Review: Jehovah’s Witnesses Beliefs
about Jesus
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Jesus was/is the Archangel Michael
Jesus was created by God
Jesus is a god, not the God
After His crucifixion, Jesus was not physically
raised from the dead – only spiritually
• The second coming of Christ was in this
invisible spiritual form, and it already
happened in 1914
Jehovah’s Witnesses Arguments
Against the Deity of the Holy Spirit
• Merely God’s active force, something like
electricity
• Persons can’t be subdivided and fill many people,
but forces can
• The Father (a person) is named Jehovah; the Son
(a person) is named Jesus; the Holy Spirit (not a
person) has no name
• When the Bible seems to attribute personal
characteristics to the Holy Spirit, it is mere
personification, as when the same thing is done
concerning wisdom or sin
Grammatical Interlude
• In Greek, as in many other languages but not in English, nouns
have gender
• When a pronoun is used to refer to such a noun, the pronoun will
have the same gender as the noun
• Just because a masculine pronoun is used in the English
translation one cannot infer that the original Greek intended to
assign sex, or even personhood, to the object named by the noun
• Therefore, because John 14:17 (“even the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
ESV) uses “he” and “him” to refer to the Holy Spirit, one can’t say
just from that the Holy Spirit is obviously a person
Personal Attributes of the Holy Spirit
• Has a Mind:
– Can search “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths
of God.” (I Corinthians 2:10 ESV)
– Can comprehend “… no one comprehends the thoughts of God
except the Spirit of God.” (I Corinthians 2:11b ESV)
– Has a mind “And he who searches hearts knows what is the
mind of the Spirit …” (Romans 8:27a ESV)
• Can Grieve: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God”
(Ephesians 4:30a ESV)
• Has a Will:
– “… by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one
individually as he wills” (I Corinthians 12:11b ESV)
– “… having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word
in Asia” (Acts 16:6b ESV)
Actions of the Holy Spirit Showing
Personality
• Testifies: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to
you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from
the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26 ESV)
• Intercedes: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit himself intercedes for us … “(Romans 8:26a ESV)
• Commands:
– “And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’ ”
(Acts 8:29 ESV)
– “the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the
work to which I have called them.’ ” (Acts 13:2 ESV)
Scriptural Treatment of the Holy Spirit
as a Person
• Can be blasphemed: “… the blasphemy against the
Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Mathew 12:31b ESV)
• Can be lied to: “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan
filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit … “ (Acts 5:3a
ESV)
• Can be obeyed:
– The Antioch church by setting apart Paul and Barnabas as
missionaries to the Gentiles (Acts 13)
– Peter by meeting and accompanying the emissaries of
Cornelius (Acts 10)
• Is Sent: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name …” (John 14:26a ESV)
You Can be a Person Without Being
Given a Name in the Bible
• Demons and unclean spirits referred to in the
Bible are clearly persons but are almost never
named
• Likewise, the [Holy] spirit is given a
designation that is descriptive of his primary
characteristic, holiness
• In both cases, the failure to give a name does
not imply that the referent is not a person
One Can be Filled with a Divine Person
• “… that you may be filled with all the fullness of
God” (Ephesians 3:19 ESV)
• “He who descended is the one who also
ascended far above all the heavens, that he might
fill all things” (Ephesians 4:10 ESV)
• These verses show that one can be filled with
God and with Jesus, both of whom are persons,
even according to Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Warning: don’t try these verses in the NWT
because they have been rewritten to merely refer
to unspecified “fullness”
Jehovah’s Witnesses Arguments
Against the Doctrine of the Trinity
• The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible
• If you simply read the Bible you will never come up
with Trinitarian doctrine
• Jesus never taught or explained the Trinity
• Since “… God is not a God of confusion …”
(I Corinthians 14:33b ESV), a confusing doctrine like the
Trinity can’t be correct
• The doctrine of the Trinity was inspired by pagan
tritheism
• The doctrine of the Trinity is man-made and began at
the Council of Nicea
Detour: The Name “Jehovah”
• Originally Hebrew was written without vowels
• Vowel marks were added later by scribes when Aramaic
began to be replace Hebrew as the spoken language of
Palestine
• Leviticus 24:16 ESV says “Whoever blasphemes the name
of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the
congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the
native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to
death.”
• Because the scribes took this severe penalty quite seriously,
their solution was to not write the name of God at all
• The consonants for God’s name in Hebrew are “YHWH”
Detour: The Name “Jehovah”
• The scribes inserted the vowels “e-o-a” from the Hebrew
word for LORD (e-do-nay) whenever YHWH appeared,
giving YEHOWAH
• When Martin Luther made his German translation of the
Bible, this word was transliterated into German with Y
becoming J and W becoming V to give JEHOVAH
• When William Tyndale made his English translation of the
Bible, he made heavy use of Luther’s German translation,
thus giving English Bibles “Jehovah”, a word that is
completely man-made
• If a Jehovah’s Witness points out that “Trinity” is a manmade word that is not even in the Bible, what should you
say?
A Concept Can be Biblical Without the
Term Being in the Text
• The Israelite government before the monarchy
was designed to be a theocracy
• The Roman Empire in NT times was officially a
theocracy, ruled by a supposedly divine
emperor
• The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society claims
to be a theocracy
• Yet the word “theocracy” never appears in the
text of the Bible
Jesus Isn’t the Only One who Taught in
the Bible
• Those who wish to reinterpret the teachings of
the Bible regarding homosexual behavior say
(correctly) that Jesus never mentions it in the
Biblical text
• Yet this behavior is clearly taught against in both
testaments
• Words attributed to Jesus are not the only
inspired teaching in the Bible
• Even so, Jesus made many statements, already
covered in the previous two weeks, that bear on
the doctrine of the Trinity
So What if the Trinity Confuses You?
• I Corinthians 14:33 refers to speaking in tongues and orderly worship, not
to the simplicity of doctrine
• Verses such as:
– “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans
11:33 ESV)
– “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (I Corinthians 13:12
ESV)
show us that we are not promised complete understanding of the nature
of God
• C. S. Lewis said it well: “If Christianity were something we were making up,
of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in
simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are
dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to
bother about.” Mere Christianity, Beyond Personality, chapter 2
Pagans Can Get Close to the Truth
• There are old stories from pagan societies about
a flood which killed much of humankind and
about a messiah-like figure (Tammuz) who was
resurrected
• Should Christians refrain from teaching a Biblical
concept just because pagans believed something
similar first?
• Triads of three gods are tritheism, not
Trinitarianism (one God being with three distinct
persons)
The Council of Nicea
• The Council of Nicea (AD 325) was called to
settle what is now known as the Arian heresy
• Arianism had to do with nature/divinity of
Jesus
• The Nicene Creed thus was more detailed
than earlier creeds with respect to Jesus
• However, the doctrine of the Trinity long predated AD 325 and did not originate with the
Council of Nicea
Three Important Verses on the Trinity
• “ Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name [Greek is
singular] of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19 ESV)
Three Important Verses on the Trinity
• “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
love of God and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit be with you all.” (II Corinthians 13:14
ESV)
• This verse doesn’t, by itself, prove the Trinity,
but it does give the doctrine strong support
Three Important Verses on the Trinity
• “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three
are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth,
the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these
three agree in one.” (I John 5:7,8 KJV)
• “For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the
water and the blood; and these three agree.” (I John
5:7,8 ESV)
• The phrase in italics exists in no Greek manuscript
earlier than the 16th century, and an informed
Jehovah’s Witness will know this
Each Person of the Trinity is Called God
in Scripture
• “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the
sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ
and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be
multiplied to you.” (I Peter 1:2 ESV)
• “Thomas answered him [Jesus], “My Lord and my God!”
(John 20:28 ESV)
• “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to
lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of
the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it
not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at
your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed
in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’ ” (Acts
5:3, 4 ESV)
Each Person of the Trinity Has the
Attributes of God
• The following table is adapted from pp. 238, 239 of Reasoning
from the Scriptures with the Jehovah’s Witnesses (* marks the
one verse I changed):
Omnipresent
Omniscient
Omnipotent
Holy
Eternal
The Truth
Lord
Everlasting
Almighty
Powerful
Father
I Kings 8:27
Psalm 147:5
Psalm 135:6
Revelation 15:4
Psalm 90:2
John 7:8
Matthew 11:25*
Romans 16:26
Genesis 17:1
Jeremiah 32:17
Son
Matthew 28:20
John 16:30
Matthew 28:18
Acts 3:14
Revelation 1:8
Revelation 3:7
Luke 2:11
Revelation 22:13
Revelation 1:8
Hebrews 1:3
Holy Spirit
Psalm 139:7
I Corinthians 2:10
Romans 15:19
Romans 1:4
Hebrews 9:14
I John 5:6
II Corinthians 3:17
Hebrews 9:14
Romans 15:19
Zechariah 4:6