Examining Watchtower basic Teaching - #4 Who is Jesus Christ?

What Does the Bible Really Teach?

Chapter 4 -- Who is Jesus Christ?
The book says: 

It is important to know Jesus Christ and whether he was just a man, or a prophet, or God, as some say. Why? Quoting the Bible the book says “This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God and the one whom you sent Jesus Christ”. Then, in the very next sentence, the Watchtower writers say this promises “everlasting life on a paradise earth”.  

The Bible foretold the coming of a Messiah or Christ -- the “anointed one”. According to the NT accounts, the disciples of Jesus recognised him as the Christ, promised by God in the OT. 

While baptising Jesus, John saw a sign from heaven, indicating that this was the Messiah. The booklet says that, on “that day, Jesus became the Messiah”. 

Jesus came from heaven. “He is called “the firstborn of all creation” for he was God’s first creation”. “Jesus is also the only one whom God used when He created all other things”. Jesus is called “the Word”. 

Jesus is not equal to God because he was created. The Son is “the image of the invisible God”. The heavenly Son’s life was transferred into the womb of a Jewish virgin named Mary and he was born as a human on earth. The Gospels tell us about Jesus, his teachings and his works on earth. “Under the power of God’s spirit”, he performed miracles of healing.  

Jesus died “nailed to a stake…… on the third day after Jesus died, his heavenly Father resurrected him back to spirit life”. Jesus’ death opened the way for us to have eternal life on a paradise earth.

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My response:

There are some serious differences from Christian teaching in this chapter, but a newcomer to the Bible would not know that. If you had actually read the NT, you would perceive some of the error of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I shall direct you to several passages which will let you decide for yourself who is telling the truth. 

You will have to make up your own mind whether the prophecies concerning Jesus are true. By reading the Gospels alone, you will probably see that this Jesus is a very special and unusual character. If the testimony of many witnesses is true about his teaching and the miracles he performed, even raising the dead, he is certainly the promised Christ - even God in the flesh - and not “just a man” as the Watchtower teaches.  

I have shown you one example already of the Watchtower adding to the Bible’s message. It also changes the Bible, as you will now see.  

The Watchtower Society publishes its own version of the Bible, the New World Translation, to fit in with its doctrines. As we saw earlier, the “name” Jehovah has been added to the NT 237 times, replacing the Greek word for “Lord”.  

Look at Matthew’s gospel and read the first few complete chapters. These tell the story of Jesus’ birth.
Notice especially Matthew 1:23 (I am using the Watchtower’s own literal Greek to English version again):  

“Look! The virgin in belly will have and will give birth to son and they will call the name of him Immanuel; which is being translated With us the God”.   (this is a prophecy from Isaiah 7:14).

 

Now look at Luke’s version and read the first few chapters. You will see that Jesus’ birth is announced by angels to shepherds. Notice in chapter 2 v11 it says,  

“because was born to you today Saviour who is Christ Lord in city of David” .

 

So, on the day of his birth, Jesus was the Christ and not, as the Watchtower teaches, 30 years later, on the day of his baptism. 

If that is not bad enough, the next few paragraphs completely change what the Bible says (“God‘s Word“ say the Watchtower leaders).  

Look at Colossians. Read Chapter 1 especially from verses 13-20.
In the Watchtower’s New World Translation, there are brackets around the word “other”, indicating a “clarification” (change!), but in their latest, Revised edition, these brackets have been removed, leaving the added word “other” in the text. 

Reading from verse 15:

 

“who is image of the God the invisible firstborn of all creation [16] because in him it was created all in the heavens and upon the earth the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or governments or authorities; the all through him and into him it has been created; [17] and he is before all and the all in him it has stood together”.

 

So, ALL things were created by Jesus, not just “all [other] things”. And he WAS (he existed) "before all".

 

Notice another important point: the word “firstborn” is a title referring to inheritance. It does not mean “the first child born”. We know this because several Bible characters who were definitely not the oldest child were called “the firstborn”, King David, Jacob and Joseph among them. So, why do the Watchtower leaders link “firstborn” and “first creation”? 

Now look at John’s gospel, the very first verse. Here is another example of deliberate mistranslation by Watchtower leaders. Their version of John 1:1 reads “the Word was a god”. Compare the literal text:

 

“In beginning was the Word and the Word was toward the God and God was the Word”.

 

Why have they changed this? 

Watchtower leaders teach that Jesus died on a “torture stake”, not a cross. We shall return to this later, but if you are still asking questions and using Google, it should be easy for you to find out about the Romans’ preferred method of execution of criminals. 

Jesus was resurrected. This is a key teaching of Christianity. But who resurrected him? Look at John chapter 2. Read the whole chapter, but especially verses 19-21:

 

“Answered Jesus and said to them, Loose you the divine habitation this, and in three days I shall raise up it. [20] Said therefore the Jews, Forty and six to years was built the divine habitation this, and you in three days will raise up it? [21] That but was saying about the divine habitation of the body of him”.

 

So, Jesus raised himself, his own body, from the dead which isn’t really difficult to understand, if we accept that he is more than “just a man” or in fact, God in man, Immanuel. This also helps us understand how Jesus could perform miracles. 

Again, the Chapter ends with the promise of life on a paradise earth, but there are conditions attached to this Watchtower promise.


Further reading:
A Very Short Introduction: Jesus by Richard Baukham (Oxford University Press)

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