Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible Reveals that Jesus IS God

s = subject

v = verb

d.o. = direct object

ὁ = article showing the main subject of the segment (nominative)

τὸν = article showing the direct object of the segment (accusative)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is created by God, but they don’t believe that He’s God. They just believe that He’s “A” god (misinterpretation of John 1:1), which is why I’ll begin with that:

John 1:1 Parsed:

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(When translating, I learned to separate each section by either a comma (unless it’s a list), punctuation, or “and”).

John 1:1 Correctly Translated:

The Word was God vs. A God

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that God created Jesus first, then created everything that exists, through Jesus. And I can see how they might gather this from Colossians 1: 15-18 (NWT): “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him, all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all other things, and by means of him, all other things were made to exist, and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might become the one who is first in all things…” 

• • (NRSV Notes = “The whole fullness of deity, not merely the divine attributes, but the divine nature, dwells eternally in Christ Jesus).

The Word Became Flesh

• The Word (John 1:1, Revelation 19:13 )
• The Word who became flesh (John 1:14, Philippians 2:7)
• The One through whom God created everything that exists (John 1:3)
• The Son of God (John 1:18, John 6:46, John 1:34, John 1:49)
• The only begotten Son (John 3:16, 1 John 4:9)
• Jehovah’s Re-purchaser (Isaiah 44:6) – and God
• The Savior (Isaiah 33:22)

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Translation = “No one has ever seen God; it is God, the unique one (the one and only/the begotten one), who is in the bosom of His Father – He made Him known.”

Where is Jesus?

At God’s right hand, in Heaven, in His Father’s bosom. So here, it says that the One and Only (the begotten) One who is in His Father’s bosom, is God. Even the NWT confirms this: “No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god, who is at the Father’s side is the one who has explained Him.”

• (NWT footnote for “Bosom” = “in the bosom position with the Father.” This refers to a position of special favor)

OK, so let’s assume for instance that Jesus is not God, but “A” god.

• We only worship 1 God (YHWH) – we’re not polytheists like the Canaanite nations that God told Israel to wipe out.
• So if we worship only 1 God, and that is God, then what’s with there being another god in Heaven with God?

Why Jesus Can’t be “a” god

There are several problems with Jesus being “a” god:

1. God is a Jealous God

When the Bible says that God is a jealous God, it’s not meant in a sinful sense, but in that He refuses to share His people and glory with any “other” god.

1. 1. Exodus 34:13-14 (NWT): “…you are to pull down their altars, you are to shatter their sacred pillars, and their sacred poles you are to cut down. You must not bow down to another god, for Jehovah is known for requiring exclusive devotion. Yes, he is a God who requires exclusive devotion.”
   2. Exodus 20:5 (NWT): “You must not bow down to them (idols) nor be enticed to serve them, for I, Jehovah your God, am a God who requires exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing loyal love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
   3. Deuteronomy 4:24 (NWT): “For Jehovah your God is a consuming fire, a God who requires exclusive devotion.”
   4. Deuteronomy 13:6-11 (NWT): “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or your cherished wife or your closest companion should try to entice you in secrecy, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ gods that neither you nor your forefathers have known, from the gods of the peoples all around you, whether near you or those far away from you, from one end of the land to the other end of the land, you must not give in to him or listen to him, nor should you show pity or feel compassion or protect him; instead, you should kill him without fail. Your hand should be the first to come upon him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people afterward. And you must stone him to death, because he has sought to turn you away from Jehovah your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and become afraid, and they will never again do anything bad like this among you.”
   5. John 10:31-33 (NWT): “Once again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, and Jesus replied to them: “I displayed to you many fine works from the Father. For which of those works are you stoning me?” The Jews answered him: “We are stoning you, not for a fine work, but for blasphemy; for you, although being a man, make yourself a god.”

2. God refuses to share His glory with anybody

God refuses to share His glory with anybody, especially any other “god”. Also, in God’s eyes, every “other god” is nothing but a false god (Isaiah 42:8, 44:6, 44:24), for they are things that were created. Only God, who was not created, is worthy of praise and worship. We see this all throughout the Bible:

1. 1. The reason God continuously sent His prophets to Judah/Israel was to rebuke them for worshiping “other gods”, and to persuade them to return to Him
   2. Evil kings: Even if they’d done a good job of governing (good works), they were seen as evil in God’s eyes if they:
      • Didn’t remove the cultic gods, shrines, and altars
      • Didn’t worship God themselves
      • Promoted (or allowed) worship of “other gods”
   3. The 10 Commandments:
      1. #1 (Exodus 20:3 – NWT) = “You must not have any other gods besides me.”
      2. #2 (Exodus 20:4 – NWT) = (see above: 1.2)
   4. Isaiah 44:6-8 = God is only 1, there is no other

Therefore, Jesus couldn’t be “A” god, for God insisted on no other gods besides Him.

• Placed Jesus at His right hand
• Gave Jesus authority over His Kingdom
• Atoned people through Jesus’ death and resurrection
• Created everything through Jesus
• Gave His glory to Jesus by raising Him from the dead
• Told His angels to bow down and worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6)

• “A” god
• Created
• Anything less than God Himself (God the Son – God the only begotten Son)

Why it’s Important for Jesus to be Fully God

1. Jesus had to be the perfect, unblemished sacrifice for the sins of humankind
   1. Jesus didn’t have a human father (who conceived Him). Therefore, He didn’t inherit a sin nature. Instead, He possessed the divine nature of His Heavenly Father.
   2. His divine nature made Him fit for the work of the redeemer.
   3. No human being with a sin nature could pay such a debt – to pay the sins of the whole world.
   4. If Jesus were merely a man, then He’d have had a sin nature, and wasn’t perfect (and then you’re still dead in your sin).
      1. His death and resurrection then would’ve had no power to save anyone.
   5. His victory over death and the grave won the victory for all who put their trust in Him through faith
      1. John 1:12 = “to all who did receive him, he gave authority to become God’s children, because they were exercising faith in his name.”
      2. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 = “For among the first things I handed on to you was what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, yes, that he was raised up on the third day according to the Scriptures;”
      3. 1 Corinthians 15:17 = “Further, if Christ has not been raised up, your faith is useless; you remain in your sins.”

Where the NWT Shows That Jesus is God

1. Genesis 1:1 = “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
   1. Yet, John 1 tells us that Jesus created the heavens and the earth. So is this a contradiction?
2. Genesis 1:3 = And God said: “Let there be light.” Then there was light.
3. Isaiah 7:14 = “Therefore, Jehovah himself will give you a sign: Look! The young woman will become pregnant and will give birth to a son, and she will name him Im·manʹu·el.” (note: meaning “With Us Is God”)
4. Isaiah 9:6 = “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us; and the rulership (government) will rest on his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
5. Isaiah 44:24 – “This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, who formed you since you were in the womb: “I am Jehovah, who made everything. I stretched out the heavens by myself, and I spread out the earth. Who was with me?”
6. Isaiah 43:10-11 – “I—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior. I am the One who declared and saved and made known when there was no foreign god among you. So you are my witnesses,” declares Jehovah, “and I am God.”
7. Isaiah 45:10-11 – “Woe to the one who says to a father: “What do you become father to?” And to a woman: “What are you giving birth to?” This is what Jehovah says, the Holy One of Israel, the One who formed him…”
   1. But, if Jehovah – the Holy One of Israel, was the one who formed the man, yet we already know that Jesus was the one who created everything that exists, then is Isaiah saying that Jesus (the Son) is Jehovah?
8. Isaiah 45:18 = For this is what Jehovah says, The Creator of the heavens, the true God, The One who formed the earth, its Maker who firmly established it, Who did not create it simply for nothing, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.”
9. Psalm 102:24-25 =“I said: “O my God, do not do away with me in the middle of my life, you whose years span all generations. Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.” (But both John 1 and the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ theology say that Jesus laid the foundations of the earth.)
10. Matthew 1:23 = “Look! The virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son, and they will name him Im·manʹu·el,” which means, when translated, “With Us Is God.”
11. John 1:18 = (see previous notes above)
12. John 5:18 (Hebrew culture) = This is why the Jews began seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was Jesus breaking the Sabbath, but He was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal to God.
    1. For Jesus to be called “the Son of God”, is to claim equality with God. Though we don’t see this in our current culture, it was well understood in the Hebrew culture – the people to and for whom Christ had originally come. Therefore, we need to understand scripture in the context of the Hebrew culture, for such was to whom Christ originally came, and such is of which the writers of the Bible were.
13. John 5:23 (in relation to Isaiah 44:6-8)
14. John 8:58 (Hebrew culture is needed to understand this) = “Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”
    The reason the Jews got so upset at Jesus when He said this is because by saying so, He was claiming Himself to be God (or equal to God), for such is what God told Moses to say (Exodus 3:14) when telling His people and Pharaoh who sent him – tell him “I Am” (or “I will be”, or “I have been”) sent you.
    The words between the Exodus text and the John text don’t match in the NWT, so you have to look at the context and Hebrew/Jewish culture to understand this. For why would they try to kill Jesus after He said that He existed before Abraham?
    1. John 8:56-59 (NWT) =
       Jesus:
       “Abraham your father rejoiced greatly at the prospect of seeing my day, and he saw it and rejoiced.”
       Then the Jews said to him: “You are not yet 50 years old, and still you have seen Abraham?”
       Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” (I Am)
       So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid and went out of the temple.
       1. Why would they try to kill Jesus if He was just some lunatic who claimed to have known Abraham? There was nothing in their Law that gave them permission nor instruction to do so, so there must have been more to this.
       2. It’s the same situation as John 10:31-33 – The Jews said that they were about to stone Jesus for blaspheme of the Lord’s name. They get the command to do this in Leviticus 24:16, which requires that anybody who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be stoned to death.
       3. So whatever the name was that Jesus said, the point is that by saying it, by claiming the name of God (Jehovah), the Jews recognized Him as claiming Himself equal with God
    2. So for this one, it takes more than just the words on the page to understand, but the culture and reason behind the context.
15. John 10:30 = “I and the Father are one.”
16. John 20:28 = “In answer Thomas said to him (Jesus): “My Lord and my God!”
17. Romans 1:20 = “For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.”
18. Hebrews 1:3 = “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact representation of his very being,  and he sustains all things by the word of his power. And after he had made a purification for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
19. Titus 2:13 = “…while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ…”
    Greek =
    τῆς δόξης         τοῦ μεγάλου               θεοῦ
    …the glory         of our great              God  
    (There’s an emphasis on “of our”)
    

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    καὶ σωτῆρος   ἡμῶν     Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,
    and  Savior       (of us),     Jesus Christ…

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20. 2 Peter 1:1 = “Simon Peter, a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have acquired a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and the Savior Jesus Christ”:
    1. When Simon Peter called himself “a slave and an apostle”, was he talking about himself as 2 different people? No. He was saying that he himself is both a slave and an apostle. So why is it assumed then that when he was talking about Jesus, He was talking about 2 different gods?
       1. “our God and the Savior Jesus Christ”
          Greek =
          τοῦ θεοῦ    ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος       Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,
          Our God          and Savior                   Jesus Christ
          1. In the Greek, everything is genitive, showing that it’s all the description of 1 entity.
          2. If it was to say “our God and our Savior…” as 2 different entities, then I would expect it to have ἡμῶν, “our” in both sections before and after the kai “and”. But it doesn’t. And it’s the same way when Simon Peter introduces himself.
             

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             δοῦλος   καὶ    ἀπόστολος    Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
             slave       and     apostle          of Jesus Christ (“of” comes in because they’re all genitive, which is most often possessive).

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21. 1 John 5:20 = “And we are in union with the one who is true, by means of his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and life everlasting.”
22. Revelation 2:8 (in relation to Isaiah 44:6-8)
23. Revelation 4:11 = “You are worthy, Jehovah our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they came into existence and were created.”

Even the NWT says that Salvation is through faith in Christ, not through good works:

• 1 Peter 1:5
• 2 Chronicles 20:20
• Romans 1:8
• Romans 1:17
• Romans 3:22-24
• Romans 3:27
• Romans 4:5
• Romans 4:9-12
• Romans 4:14
• Romans 4:16
• Romans 5:1
• Romans 5:2
• Romans 9:30-32
• Romans 10:17
• Romans 11:20
• 1 Corinthians 13:2
• 2 Corinthians 13:5
• Galatians 2:16
• Galatians 3:5-9
• Galatians 3:11-12
• Galatians 3:22
• Galatians 3:24
• Galatians 3:26
• Galatians 5:6
• Ephesians 2:8
• Ephesians 3:17
• Philippians 3:9
• 2 Timothy 3:15
• Hebrews 11:3
• Hebrews 11:5-6

• James 2:14
• James 2:17
• James 2:22
• James 2:26

When I asked John and his protege’ why they come around here to our houses, and why they stopped at mine, the younger fellow said, “Because we’re trying to bring hope to people”. I disagree, for John’s trying to convince me that Jesus is not God. And so if Jesus is not God, then they’re not trying to bring hope, but distinguish hope, for Paul and Peter both said that Hope is found only in Christ:

Where Does the NWT Speak of Hope in Christ?

• 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
• Ephesians 2:12-13
• Ephesians 2:14-15
• Colossians 1:27
• 1 Thessalonians 1:2
• 1 Thessalonians 1:3
• 1 Peter 1:3-4

Where does the Bible say that the Holy Spirit is God also?

• 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
• Genesis 1:2 (with note)

Now, the Jehovah’s Witnesses also reject the idea of Jesus being crucified on a cross. Instead, they insist that He was nailed to a stake, which they call a “torture stake”. On that note, I also find it interesting that every place where a cross is mentioned in the Bible, the NWT translates it “torture stake”.

First of all, it needs to be remembered that those who mentioned “cross” were witnesses at Jesus’ own crucifixion, so if they wrote “cross”, then it was because they saw Jesus on a cross. Therefore, I decided to look it up in the Greek, and I noticed that everywhere that it mentions cross, the NWT changed it to “torture stake”. However, there are a couple places where cross is not mentioned at all, but is either implied, or the word used is “tree”. Why “tree”? Well, those who used it were Peter (whose target audience was Hebrew Christians / Jews), and Paul in Acts 13, where he too was talking to the Jews (for the command they were referring to was from Deuteronomy 21:22-23):

It’s also important to recall that when Simon Peter was crucified (upside-down on a cross), he insisted on being placed upside-down because he didn’t feel worthy of dying the same way that His Lord Jesus had died.

So, as one can see, the New World Translation (the chosen translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses) does in fact support our claim that Jesus is in fact God, and not “A” god that God had created first, nor through whom God created all things that exists. Now, I did see John in the beginning of Autumn, but this time with a new protege’, who appeared interested in this finding of mine. However, I couldn’t seem to be able to air-drop it to him (I found a setting on my phone recently that may explain that). But since I’d mentioned this to them, though they said they’d stop by within the next week, I still have yet to receive a visit from them.

Where is it Written?

I was taught and trained (seminary) in a denomination that touts the question, “Where is it written” when discussing or debating on doctrine and such. There are many “denominations”, religions, churches, and faiths claiming the Bible as their source for what they believe, but when you show them a place where their own Scriptures contradict with what they believe or practice, if they explain it away with their traditions, false truths, false history, or skip over it altogether and name it something like “an unexplainable verse” or something, then one should take note and be cautious of them in the future, for remember what Jesus said about those who try to enter Heaven through other means than Him: “The thief comes to steal.”
The Bible is meant to be read, yeah, but it must also be obeyed. We must not change the Holy Scriptures to match our own preferences and/or beliefs about God, but God’s Word should change our hearts and beliefs about Him based on what it says.

I printed out this study to give to John and his trainee, and it’s been sitting by our front door since July, 2017. I did engage in conversation with some younger JW missionaries during the Summer of 2019, but even after I explained what it was and asked them to give it to John, they refused to take it. And as we talked about it some, they also refused to hear anything I had to say about it. They didn’t have a problem arguing their theories about it, but refused to listen to my answers in response to their ideas.

So the not just the Holy Bible, but even the New World Translation, the Bible of Jehovah’s Witnesses, flat out says that Jesus is in fact God. Not “a” god, not a created being, not somebody that God’s sharing His glory with, but God Himself, in the flesh.

It’s a dangerous thing when people believe their religious leaders without doing the research on their own. I learned to keep everything in context with the whole Bible, the book it’s written in, the culture of the audience to whom it was written, the meaning of words as understood by the original audience, what’s revealed in the text, and also (sometimes) what’s revealed by secondary sources (like writers of the time, etc.), and more.

My final point is, either the Jehovah’s witnesses have to change their theology and understanding about who Jesus is to match what their bible says about Him, or they have to change their bible to match what they believe about Jesus, because they aren’t in sync with each other.