Questions to Ask the Jehovah’s Witnesses

[PDF version HERE]

Rev. Martyn McGeown

(Some quotations are from the Jehovah Witnesses’ [JW] New World Translation [NWT])

1. In John 20:28, Thomas refers to Jesus (in Greek) as ho kurios moi kai ho theos moi. This translates literally as “the Lord of me and the God of me.” Why does Jesus in John 20:29 affirm Thomas for having come to this realization (“thou hast believed”)? If Jesus really wasn’t the Lord and the God of Thomas, why didn’t Jesus correct him for making either a false assumption or a blasphemous assertion?

2. Jehovah says in Isaiah 44:24, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone.” How do you reconcile this with the Watchtower teaching that Jehovah first created Christ and then Christ created everything else?

3. If, as the Watchtower teaches, the title of the Lord Jesus as the “firstborn” in Colossians 1 refers to “first created” and is not a term of pre-eminence, how do you explain Jeremiah 31:9 where God declares that Ephraim is His firstborn? It is clear from Scripture (Gen. 41:51-52) that Manasseh, not Ephraim, was the firstborn in time. Is Jesus not therefore, as Creator, supreme over His creation and not the first created being produced by Jehovah?

4. If only God can save—and there is no other Saviour than God (Isa. 43:11)—then doesn’t that mean that the New Testament references to Jesus as “Saviour” point to His deity? If not, then how do you reconcile Jesus’ role as Saviour with Isaiah 43:11 and Hosea 13:4?

5. If Jesus placed Himself on an equal par with the Father as the proper object of man’s trust (as He did in John 14:1), then wouldn’t this have been blasphemous unless Jesus Himself truly is God and Saviour? Similarly, how can it be the Father’s will that “all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (John 5:23), if God says in Isaiah 48:11 that He “will not give [His] glory unto another.” Also how do you explain Jesus’ words in John 17:5 in the light of the above considerations?

6. How do you reconcile Jehovah’s statement in Deuteronomy 32:39 that “there is no god with” Him, as well as the statement in Isaiah 45:5 that “there is no God beside” Him, with the Watchtower teaching that Jehovah is God and Jesus is a god beside Him? (See John 1:1 in the NWT.)

7. In Luke 20:38 we read that Jehovah “is not a God of the dead but of the living.” The Greek word theos (“God”) is used without the definite article ho (“the”). Since Jehovah’s deity is not diminished by this Greek construction in Luke 20:38, why does the Watchtower seek to diminish Christ’s deity in John 1:1 which uses the same Greek construction?

8. If Jesus is merely “a god” according to the NWT version of John 1:1, is he a true God or a false god?

9. Since all the “I am” sayings of Christ in the Gospel according to John (“I am the bread of life;” “I am the good shepherd,” etc.) are clearly intended to be related to one another, why does the NWT correctly translate ego eimi as “I am” throughout John’s Gospel except in John 8:58 where it translates ego eimi as “I have been?” Why did the Jews want to stone Christ in John 8 if all He said was “Before Abraham was, I have been,” and did not use the Divine Name, “I AM,” from Exodus 3:14?

10. Since Jehovah is called “mighty God” in Isaiah 10:21, just as Jesus is called “mighty God” in Isaiah 9:6, does this not mean that the Watchtower is wrong when it claims that “mighty God” refers to a lesser deity (cf. Jer. 32:18)?

11. Since Jesus is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8), how can the JWs claim that Jesus was an angel, who became a man, and then became an angel again?

12. Since Michael the archangel could not rebuke the devil by his own authority (Jude 9) and Jesus could and did (Matt. 4:10), doesn’t this prove that Jesus cannot be Michael the archangel?

13. Jesus said in Luke 24:39 that He was not a spirit and proved this by the fact that He had a flesh-and-bones body. How does this fit with the Watchtower teaching that Jesus was raised as a spiritual creature without a physical body?

14. Since Jesus declares that He would raise “this temple” (John 2:19) and by “this temple” He means His own body, as John 2:21 teaches (“he spake of the temple of his body”), isn’t Jesus teaching His bodily resurrection in this passage?

15. How can Jehovah be “Lord of lords” (Ps. 136:3; Deut. 10:17) and share this title with Jesus in Revelation 17:14?

16. How can Jehovah be “the first and the last” (Isa. 44:6) whereas Jesus possesses this title in Revelation 1:17?

17. How can Jehovah be the One before whom every knee shall bow (Isa. 45:22-23) and Jesus also have this honour (Phil. 2:10-11)?

18. If in Isaiah 40:3 a way is prepared for “Jehovah,” why does Mark 1:1-3 apply this to Jesus Christ? Was not John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus Christ? How then can we escape the conclusion that Jesus is Jehovah?

19. In Revelation 22:12-13 the One who is coming is clearly the Lord Jesus, who is here designated “Alpha and Omega.” How then can we escape the conclusion that Revelation 1:8 also refers to Jesus Christ (“Alpha and Omega”) and calls Him the “Almighty,” thereby teaching that Jesus Himself is Almighty God?

20. If in I Corinthians 8:6 there is “one Lord,” namely Jesus Christ, does this mean that God the Father is not Lord? How, then, can the Watchtower claim that the Father’s title of “one God” rules out Jesus’ being God?

21. If the name of Jehovah is the only name for salvation (Isa. 43:11), why does Acts 4:12 say of Jesus Christ: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved?” Is it not true that Jesus is Jehovah salvation, “God with us” (Matt 1:23) as our Saviour?

22. In the NWT, every time the Greek word proskuneo is used in reference of God it is translated “worship” (e.g., Rev. 5:14; 7:11; 11:16; 19:4: John 4:20 etc.). However, every time proskuneo is used in reference to Jesus Christ it is translated as “obeisance” (Matt. 14:33; 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52; Heb. 1:6 etc.) even though it is the same word in the Greek. What is the reason for this inconsistency?

23. Colossians 1:16, speaking of Jesus, teaches that “all things were created by him, and for him.” The Watchtower claims that Jesus was Michael the archangel at the time of the creation. Would an angel create all things for himself? How do you explain this since God Almighty is said to have created all things for His own pleasure in Revelation 4:11?

24. If the righteous dead have no consciousness how can Revelation 14:13 describe them as “blessed” and enjoying “rest?” Similarly, how can the wicked dead have “no rest day and night” “forever” (Rev. 14:11), if they are annihilated and no longer exist?

25. If the Holy Spirit is God’s impersonal active force, how can He be lied to and called God in Acts 5:3-4? How can an impersonal force be blasphemed (Matt. 12:31)? How can an impersonal force be grieved (Eph. 4:30)? How can an impersonal force have a will (I Cor. 12:11)? How can an impersonal force have a mind since He “searches” (the same word is used in John 5:39) the deep things of God and knows the mind of God (I Cor. 2:10-11)? How can an impersonal force teach (John 14:26), command (Acts 8:29; 13:2) and intercede or pray (Rom. 8:26)?

26. The Bible uses impersonal things to describe the Holy Spirit such as water and fire. The Watchtower argues from this that He is thereby not a person. What then of God who is called “a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29), an impersonal thing?

27. Since Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches that salvation is by grace through faith, which faith is not of ourselves but is the gift of God (cf. Titus 3:5; Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16), why does the Watchtower teach salvation by works?

28. Paul says, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). What do you glory in? Can you truly make Paul’s confession and still retain the JW doctrine of salvation?