I Had A Conversation With A Jehovah’s Witness A Few Days Ago

I was at home watching my daughter while my wife was away with my son when there was a knock at the door. It was a man and wife who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. They wanted to invite me to an event and I noticed that he was holding a New World Translation Bible…it is the Jehovah’s Witness translation (hmm hmm…mistranslation) of the Scriptures. So, I began a discussion about his bible.

I did this for a reason. I wanted to get to the big difference as quickly as possible. The big difference is what they believe about Jesus. Historic Christianity has held that Jesus is completely man and completely divine. This is the difference, and a big one that must be discussed with a Jehovah’s Witness. Who is Jesus?

Jesus And The Jehovah’s Witness

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was Michael, the first of God’s creation and that God used Michael to create everything else that was created. He was a spirit creature. There was no incarnation, but rather the birth of a human being who would live a perfect life, making himself the equal of Adam, and die. As a reward for obedience, he was awarded a divine, spirit nature. This would mean that Jesus is not equal with God, is not eternal.

This is cause for enormous concern. The reason is that Jesus Himself argued for His own likeness with God and then stated that the person who did not believe that fact will die in their sins (John 8:24). So, when the Jehovah’s Witness comes knocking there is a tremendous message to deliver.

Jehovah’s Witnesses And Scripture

Jehovah’s Witnesses generally have strong convictions about the truthfulness of the Scriptures. The problem is that they have been deceived into thinking that their translation is good and all the others are bad. In fact, it has been proven time and time again by scholars that the New World Translation that they hold so dear is mistranslated in different verses to defend the position they already hold.

Instances of this include passages of Scripture such as John 1:1. A comparison of the translations may be helpful here. The first three are modern and reliable English translations.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – ESV

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – NASB

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”– NIV

Now notice the New World Translation,

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

The problem is that the word “a” is inserted without any real cause or educated reason. In fact, this is one of the first passages of Scripture a young theologian will interpret in Greek, and there is no way the word “a” makes sense. The whole point of the last clause is really about the essence of the Word. The essence of the Word being discussed is God. An excellent article on this can be found here. Yet, because of the mistranslation here and elsewhere in their translation it is not really an option.

It is really going to be more effective to discuss the deity of Christ from their Bibles.

The Deity of Christ Found In The New World Translation

Interestingly, they didn’t change everything. Bruce Metzger wrote an article called The Jehovah’s Witnesses And Jesus Christ that really does an excellent job pointing this out. I would advise you to read this article because it is massively helpful. Here it is.

I will sum up just a little of what Metzger pulls out of their own translation of Jesus Christ.

1. Thomas calls Jesus “My Master” and “My God” (John 20:28). Metzger points out, “If Jesus were not truly divine as God is divine, Thomas erred seriously in thus adoring him as God.” He also points out that Jesus made no effort to correct him.
2. Stephen prayed for Jesus to receive his spirit (Acts 7:59). If Jesus were only a spirit creature, as the Jehovah’s Witness teaches, then it is foolish for Stephen to ask this of Jesus.
3. Paul declares that his apostleship was derived, not from any human being, but through “Jesus Christ and God the Father” (Galatians 1:1). Metzger points out that Jesus is distinguished from men and lumped in with the Father. This would be an odd thing for him to do if Jesus were only a spirit creature.
4. Jesus Himself claimed “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) In order to attempt to explain this passage away there is a note in the margins of their text that says that “are one” means “are at unity”, but neither the context nor manuscripts ever even come close to making this plausible. This is the argument that I hung on in my discussion a few days ago. The reason is simple. The Jews understood what Jesus was saying and attempted to stone Him to death for blasphemy. Their anger doesn’t make sense if all Jesus was talking about what unity with the Father. It only makes sense if He is claiming to be of the same essence and being as the Father.
5. Scattered throughout Scripture there is a Trinitarian pattern to their thinking. Think about it. We are baptized in the name of the “Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Paul closes 2 Corinthians in much the same way (2 Corinthians 13:14). These are the more obvious ones, but there are others. Here is a list (1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-5; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Galatians 3:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:18-19; 1 Peter 1:2). As another side note, as I brought this up to them they argued that the word “Trinity” is never found in Scripture. I pointed out that the argument makes no sense. The reason it doesn’t make sense is that the word doesn’t have to appear in Scripture for the idea to be taught. Who cares if the Apostle Paul didn’t say the word “Trinity” if the idea is something that he taught in Scripture. That word is just our way of summarizing what is being taught. Besides, some of their favorite words are not taught in Scripture either. One instance is the word “theocracy”, which means God’s rule.
6. The New Testament writers frequently attribute passages of Scripture to Jesus that in the Old Testament were about Jehovah. Here is a list.
   1.  Luke 2:32 is a quotations of Isaiah 60:19
   2. Isaiah’s vision in the temple is attributed to Jesus. John 12:37-41 and Isaiah 6:1,3, 10.
   3. John 10:11 states that Jesus is the Shepherd while Psalm 23:1 and Isaiah 40:10-11 state that Jehovah is our Shepherd.
   4. Paul quotes the promise in Joel 2:32 and attributes it to Jesus Romans 10:9, 13.
   5. The Gospels state that Jesus did things that only Jehovah does. “Thus Jesus forgives sins (Mark 2:10, etc.), raises the dead (Luke 7:12-15, etc.), controls nature (Matthew 8:26), will judge the secret motives of men (Matt. 7:22-23), and willingly receives divine homage (John 20:28-29).

Sad Ending, Prayerful Hope

Alas, my conversation did not end well. Frustratedly they walked away saying that they would have to “agree to disagree”. I am hoping and praying that they examine what it is that was said and see Jesus for who He really is. I also hope that this is a  helpful discussion for some of you.

R. Dwain Minor