Jehovah's
Witnesses, based on their
own publications (such as The Watchtower, Insight on the
Scriptures, and Reasoning from the Scriptures), have a unique
doctrine of the nature of God, distinct from both
Trinitarianism and Oneness, but with some commonalities with the idea
of a family or multi-member God, though they do not go
so far as to speak of a developing "divine family."
Here I
summarize their key teaching and how it might or might not fit with what we see in the Bible:
1. Jehovah:
One God, the Father
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that:
·
Jehovah
is the personal name of God,
and He is one.
·
He is the
Almighty Creator, eternal and without equal.
·
They absolutely
reject the doctrine of the Trinity.
“Jehovah is not part of a trinity. He is the only true God.”
(Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 405)
✅ This
is consistent with the Bible, which shows God the Father as
the supreme Being (John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6).
️ 2. The
Holy Spirit: is not a person, but the active power of God
·
For them, the
Holy Spirit is not a divine person, but the active
power or force of God, an impersonal energy that God uses to
act in the world.
“The Holy Spirit is not a person, but the power of God in action.”
( Insight , vol. II, p. 1127)
✅ This view is consistent with the Bible since it never presents the Holy Spirit as a separate being.
✝ ️ 3. Jesus Christ: a created being, the
Son of God, inferior to the Father
This is
where they most deviate from the idea of a divine family composed of
beings of divine and eternal nature:
·
Jesus, according
to them, is not God (nor part of a Trinity).
·
He was the
first being created by Jehovah —they identify the pre-existent Jesus
as the archangel Michael.
·
Jesus was begotten
by God (not incarnated as God Himself), and although he has great
authority, he is inferior to the Father.
“Jesus is a powerful spirit being in heaven, but inferior to Jehovah.”
( Reasoning , p. 213)
❌ Here they
do not agree with the biblical testimony that presents the Son as
eternal, preexistent, glorified with the Father before creation (John
17:5), and as God with God in John 1:1. Hebrews 1 also makes
it clear that he is not an angel, and that angels
worship him.
4. Human
beings: may be adopted children of God, but only 144,000 will go to heaven
·
For Jehovah's
Witnesses, only 144,000 people are begotten by the Spirit and become
spiritual children of God who will live with Him in
heaven.
·
The rest of the
faithful will live in a paradise Earth under the rule of
Christ and the 144,000.
·
They do
not believe that all believers are called to be glorified children like Jesus.
❌ This idea
artificially limits God's plan, according to the Bible. Texts
like Romans 8:14-23 or Hebrews 2:10-11 show
that adoption as children is open to all who are led
by God's Spirit, without numerical restrictions.
COMPARATIVE
SUMMARY
|
Issue |
Bible (family vision) |
Jehovah's Witnesses |
|
God the Father |
Supreme,
unique, eternal |
Equal |
|
Jesus |
Eternal, divine Son,
with the Father from the beginning |
Created being,
Archangel Michael |
|
Holy Spirit |
Spirit or power of
God, not person |
Equal |
|
Trinity |
Rejected |
Rejected |
|
Family plan |
God wants many
glorified children like Jesus |
Only 144,000 as
heavenly children |
|
Kingdom of God |
Growing divine
family |
Heavenly government
with Christ and 144,000 |
CONCLUSION
Jehovah's
Witnesses are right to reject
the Trinity and to understand that the Holy Spirit is not a
third person, but they excessively limit the nature of Christ by
considering him a created being, and they restrict the plan of
spiritual adoption to only a few.
His vision is
partially consistent with what the Bible teaches, but does not
reach the depth of the biblical model that presents:
·
An eternal
Father,
·
a glorified,
divine, preexistent Son,
· a Spirit proceeding from God as His energy-God's power- that engenders more spiritual children,
·
and an eternal
purpose of expanding His Family with many children in His image.
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