In a book which attempts to refute JW Christology, the Trinitarian scholar Greg Lanier begins his argument with the surprising admission that a majority of Evangelical Christians agree with JWs that Jesus is God’s first creation.
A 2018 survey by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research found that nearly 95 percent of self-described evangelical Christians affirm the Trinity, but simultaneously, about 80 percent believe that Jesus Christ is the "first and greatest being created by God." The shocking thing is that these respondents do not appear to realize the stark contradiction in these two positions.
Greg Lanier, Is Jesus Truly God? How the Bible Teaches the Divinity of Christ (2020), page 14.
While it might at first appear surprising that 80% of Evangelicals agree with JWs that Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God, this finding is in line with other surveys of the beliefs of ordinary Christians.
For example, the book Ordinary Christology: Who Do You Say I Am? Answers from the pews (2012) by Ann Christie, conducted a qualitative analysis of Christian believers who made statements such as:
Bruce
'I do see it as, sort of, God being at the top and Jesus being at the right hand-side or just below, however you want to describe it.'
'I would see [Jesus] as something slightly less than God.' (page 56)
Adding:
Many talk about Jesus as God's creation, using phrases such as, 'God produced Jesus', 'God created Jesus', 'Jesus was God's creation'.
Which raises the question why, despite centuries of Christian dogma denying that Jesus was created, do so many ordinary Christians agree with JWs that Jesus was created by God? Although JWs have been preaching their message with unprecedented vigour for over a century, it would be hasty to conclude this is the reason most ordinary Christians agree with JWs on this topic. A simpler explanation lies in the fact that ordinary Christians have drawn the reasonable inference from the plain language of scripture on the subject. A son is ordinarily younger and subordinate to his father; Jesus sits at the right hand of God; and he is described as the “firstborn of all creation”. Despite the efforts of Trinitarian dogmaticians over many centuries, ordinary Christians draw the obvious conclusion from these biblical images and phrases.