A Letter To My Jehovah’s Witness Neighbor

Dear Jehovah Witness Neighbor,

I enjoyed speaking with you the other day during your door to door outreach. I commend your zeal for the Lord. As I explained, we do have several things in common, such as the belief in the one God Who created the universe, Who sent His Son to die on the cross for fallen mankind, and Who will establish His Kingdom on Earth one day. I also agree with you that, during His first advent, Christ did not necessarily perform His miracles by His own independent divinity, but rather by the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:18, Acts 10:38). Nevertheless, His willful humiliation disproves His deity no more than a pilot’s choice to drive a car on vacation disproves his identity as a pilot.

As a theologian who often seeks novel Middle Ground solutions to age-old theological debates, I often commend healthy, respectful challenges to traditional views on topics. However, in this case, the long-held orthodox view of the deity of Christ still wins the day. The Biblical data, even using your translation of the Bible, undeniably supports the traditional view that Jesus and Jehovah are one. Hopefully my findings will encourage you to challenge your tradition.

I will address two primary areas that are critical to the debate concerning the deity of Jesus Christ, particularly concerning the Jehovah’s Witnesses: 1) New World Translation Inconsistencies, and 2) the Jehovah/Jesus connection.

New World Translation Inconsistencies

First, let me address my hesitation in accepting your translation of the Bible — the New World Translation (NWT). Four of the five translators had no Hebrew or Greek language training whatsoever, and the fifth, Frederick Franz, admitted in a court of law in 1954 that he could not read Hebrew [1]. See the below transcription:

Q: Have you also made yourself familiar with Hebrew?
A: (Franz) Yes.
Q: So that you have a substantial linguistic apparatus at your command?
A: Yes, for use in my biblical work.
Q: I think you are able to read and follow the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German,
and French?
A: Yes.

—-LATER, DURING THE SAME CROSS-EXAMINATION:

Q: You, yourself, read and speak Hebrew, do you?
A: I do not speak Hebrew.
Q: You do not?
A: No.
Q: Can you, yourself, translate that into Hebrew?
A: Which:
Q: That fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis?
A: You mean here?
Q: Yes.
A: No.

If Mr. Franz couldn’t even translate a simple Hebrew passage in Genesis 2, we should immediately suspect that he translated the NWT based on a preconceived theology rather than true grammatical considerations. Now let me show you a few examples of blatant inconsistencies in translation. These inconsistencies conveniently pertain to passages which undeniably point to the deity of Jesus Christ. They come in various categories, the first being “Deceptive changes over time”.

Deceptive Changes Over Time

It doesn’t take much study of the NWT to see that there are intentional changes over the years; changes, unrelated to new manuscript evidence, but rather related to shifts in doctrinal positions. Here’s an example:

Hebrews 1:6 But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: “And let all God’s angels do obeisance to him.” (NWT)

Did you know that if you pick up a New World Translation printed before 1970, the phrase above, “do obeisance to him”, would read, “worship him”? Why did they change the wording? This should make us suspicious. Let’s face it, they did not want to associate the word “worship” with Jesus. This is because the word “worship” seems like something that should be ascribed to God alone. The March 1880 (pg 83) and August 15,1941 (pg 252) issues of Watch Tower dictate that Jehovah’s witnesses should worship Jesus, but the January 1st, 1954 (pg 31) and November 1st, 1964 (pg 671) issues dictate that we should not worship Jesus. We should be very suspicious of this type of wavering, as well as the resulting fluctuations in Bible translation. The bottom line is, Jesus has been worshipped as God since the very dawn of Christianity. Ancient Roman historian Pliny the Younger confirms:

They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. [2]

Inconsistent Translation of the Anarthrous Noun Theos

John 1:1 is perhaps the most direct statement regarding the deity of Jesus Christ:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (ESV)

This leads me to my second problem with the NWT. Its translation of John 1:1 is completely inconsistent. This is an example of reading a preconceived theology into a translation. I’m sure your elders have told you “there is no Greek definite article in front of the word God (Greek THEOS), so the NWT uses the indefinite article and translates it as ‘the word was a god’”. This is absolutely incorrect. In fact, if that is a blanket rule, then Jehovah’s Witnesses are 94% unfaithful to their own rule of translation. Out of 282 instances of the anarthrous (no article) THEOS in the New Testament, the New World Translation renders 266 as “God”, not “a god”. In the Greek language, there is no indefinite article ‘a’. A definite noun can either have an article (arthrous) or not have an article (anarthrous). Therefore, the context and structure of the sentence must dictate whether the English indefinite article ‘a’ is warranted. The parallel structure in John 1 shows that the context is surely speaking of “God”, not “a god”. In realizing this, the NWT translators correctly translated the anarthrous noun THEOS as “God” in all the other verses in John 1. Below is a chart showing the interlinear Greek/English of these occurrences in John 1, and comparing them to the NWT:

Greek Interlinear	NWT
1 εν {IN [THE]} αρχη {BEGINNING} ην {WAS} ο {THE} λογος {WORD,} και {AND} ο {THE} λογος {WORD} ην {WAS} προς τον {WITH} θεον {GOD,} και {AND} θεος {GOD} ην {WAS} ο {THE} λογος {WORD.}	1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.
6 εγενετο {THERE WAS} ανθρωπος {A MAN,} απεσταλμενος {SENT} παρα {FROM} θεου {GOD,} ονομα {NAME} αυτω {HIS} ιωαννης {JOHN.}	6 There arose a man that was sent forth as a representative of God: his name was John.

12 οσοι δε {BUT AS MANY AS} ελαβον {RECEIVED} αυτον {HIM} εδωκεν {HE GAVE} αυτοις {TO THEM} εξουσιαν {AUTHORITY} τεκνα {CHILDREN} θεου {OF GOD} γενεσθαι {TO BE,} τοις {TO THOSE THAT} πιστευουσιν {BELIEVE} εις το {ON} ονομα {NAME} αυτου {HIS;}	12 However, as many as did receive him, to them he gave authority to become God’s children, because they were exercising faith in his name;
13 οι {WHO} ουκ {NOT} εξ {OF} αιματων {BLOODS} ουδε {NOR} εκ {OF} θεληματος {WILL} σαρκος {OF FLESH} ουδε {NOR} εκ {OF} θεληματος {WILL} ανδρος {OF MAN} αλλ {BUT} εκ {OF} θεου {GOD} εγεννηθησαν {WERE BORN.}	13 and they were born, not from blood or from a fleshly will or from man’s will, but from God.
18 θεον {GOD} ουδεις {NO ONE} εωρακεν {HAS SEEN} πωποτε {AT ANY TIME;} ο {THE} μονογενης {ONLY BEGOTTEN} υιος {SON,} ο {WHO} ων {IS} εις {IN} τον {THE} κολπον {BOSOM} του {OF THE} πατρος {FATHER,} εκεινος {HE} εξηγησατο {DECLARED [HIM].}	18 No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is in the bosom [position] with the Father is the one that has explained him.

As you can see, all five of these verses have a form of the Greek word THEOS (God) without a Greek definite article (anarthrous). Yet the NWT selectively translates the occurrence in verse 1 as “a god”. Imagine translating verses 6, 12, 13, and 18 as “a god”. They would make no sense. The translators realized that, and translated those appropriately. But what about verse 1? Why is it that verse 1 would be translated as “a god”? Because of a preconceived theology! If the NWT translators would have consistently translated THEOS as “God” in verse 1, just as they did in the other verses, they would have destroyed their theology about Christ.

Another thing that should be considered is that Jehovah emphatically stated in Isaiah 44:6 “besides me there is no God”? In the New Testament, Paul also confirms that there is only one God (1 Cor 8:6). If Jesus is “a god”, then according to these verses, he must be a false god. Perhaps your elders would say, “it just means a god in the context of a leader, similar to John 10:34 where Jesus called people ‘gods’.” Again, this doesn’t match the context of John 1, which is focusing on the pre-existence of the Word and His creation of all things. Accordingly, John 1:1 is parallel with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, GOD…” This directly identifies the Word as the Creator God of Genesis 1. In Genesis the word for God is ELOHIM, a plural title that consistently refers to the triune God who is also One (Deut 6:4)!

Inconsistency in the Translation of Kurios

Third, I am very suspicious of the blatant eclectic interpretations of the Greek word kurios. This word simply means “Lord”. The Greek version of the Old Testament, written around 250 BC, simply renders many of the references to Jehovah (YWHW) as kurios. The New Testament writers, therefore, quoted many Old Testament prophecies, carrying over the word kurios, and NOT the name Jehovah. They fully understood that kurios in the Old Testament was referring to Jehovah. With full knowledge of this, they applied the same term kurios to Jesus Christ, even in the same context as Old Testament quotations. Yet the NWT translators sometimes translate it as Lord, and sometimes as “Jehovah”, as if to make a distinction in the minds of the New Testament authors that they did intend to convey. I’ll give you an example. In Romans 10:13, they translate kurios as “Jehovah” because it is a quote from the Old Testament about Jehovah, yet a few verses earlier in Romans 10:9, kurios is translated as “Lord” because it applies to Jesus as being Lord. Check out the context for yourself:

9 For if you publicly declare that ‘word in your own mouth,’ that Jesus is Lord [Gr. Kurios], and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation.11 For the Scripture says: “None that rests his faith on him will be disappointed.”12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for there is the same Lord [Gr. Kurios] over all, who is rich to all those calling upon him.13 For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah [Gr. Kurios] will be saved.” (Rom 10:9-13, NWT)

This is pure deception. It hides the truth that the very LORD of the Old Testament is the very LORD Jesus of the New Testament. The truth is, verse 13 is mistranslated to fit a preconceived theology wherein any Old Testament references must retain the name JEHOVAH and therefore cannot refer to the KURIOS Jesus Christ! This is a complete fabrication. Kurios should always be translated the same, and when it is, you’ll find that over 140 verses apply this word to Jesus Christ, even though the same word is used when the New Testament authors quote the Old Testament prophecies about Jehovah. Your elders might argue, “Well Jesus is a lower level Lord than Jehovah Lord and therefore Kurios applied to him is different then Jehovah as Kurios.” Yet another false argument! It is clear in the New Testament there is only “One Lord [kurios], one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5). Who is that “one Lord” – Jesus or Jehovah? Let the New Testament answer for itself – It’s Jesus. Clearly, the above context is speaking of declaring Jesus is Lord with your “mouth” (v9), which is parallel to “calling” on the name of the Lord (v13). We’ll discuss more of this later on.

Toning down of Divine Adjectives

Let’s consider the fourth problem. The NWT destroys simple words in order to reduce their strength. We already discussed the replacement of “worship” with “obeisance” when it is applied to Jesus, even though the Greek word is the same word used everywhere else in the NWT for worship. Another significant example is in Colossians 2:9:

Colossians 2:9 because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily. (NWT)

Notice how the Greek word THEOTES has been translated as “divine quality”. This makes it sound like Jesus has some divine qualities, but isn’t God. Yet, this noun represents a state of being THEOS (i.e. “God”). Therefore, the lexical dictionaries define THEOTES as “the state of being god” (Thayers), or more simply “divinity” (Strong’s). An honest translation would have been, “the fullness of divinity dwells bodily.” Look at some other noncorrupt translations:

KJV — Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily
ESV — Col 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily
YLT — Col 2:9 because in him doth tabernacle all the fulness of the Godhead bodily
BBE — Col 2:9 For in him all the wealth of God’s being has a living form

It’s no wonder why the author of Hebrews calls Jesus the “the exact representation of his very being” (Heb 1:3, NWT). How can one be the exact representation of God’s being without sharing the very same divinity? Angels don’t share God’s divinity. Therefore, Jesus can’t be Michael the Archangel, as the Watchtower attempted to advocate in the past [3]. Hebrews 1 refutes such an argument, claiming Jesus is superior to every angel. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the very state of Godhood resided in the person of Jesus Christ.

Your elders may argue, “He’s called the Son of God, not God”. First of all, He is called God in various places, as this paper has shown. Yet, the translators have deceptively removed such references. And yes, Jesus is called the “Son of God” in some places, yet even the Pharisees correctly understood the implications of that. Think about genetics – children have the same genetic makeup as their parents. This is why “the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Of course, God is also our Father, as we are also called sons of God. Nevertheless, our being sons of God is only by our identification with The Son of God.

Violation of Universal Grammatical Rules

Now let us move on to the fifth problem. The NWT has blatantly falsified two very important verses that clearly identify Jesus as God. Here they are:

NWT	English Standard Version
Titus 2:13 while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of [the] Savior of us, Christ Jesus.	Titus 2:13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith, held in equal privilege with ours, by the righteousness of our God and [the] Savior Jesus Christ:	2 Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

You’ll notice that the NWT translators insert a bracketed article “the” before the word “Savior” in both verses. This is grammatically wrong, as there is no article in the Greek and, according to the Granville Sharp’s rule, no article can be added in translation. Basically, the Granville Sharp’s rule states that when you have two nouns, which are not proper names (such as Cephas, or Paul, or Timothy), which are describing a person, and the two nouns are connected by the word “and,” and the first noun has the article (“the“) while the second does not, *both nouns are referring to the same person*.

In the two texts above, this rule is demonstrated by the words “God” and “Savior“. “God” has the article, it is followed by the word for “and,” and the word “Savior” does not have the article. Hence, both nouns are being applied to the same person, Jesus Christ. This rule is exceptionless. One must argue solely on theological grounds against these passages. There is truly no real grammatical objection that can be raised. This is yet another clear instance of NWT deception. It’s funny how the NWT translators argue for the indefinite article ‘a’ in John 1:1 in the absence of a definite article, yet here they argue for the definite article ‘the’ in the absence of a definite article.

Adding “Son” where there is no “Son”

Finally, let me share with you the sixth major problem with the NWT translation. This issue is one of the most deceptive of them all. Acts 20:28 is a passage that irrefutably teaches the deity of Jesus Christ. The KJV correctly translates the Greek phrase δια του ιδιου αιματος as “with His own blood” (See table below). The verb linked to this prepositional phrase is “He purchased”, and the “He” is identified as “God”. So this shows that God shed his own blood. The NWT translators, however, added a second word that is not there. They claim that “his own” really means “his own [Son]” (notice the addition of the word ‘Son’). This is grammatically false. “His own” (Greek idiou) is an adjective that points to a noun that is already supplied – “blood” (Greek aimatos). The fact that the noun “blood” and the adjective “His own” are in the same Greek case, points to the undeniable fact that the adjective points to the supplied noun, and thus should be interpreted as “His own blood”.

NWT	KJV	GREEK
Acts 20:28 Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed YOU overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own [Son].	Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.	Acts 20:28 προσεχετε ουν εαυτοις και παντι τω ποιμνιω εν ω υμας το πνευμα το αγιον εθετο επισκοπους ποιμαινειν την εκκλησιαν του θεου ην περιεποιησατο δια του ιδιου αιματος

Not, let’s look at another verse that has the exact same Greek phrase, and you’ll see how inconsistent and deceptive they are:

NWT	KJV	GREEK
Heb 13:12 Hence Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate.	Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.	Heb 13:12 διο και ιησους ινα αγιαση δια του ιδιου αιματος τον λαον εξω της πυλης επαθεν

Wow! As you can see, they correctly interpreted this instance as “with his own blood”, because it applies to “Jesus”. So they didn’t have a theological problem with it. But when it applied to “God” in Acts 20:28, they couldn’t let the Bible disagree with their theology, so they fudged it to say “with the blood of his own [Son].” Don’t let them deceive you. The NWT is a corrupt translation!

The Jehovah/Jesus Connection

Now, let us proceed to what I believe is the strongest evidence for Christ’s deity; the fact that many passages in the New Testament directly apply Old Testament Jehovah (YHWH) passages to Jesus Christ. Let us first look at the famous passage concerning the coming of Elijah:

Isaiah 40:3 Listen! Someone is calling out in the wilderness: “Clear up the way of Jehovah, YOU people! MAKE the highway for our God through the desert plain straight. (NWT)

In Matthew’s Gospel we find Jesus claiming that John the Baptist fulfilled this role of the coming Elijah before the Day of the Lord:

Matthew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Ju·de´a, 2 saying: “REPENT, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” 3 This, in fact, is the one spoken of through Isaiah the prophet in these words: “Listen! Someone is crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of Jehovah, YOU people! Make his roads straight.’” (NWT)

Matthew 11:13 For all, the Prophets and the Law, prophesied until John; 14 and if YOU want to accept it, He himself is ‘E·li´jah who is destined to come.’ (NWT)

So if Elijah is the forerunner of Jehovah, and John the Baptist is that Elijah (in some sense), then who is Jehovah? This is not a trick question. We know that John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ:

John 1:29 The next day he beheld Jesus coming toward him, and he said: “See, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, Behind me there comes a man who has advanced in front of me, because he existed before me. (NWT)

So we see that Jesus is being identified as Jehovah, who John the Baptist (Elijah) was preparing the way for.

Let’s move to another example. Remember in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah saw the glory of Jehovah?

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uz·zi´ah died I, however, got to see Jehovah, sitting on a throne lofty and lifted up, and his skirts were filling the temple. (NWT)

Jehovah then commissioned Isaiah to go to the Jews and close their eyes and ears:

Isaiah 6:8 And I began to hear the voice of Jehovah saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I proceeded to say: “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he went on to say: “Go, and you must say to this people, ‘Hear again and again, O men, but do not understand; and see again and again, but do not get any knowledge.’ 10 Make the heart of this people unreceptive, and make their very ears unresponsive, and paste their very eyes together, that they may not see with their eyes and with their ears they may not hear, and that their own heart may not understand and that they may not actually turn back and get healing for themselves.” (NWT)

Now look at John 12, and you’ll find that John specifically quotes this text in reference to the blindness of Israel at the time of Jesus’ ministry:

John 12:37 Jesus spoke these things and went off and hid from them. 37 But although he had performed so many signs before them, they were not putting faith in him, 38 so that the word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled which he said: “Jehovah, who has put faith in the thing heard by us? And as for the arm of Jehovah, to whom has it been revealed?” 39 The reason why they were not able to believe is that again Isaiah said: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and he has made their hearts hard, that they should not see with their eyes and get the thought with their hearts and turn around and I should heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him. 42 All the same, many even of the rulers actually put faith in him, but because of the Pharisees they would not confess [him], in order not to be expelled from the synagogue; (NWT)

Notice especially verse 41. John claims that Isaiah saw “his” glory. Who did Isaiah see in Isaiah 6:1? Jehovah! Who is the “him” in John’s passage? “Him” in verse 37 and verse 42 is Jesus Christ! So the “Him” sandwiched between them in verse 41 is also Jesus Christ. Thus we have yet another example where the New Testament writers understand Jesus to be Jehovah!

The book of Revelation also explicitly identifies Jesus with Jehovah.

Rev 1:7 Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him. Yes, Amen. 8 “I am the Al’pha and the O·me’ga,” says Jehovah God, “the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.” (NWT)

Notice it says He is “coming with the clouds”. Who is coming with the clouds? Jesus, the “pierced” one. The only “coming” one described anywhere in the New Testament is Jesus (e.g. Mt 24:30). Then we see in verse 8 that the same “coming” one is also called the “Alpha and Omega”. The Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet, respectively. Therefore, this person is claiming to be the first and the last. Who is the first and the last? Turn to Isaiah 44:6 – “This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and the Repurchaser of him, Jehovah of armies, ‘I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no God” (NWT). Jehovah is the first and the last, and there are no gods other than Him. Therefore, the NWT translators mistranslated KURIOS THEOS (Lord God) as “Jehovah God” because they see the clear connection to Isaiah 44:6. Yet by making this distinction, they create two different “coming” ones – in verse 7 the “coming” one is pierced (obviously Jesus), and in verse 8 the “coming” one is “Jehovah God”. They shoot themselves in the foot by doing this. Let me show you why by proceeding in the text:

10 By inspiration I came to be in the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a strong voice like that of a trumpet, 11 saying: “What you see write in a scroll and send it to the seven congregations, in Ephesus and in Smyrna and in Pergamum and in Thyatira and in Sardis and in Philadelphia and in Laodicea.” 12 And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me…15 and his feet were like fine copper when glowing in a furnace; and his voice was as the sound of many waters… 17 And when I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet. And he laid his right hand upon me and said: “Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (NWT)

So here we have it – John hears a voice saying, “I am the First and the Last, and the living one; and I became dead, but look! I am living forever and ever.” Again, we have already established that the “First and the Last” is Jehovah in Isaiah 44:6, and the NWT translators saw this connection as shown with their mistranslation of KURIOS THEOS in verse 7. Yet, here in verse 8 the “First and the Last” is explicitly the one who died and is now alive – Jesus Christ! The author of Revelation placed no distinction between Jehovah and Jesus. Jesus is Jehovah! This should be enough for you to immediately abandon Watchtower theology. Only someone who is closed off to truth would try to argue against this. Now, let us look elsewhere in Revelation:

Rev 22:6 And he said to me: “These words are faithful and true; yes, Jehovah the God of the inspired expressions of the prophets sent his angel forth to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. 7 And, look! I am coming quickly. Happy is anyone observing the words of the prophecy of this scroll.” (NWT)

Rev 22:12 ‘Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is. 13 I am the Al’pha and the O·me’ga, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 Happy are those who wash their robes, that the authority [to go] to the trees of life may be theirs and that they may gain entrance into the city by its gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and those who practice spiritism and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone liking and carrying on a lie.’ 16 “‘I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to YOU people of these things for the congregations. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright morning star.’(NWT)

First of all, 22:6 is yet another mistranslation of KURIOS THEOS (Lord God) to “Jehovah God”. With that established, we see that the Lord God “sent his angel forth” to announce that He is “coming quickly”. Remember, we already established that Jesus, the “pierced” one, is the coming one. Now look six verses forward at 22:12 and you see once again that the “coming one” is the “Alpha and Omega” (Jehovah in the Old Testament). So the “I am the Alpha and Omega” in verse 13 is the “Jesus” in verse 16. This is also the same as the “I” who is “coming quickly”, which we’ve already established to be Jesus the “pierced” one. Jesus is also the one who “sent my angel” (Compare 22:16 with 22:6 where Jehovah God “sent his angel”). Can it be any clearer that John the Revelator is blurring the lines between Jehovah and Jesus!

Now let us exit the book of Revelation. Another example of Jehovah being identified with Jesus is in the idea of calling upon the name of the Lord. The King James version is consistent in translating Kurios as “Lord”:

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord (KURIOS) Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (KJV)

Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord (KURIOS) over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (KURIOS) shall be saved (KJV).

The NWT, however, deceptively translates Kurios in verse 13 as “Jehovah”, because it is a quote about Jehovah in Joel 2:32 – “And it must occur that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe” (NWT). They then inconsistently translate Kurios in verses 9 and 12 as “Lord”, as the KJV does. That is quite deceptive! Paul is making it clear that the same Kurios that we are to confess with our “mouth” is the same Lord we “call upon” in verse 13, and His name is Jesus!

Let’s look at another passage which invokes the phrase “call upon the name of the Lord” and specifically ties it to Jehovah in the Old Testament:

NWT	King James Version
Acts 2:21 And everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.”’	Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord [Kurios] shall be saved.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Naz·a·rene, a man publicly shown by God to YOU through powerful works and portents and signs that God did through him in YOUR midst, just as YOU yourselves know…	22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know…
25 For David says respecting him, ‘I had Jehovah constantly before my eyes; because he is at my right hand that I may never be shaken.	25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord [Kurios] always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for a certainty that God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom YOU impaled.”	36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord [Kurios] and Christ.

Acts 2:21 is part of a quote directly from the Old Testament passage Joel 2:28-32, which is directly speaking of calling on Jehovah. So it should not surprise us to see that the NWT translators once again substitute the word “Jehovah” for the Greek word Kurios here (as in verse 25 as well). This deceives the reader to not see the connection Peter is trying to make. The truth is, Peter is applying the same Kurios in verse 21 and 25 to Jesus Christ in verse 36. Jesus is that Kurios! The whole sermon is about Jesus Christ and His identity as that Lord. It doesn’t oscillate between Jehovah and Jesus. Peter specifically says that “David speaketh concerning Him” (v25). Who is “Him”? Him is “Jesus of Nazareth” (v22). What did David say about “Him”? Let’s look up the reference Peter makes from the Old Testament:

Psa 16:8 I have set the LORD [Heb. YHWH] always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

So there we have it. “Him” is Jesus (New Testament). “Him” is Jehovah (Old Testament). In the New Testament, Jehovah is interpreted in Greek as Kurios, which is directly applied to the Lord Jesus Christ!

My final text to evaluate in this category is from Philippians 2:

Philippians 2:5 Keep this mental attitude in YOU that was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although he was existing in God’s form, gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to God. 7 No, but he emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men. (NWT)

What is Paul’s point in Philippians 2? Isn’t he exhorting us to humble ourselves in a manner similar to Christ’s, Who, instead of considering His equality with God, humbly became a man? Many JW’s claim that Jesus was only a “form” of God, and not God Himself. Yet, notice the parallels between “God’s form” in verse 6 and “slave’s form” in verse 7. Was Jesus only the “form” of a slave, or did He truly become a servant of mankind? Hopefully you would agree the latter is true. You must then admit that being “God’s form” is synonymous with being God. We must be consistent with terms, especially when parallelism is involved. When we do so, we clearly see that this passage is calling Jesus God! When Thomas saw him risen from the dead, he cried out, “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Jesus is not “a god” because there is only “one God” (Isa 44:6). He is not “a Lord” because there is only “one Lord” (Eph 4:5). No, He is God and He is Lord. Now let’s continue in Philippians 2:

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Notice that Paul is speaking of every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that Jesus is Lord. Let’s see where Paul is quoting from in the Old Testament:

Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

The “I” in Isaiah 45:23 is Jehovah. So again we find a passage about Jehovah applied directly to Jesus in the New Testament. I don’t know how someone could possibly explain this away. Perhaps you would try to assert that when we bow to Jesus, the glory is ultimately directed to Jehovah. But that’s not what it says. Paul specifically says that we bow to the name of Jesus, while Isaiah says “unto Me [Jehovah] every knee shall bow.” Isaiah never mentions a “middle man”. In fact, Jehovah jealously says “there is none else”! If Jesus is not identified with Jehovah, then we are bowing to a false God.

Thank you so much for reading through all of this. I really care about your progress in the things of the Lord. It is so easy to be deceived on theological issues when you’re handed a Bible that is deceptive (The NWT). Without a background in Greek and Hebrew, you are at the mercy of the translators. Now that you have this information, you need to do something with it. You need to do your homework. With light comes responsibility. Be a Berean. Challenge your elders. Contact me with any questions.

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References

[1] From the Pursuer’s Proof of the cross-examination held on Wednesday, November 24, 1954, p. 7, paragraphs A-B. Examining Fred W. Franz, vice-president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and sent as representative of the Society and the Translation Committee.

[2] Pliny, the Younger. The Letters of Pliny the Younger. New York :G. E. Stechert, 1936. Sections 7-10.

[3] The Watchtower, February 15, 1979, p.31