My Questions for the Watchtower Society and Jehovah's Witnesses ABOUT JESUS being "a god":
2:) Who is the "Only True God"? How many TRUE Gods exist? (John 17:3; Isaiah 46:9; Psalm 89:6-7; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 40:5; Psalm 71:19; Psalm 86:8, 10; Psalm 113:5; Isaiah 40:18, 25; Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 43:10-11; Isaiah 44:6-8, 24; Isaiah 45:5-6, 21; Exodus 20:3, 5)
3:) Is Jesus Christ a god? (John 20:28; John 1:1; John 1:18; Isaiah 9:6)
4:) Is Jesus a TRUE god or Is Jesus a false god? (Jeremiah 10:10-12)
5:) Exactly what kind of god is Jesus? What does the Bible mean when it calls Jesus "God" with a capital "G"? (John 20:28; Isaiah 9:6)
6:) Why did the Apostle Thomas say at John 20:28 (according to the Kingdom Interlinear Translation) TO JESUS: "THE Lord of me and THE God of me!" [Ho Theos]? How was Jesus THE God of Thomas? How many Gods did Thomas serve and worship?
7:) Didn't Jesus commend Thomas for believing that and then say that people who do not see Him would be blessed for believing the SAME as Thomas? (John 20:27-29)
8:) How many gods are there who are truly GOD BY NATURE? (Galatians 4:8-9)
9:) What does "Godship" mean in the Bible? In the New World Translation at Romans 1:20, it says that Jehovah is the One who has "Godship", but then in the New World Translation Reference Bible at Colossians 2:9, it says about JESUS: "it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality [LITERALLY: "GODSHIP"] dwells bodily. Is this the SAME "Godship" that Jehovah has at Romans 1:20, or is Jesus Christ's "Godship" different from The Father's "Godship"?
10:) What does "Divine Quality" mean? (Colossians 2:9, New World Translation)
11:) What does "Divinity" mean? (Colossians 2:9, Kingdom Interlinear Translation)
12:) What does "Deity" mean?
13:) Is Jesus Christ a "deity"? The Watchtower issue of November 15th, 1970, says this about "deities":
"Bowing to anyone other than Jehovah as a deity was prohibited by God. (Ex. 23:24; 34:14)" [also, the Insight Book 2, Page 523, says the same thing]
But then, the Awake! issue of August 22nd, 1976, Pages 23-26, says this:
"The apostle Paul wrote concerning Jesus: "For in him the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily."
So, if Jehovah God forbids people from bowing down to ANYONE ELSE as "a deity", and if Jesus is "a deity", the WHY does Jehovah God command humans and angels to bow down to Jesus Christ? (Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:6)
14:) What does the word "god" mean in the Bible?
15:) The Watchtower publication called "Should You Believe in the Trinity?" said that, on earth, Jesus was a perfect man, nothing more and nothing less. But, if Jesus was "nothing more" than a perfect man, then how was Jesus able to FULLY KNOW EVERYTHING about The Father? (Matthew 11:27) How can ANY human (even a perfect human) "FULLY KNOW" the infinite and Almighty God? About this, the Watchtower issue of April 4, 1976 said this:
"Of course, finite men cannot know everything about an infinite God"
And the Watchtower issue of September 15, 1990 said this:
"We will never know everything about God."
Then the Awake! issue of March 8, 1992 said this:
"Can we know everything about God? [...] His wisdom and intelligence are beyond human understanding. [...] The impossibility of knowing every single thing about God should not surprise us. [...] How could ANY creature know completely the depth of God's wisdom, He who is the Creator?"
But then, Watchtower publications say this about Jesus Christ as a "perfect human" on earth:
The Watchtower, September 1, 1984, Pages 27-28:
"Arius denied that the Son could really know the Father. The Bible teaches that the Son 'fully knows' the Father and that the Son is "the one that has explained him." (Matthew 11:27; John 1:14, 18) [...] Far from being modern-day Arians, Jehovah's Witnesses believe what the Bible says."
The Watchtower, November 1, 1954, Page 666:
"Christ Jesus, the only one who "fully knows" the Father"
16:) If Jesus was "nothing more than a perfect human" on earth, then how did He read people's hearts and minds? (According to the Hebrew Scriptures, ONLY Jehovah had the ability to read hearts and minds -- See 1 Kings 8:39.)
17:) If Jesus was "nothing more than a perfect human" on earth, the how did Jesus "know all things"?
18:) If Jesus was "nothing more than a perfect human" on earth, then how was Jesus able to be present in more than one place at the same time? (Matthew 18:20; John 1:48-50)
19:) If Jesus was "nothing more than a perfect human" on earth, then why did He accept obeisance and worship from His disciples, while Peter refused it? (Matthew 14:33; John 9:35-38; Acts 10:25-26)
20:) If Jesus was "nothing more than a perfect human" on earth, and His sacrifice had only the exactly equal value of what Adam lost (which was everlasting perfect human life on earth) and had NO extra value, then how was Jesus able to purchase 144,000 people to become immortal spirit creatures in Heaven?
21:) If Jesus was only "exactly equal to Adam" on earth, and if His sacrifice only dealt with the sin that we have all inherited from Adam, then how did Jesus Christ's sacrifice have extra redeeming value to cover King Manasseh's WILLFUL SINS of murder, idolatry, spiritism, etc., King David's WILLFUL act of having an innocent man put to death, and everyone else's WILLFUL sins? If Jesus' sacrifice only applies to inherited sins from Adam, then how does it apply to WILLFUL GROSS SINS committed by sinners?
22:) Is Jesus a created angel? Is there a Scripture that says Jesus was created by God?
23:) What does the word "Firstborn" mean at Colossians 1:15? Is it possible that "Firstborn" in that verse has the same meaning as in Psalm 89:26-27 and 1 Chronicles 5:1-2?
24:) What does the Bible mean when it says that Jehovah has existed "from time indefinite"? (Psalm 90:2, New World Translation)
25:) What does the Bible mean when it says that JESUS has existed "from time indefinite"? (Micah 5:2, New World Translation)
26:) What does the word "Almighty" mean?
27:) According the the book entitled "Revelation -- Its Grand Climax At Hand!", Page 85, Paragraphs 12-13, Jesus now has ALL power and ALL authority and ALL of the holy spirit. Is this true? Would this not make Jesus "Almighty"? (Matthew 28:18)
28:) How was Jesus (just ONE perfect man) a "Ransom for ALL"? How was Jesus (ONE man) able to cover billions of peoples' sins (including their intentional sins that were not attributed to inherited sin)?
29:) Who was speaking in Revelation 22:12-13? The book entitled "Revelation -- Its Grand Climax At Hand!", Page 316, Paragraph 6, says that it was Jehovah speaking there. However, on Page 319, Paragraph 15, it says that JESUS was speaking at Revelation 22:12. Which is correct? Who is the Alpha and the Omega? What does "The Alpha and The Omega" mean?
30:) Who is the First and the Last? Jehovah or Jesus? What does "The First and The Last" mean? Can there be more than one "First and Last"? (Revelation 22:13; Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12)
31:) The book entitled "You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth", Page 40, Paragraph 16 says:
" 'But isn't Jesus called a god in the Bible?' someone may ask. This is true. Yet Satan is also called a god."
What does that mean? Is Jesus the same type of "god" as Satan? Exactly what kind of "god" is Satan? And exactly what kind of "god" is Jesus?
32:) The brochure entitled "Should You Believe in the Trinity?", Page 7, quoted Origen as saying:
"Compared with the Father, [the Son] is a very small light."
Is that what Jehovah's Witnesses believe about Jesus? (Compare that statement with Hebrews 1:3)
33:) Are Jehovah's Witnesses monotheists (believe in only One God) or polytheists (believe in more than one god)? Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jehovah is Almighty God and that Jesus is a Mighty God, correct? That would make TWO Gods, wouldn't it? That is polytheism, is it not?
The brochure entitled "Should You Believe in the Trinity?", Pages 12-13 says:
"The Bible teaching that God is one is called monotheism. And [...] monotheism in its purist form does not allow for a Trinity [...] The Christian apostle Paul [...] wrote: "God is only one." -- Galatians 3:20; see also 1 Corinthians 8:4-6."
34:) Who is "THE Lord of lords", Jehovah or Jesus? (Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalm 136:3); 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16; Revelation 17:14) Can they BOTH be "THE Lord of lords"?
35:) If, as the Watchtower publications have said, Jehovah created "Wisdom" (see Proverbs Chapter 8), does that mean that at one time Jehovah did not have wisdom? Or is it possible that Proverbs 8:22-23 simply means that God "brought forth" His wisdom in order to put His wisdom to use in creation?
36:) God is love, correct? That's His very essence, right? Well then, what or who did God love BEFORE He created anything?
37:) The brochure entitled "Should You Believe in the Trinity?", Page 15 said:
"If Jesus had been God, he could not have been tempted. -- James 1:13."
But, doesn't the Bible say that God can be "tested"? (Matthew 4:7; 1 Corinthians 10:9; Malachi 3:15; Deuteronomy 6:16; Exodus 17:2) What does it mean to "test Jehovah"? Is that similar to "tempting" God?
38:) The brochure entitled "Should You Believe in the Trinity?", Page 16 said:
"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." Is that true though? What about these statements in the Bible made by Jesus Himself:
"That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father." (John 5:23)
"I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)
"This sickness is not with death as its object, but it is for the glory of God, in order that the Son of God may be glorified through it." (John 11:4)
"All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son but the Father, neither does anyone fully know the Father but the Son" (Matthew 11:27)
"The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand." (John 3:35)
"all my things are yours and yours are mine" (John 17:10)
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me [...] He that has seen me has seen the Father [also]. How is it you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:6, 9)
"Whatever it is that you ask in my name, I will do this, in order that the Father may be glorified in connection with the Son." (John 14:13)
"Father, the hour has come; glorify your son, that your son may glorify you, according as you have given him authority over all flesh [...] I have glorified you on the earth, having finished the work you have given me to do. So now you, Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was." (John 17:1-4)
Does that sound like Jesus was a lesser, inferior, "created angel"?
39:) If a Christian today were to preach or believe that Jesus is "THE God of me" (just like the Apostle Thomas did), would that be idolatry? Can Jehovah's Witnesses be disfellowshipped for believing that Jesus Christ is "THE God of me"?
40:) Why did Jesus (at times) take credit for, and accept obeisance (worship) for performing miracles, instead of directing all of the praise and worship to God? (Matthew 14:33; John 9:24; John 9:35-38; John 11:25-26; Luke 17:15-16)
41:) According to the Kingdom Interlinear Translation, The Father is "in the Son" and The Son is "in the Father." What does that mean? (John 14:10-11; 10:38-39)
42:) According to Watchtower publications, before Jesus came to earth, he held a position of honor second only to Jehovah. Then, Jesus became "lower than angels". Then, according to Watchtower publications, God exalted Jesus to a "MUCH higher" and "superior" position than the one he had before he came to earth. How was Jesus exalted to a "much higher" position than second place to Jehovah?
43:) The brochure entitled "Should You Believe in the Trinity?", Page 19 quotes "The Bulletin of the John Rylands Library" as saying this about Jesus:
"Compared with God, he appears, indeed, as yet another heavenly being in God's heavenly court [...]," and then the brochure says that this agrees with the Bible!
Is that true? Compared to God, is Jesus only "yet another" angel in Heaven? (See Hebrews 1:3 and John 14:9)
44:) Is Jesus like God? Is He exactly like God? (Hebrews 1:3; Isaiah 46:9; Psalm 89:6-7; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 40:5; Psalm 71:19; Psalm 86:8, 10; Psalm 113:5; Isaiah 40:18, 25; Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 43:10-11; Isaiah 44:6-8, 24; Isaiah 45:5-6, 21; Exodus 20:3, 5)
The Watchtower issue of September 15, 2005 says this:
"How intimately Jehovah God and his only-begotten Son must have come to know each other as they worked side-by-side! [...] This obedient Son came to be just like his Father, Jehovah. In fact, Colossians 1:15 calls Jesus "the image of the invisible God." "
But then, the brochure entitled "Should You Believe in the Trinity?", Page 30 says this:
"Reject the Trinity -- There can be no compromise with God's truths. Hence, to worship God on his terms means to reject the Trinity doctrine. [...] It contradicts what God says about himself in his own inspired Word. Thus, he counsels: "Acknowledge that I alone am God and that there is no one else like me." =- Isaiah 46:9, TEV."
How do those two quotes harmonize?
45:) Do Trinitarians believe that there are three Gods in One or do they believe that there are three Persons as One God? Compare the Watchtower quotes below:
Should You Believe in the Trinity? Brochure, Page 13:
nearly all Trinity supporters reject the view that the Trinity is made up of three separate gods.
Awake!, December 8, 1998, Page 11:
they do not teach Bible truth but teach their flocks unscriptural doctrines regarding eternal torment in a fiery hell, a trinity of three gods in one, and immortality of the soul -- all of pagan origin.
The Watchtower, July 15, 1981, Page 14:
the exposure of Christendom's own god, the so-called Trinity, inexplainably made up of three gods in one and each of these deities being coexistent, coequal and coeternal. This triune deity is sometimes illustrated by a human body with three heads or a head with three faces.
The Watchtower, March 1, 1984, Page 23:
The disgusting idolatry of the religions of Christendom and pagandom has been set aside by Jehovah's restored people. No longer do they idolize creatures or follow the customs of worldly religion, [...] Their worship is not distributed to three gods in one, the so-called godhead of some mysterious Trinity, but they are united as the one people who worship the one God, Jehovah.
The Watchtower, July 1, 1979, Page 15:
Yet for a century The Watchtower has urged readers to examine what God's Word actually says on the matter, such as that Jesus repeatedly is shown to be, not equal to his Father, but a lesser one subject to Jehovah. (John 14:28; 17:3; 1 Cor. 11:3) As an example, this appeared, along with supporting texts, in 1882:
"We believe then in one God and Father, and also in one Lord Jesus Christ. . . . But these are two and not one being. . . . We reject as totally unscriptural, the teaching that [Jehovah, Jesus and God's spirit or active force] are three Gods in one person, . . . The doctrine of the Trinity had its rise in the third century."
The Watchtower, February 15, 1961, Page 104:
A "Holy Trinity" of three Gods in one God is also worshiped by most Catholic and Protestant sects
The Watchtower, April 15, 1962, Page 235:
Christendom has copied the heathen, pagan nations of Asia in teaching that God is a trinity, three Gods in one Person.
The Watchtower, April 1, 1970, Page 210:
The answer is obvious that there is only one Jehovah. [...] Reason with him, perhaps in this way: "If he is one Jehovah, then could he be three gods, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, as the Trinitarians teach?" Again, let him answer. "No, Jehovah could not be three gods, for the Bible plainly says he is one God." Now, you have caused the student to think on a basic Scriptural truth and to understand that Jehovah is but one God. You have also exposed a basic false doctrine-the doctrine of the Trinity.
The Watchtower, October 15, 1995, Page 15:
Thomas was born in Asmara, Eritrea, and grew up a devout Catholic. At the age of 15, he entered a monastery. He asked the abbot: "How is it possible that one God is three Gods?"
The Watchtower, October 15, 1993, Page 27:
"The Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. . . . So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God."
IN THESE words the Athanasian Creed describes the central doctrine of Christendom-the Trinity. If you are a church member, Catholic or Protestant, you might be told that this is the most important teaching that you are to believe in.
The Watchtower, April 1, 1992, Page 24:
[...] modern Christendom's Trinity -- three coequal persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in a Godhead, each being true God, yet there being not three Gods but one God?
The Watchtower, November 1, 1991, Page 19:
Nearly all churches of Christendom teach that God is a Trinity. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls the Trinity teaching "the central doctrine of the Christian religion," defining it this way: [...] there are not three Gods but one God.'
The Watchtower, March 15, 1989, Page 18:
Jehovah's servants have recognized that, not the traditions and creeds of uninspired men, but the Holy Scriptures provide the standard for discerning what is truth. Building on this foundation, way back in 1882 these dedicated Bible students clearly stated in the Watch Tower: "Our readers are aware that while we believe in Jehovah God and Jesus, and the holy Spirit, we reject as totally unscriptural, the teaching that these are three Gods in one person, or as some put it, one God in three persons."-John 5:19; 14:28; 20:17.
The Watchtower, June 1, 1988, Page 10:
That confusing doctrine is the central belief of Catholic and Protestant religions. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: "The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion . . . Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: 'the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.'"
The Watchtower, August 15, 1964, Page 509:
It amazes the Mohammedans when we tell them we do not believe in the "trinity," or three gods in one.
The Watchtower, August 1, 1963, Page 461:
Others hold that the Creator, Jesus and "the Holy Ghost" are a trinity of three Gods in one, and that Jesus was actually a God-man while on earth.
The Watchtower, August 15, 1963, Page 488:
May it be that ideas and beliefs that you have long accepted as Bible truth are not actually to be found in the Bible? What about the trinity doctrine of three gods in one, the immortality of the human soul, purgatory, a hell of torment for the wicked? Are these Bible teachings or human traditions?
The Watchtower, April 1, 1962, Page 218:
The conception that there is a godhead of three Gods, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, is also without foundation in the Bible. It teaches that there is only one God who is and always will be without equal.
So, are Trinitarians monotheists or polytheists?
46:) When the Jews accused Jesus of "making himself equal to God" (John 5:18), Jesus responded, and instead of denying their accusation, He actually told them:
"Just as the Father raises the dead up and makes them alive, so the Son also makes those alive whom he wants to. For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father."
By saying that, wasn't Jesus actually saying that the Jews were RIGHT -- that Jesus WAS "making himself equal to God"?