings can be “sons of God,” JW
insist that Jesus is not Jehovah, but a creation
of God, a lesser god, like Adam, a perfect man (at
least for a while) who was the son of God. The
end result, they claim, is that John did not
declare that Jesus was in fact a God like Jehovah.
Jesus Himself
Claims top be God!
In
terms of human warfare, David was no match for
Goliath, but the giant had a vulnerable spot
right in the middle of his forehead and one tiny
stone brought him to the ground. When the
Philistine army saw their leader beheaded, they
fled. In a similar way, I believe JW have a
vulnerable spot right in the middle of their
theology. A day is coming when “The Stone,”
The Rock of Ages, will his this vulnerable spot
and JW will run for cover. Currently, I do not
expect JW (or any other religious body) to admit
error in their teachings. When the Great
Tribulation begins and the revelation of Jesus
Christ unfolds, errors and false teachings will
be exposed for what they are. Until then, we have
to search the Scriptures to test every doctrine.
If we can demonstrate from Scriptures that Jesus
Himself claims to be God (equal with the Father),
the doctrine of an inferior Jesus promoted by
Jehovah’s Witnesses can be declared baseless.
The
following statement is made on the JW website:
“Jesus never claimed to be God. Everything
he said about himself indicates that he did not
consider himself equal to God in any way –
not in power, not in knowledge, not in age.”
Let us see if their statement is true:
“This
is what the Lord [Hebrew: Jehovah] says
– Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord
[Hebrew: Jehovah] Almighty: I am the
first and I am the last; apart from me
there is no other God.” (Isaiah 44:6,
underlining mine) This verse is a self-declaration
by Jehovah that He is the first and the last.
Remember this declaration as we proceed and also
remember, the integrity of Scripture cannot be
broken.
“When
I saw him [Jesus], I fell at his feet as
though dead. Then he placed his right hand on men
and said: “Do not be afraid. I am
the First and the Last. I [Jesus] was
dead, and behold I am alive forever and aver! And
I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation
1:17,18, insertion mine) These two verses leave
no wiggle room. John saw Jesus. “The First
and the Last” says that he was dead, but is
alive for evermore. Contrary to what JW may say,
we know that John could not see the Father in
these two verses because no one has ever seen the
Father! (1 Timothy 6:16, John 6:46) Going back to
Isaiah 44:6, Jehovah declared, “I am the
first and the last, so how can Jesus make the
same claim if Jehovah created Him? If Jesus was
created, that would make Him second, not first!
The only way to align Isaiah 44:6 with Revelation
1:17,18 is this: Jesus was present at the
beginning of everything with the Father! John is
right: “In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.” (John 1:1) In other words, those
two Gods have to be co-eternal. Both are “the
First and the Last.”
I [Jesus]
am the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and
the End. (Revelation 22:13) Keeping “the
First and the Last” declarations of Jesus in
mind, we find that Revelation 22:13 that Jesus is
the Alpha and the Omega, as well as the Beginning
and the End! There is no wiggle room left for a
created Jesus who is less in substance than the
Father. Zero! Jesus is Jehovah; Jesus is the
First and the Last. Jesus is the Alpha and the
Omega. Jesus is the Beginning and the End. Now,
consider the following verses:
“He
[Jesus] said to me: ‘It is done. I [Jesus]
am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End. To him who is thirsty I [Jesus] will
give to drink without cost from the spring of
water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all
this, and I [Jesus] will be his God and he
will be my son.” (Revelation 21:6,7,
insertions mine) We know that Jesus is the
Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the
Beginning and the End. As you can see, when the
JW teach that “Jesus Himself never claimed
to be God, “ it is a false premise. This one
tiny stone, found in Revelation 21:7, kills the
entire argument. Jesus calls Himself God. Jesus
is Almighty Jehovah just like the Father! Further
the Father Himself calls Jesus, “God” [Greek:
Theos: Supreme Divinity].
“But
about the Son [Jesus] he [the Father] says,
‘Your throne, O [Jesus] God, will
last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be
the scepter of your kingdom. You [Jesus]
have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore [Jesus] God, your God [your
Father], has set you above your companions by
anointing you with the oil of joy.’ He [the
Father] also says, ‘In the beginning, O
Lord [Jesus], you [are the God who] laid
the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are
the work of your hands.’” (Hebrews
1:8-10, insertions mine) The Father calls Jesus
“God” because Jesus is also Jehovah God.
To further demonstrate the equality, consider the
following verses. Jesus said that He is to be
honored (worshiped) as the Father is honored (worshiped).
“Moreover,
the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all
judgment to the Son, that all may honor
the Son just as they honor the Father.
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the
Father, who sent him.’”(John 5:22,23)
If Jesus were not equal to the Father in every
way, substance, knowledge, authority, and power,
Jesus would be robbing the Father of the honor
that He is due (which is blasphemy). By making
Himself equal in honor to the Father, Jesus and
the Father must be one in substance even though
they are separate and distinct Gods! Paul agrees:
“[Jesus]
Who, being in the very nature God, did not
consider equality with God [the Father] something
to be grasped…” (Philippians 2:6,
insertion mine) How much clearer can this get?
From this short study we find at a minimum, there
are two equal, co-eternal Gods in Heaven. (There
are three, but this is not a study on the Holy
Spirit.) These Gods are separate and distinct
beings. They were together in the beginning and
Jesus is the creative Agent. That is, He is the
Creator of everything that exists!
“For
by him [Jesus] 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.” (Colossians 1:16, insertion
mine)
“But
in these last days he [the Father] has
spoken to us by his Son [Jesus], whom he
appointed heir of all things, and through whom he
made the universe. (Hebrews 1:2, insertions
mine)
There
is absolutely no evidence in the Bible that
the Father created Jesus. In fact, there is
no evidence in the Bible indicating the Father
has created anything. John plainly declares the
opposite, ‘Through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been
made.” (John 1:3) Bottom line, “nothing
has been made that Jesus did not make” and
we know that Jesus did not create Himself.
Dear
friends, I hope you have enough information to
help you see that the JW are misleading people on
the deity of Jesus. The irony with the JW is that
Jehovah they worship is not the Father. The
Jehovah they worship is the One they deny, Jesus
Christ Himself, The Rock of Ages!
Note:
I believe about 90% of the references to
Jehovah in the Old Testament pertain to Jesus.
Jesus and the Father is both called Jehovah. For
example, in Psalm 2:7-11, Jehovah (the Father)
speaks to Jehovah (the Son). The Father, Son and
Holy Spirit are closely united, and so
tight in purpose, plan, and action, that it is
sometimes difficult to precisely determine which
member of the Trinity is speaking in the Old
Testament, but 90% of the time, it is Jesus.
“He
is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his
ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
“…For they [Israel]
drank of that spiritual Rock that followed
them: and that Rock was Christ.” (1
Corinthians 10:4, insertion mine)
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