hi...i have come across the jw text that says that "The Word was a god" john 1:1...who is that "god"? another god? is him jesus?... i am not a jw and it doesn't make sense that they believe in one God and that there is no other gods but they own bible said that there is a god besides Jehova God...can a jw witness clarify my confusion?....also answer this question...what characteristics/power/stuff/etc someone has to have to be God?....thanks...
is jesus a god?
by javig 304 Replies latest watchtower bible
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sd-7
If you research the article referenced by the book Reasoning From the Scriptures about this issue--in the Journal of Biblical Literature, "Qualitative Anarthous Predicate Nouns" by Philip B. Harner, you will see that this rendering of John 1:1 as "the Word was a god" is simply not correct. It does not adequately convey the sense of the Greek language. The Word could not have been "God" in that verse, as it would then contradict that fact that he was WITH God. John means to convey that the Word has the same NATURE as God. Although, as the Son, he is in a subordinate position to the Father, his nature, THEOS in the original Greek, is the same as the Father's. Having been born directly from the Father, he retains the divine nature just as humans have human nature due to being born from other humans. Hope that helps.
SD-7
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Deputy Dog
Welcome javig
i am not a jw and it doesn't make sense that they believe in one God and that there is no other gods but they own bible said that there is a god besides Jehova God...can a jw witness clarify my confusion?....
This site has mostly XJWs who mostly agree with you. If you really want an answer a lie you need to ask the WT
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yesidid
This site has mostly EXJWs who mostly agree with you.
The first part of that statement is correct.
However I doubt that most ex JWs agree with the trinity.
It seems to me only a small percentage go on to be members of another Christian religion.
Many become athiests and many retain a belief in God but still dont accept the trinity.
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Deputy Dog
yesidid
However I doubt that most ex JWs agree with the trinity.
I never said they become trinitarians
But most agree they don't make much sense
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JosephMalik
John means to convey that the Word has the same NATURE as God.
Sd-7,
And does that mean that the Angels or not the same NATURE as God? They appear before God as well like the Word did. And instead of saying that John means to convey something about the NATURE of God, could it be that John was simply conveying the fact that the Word was being made God to the human race he created as the verses were provided for them? He was given authority over the human race and would be shown by John as looking out for it. That is after all what John is talking about when he traced our life back to its source and completed the genealogy lists given in Matt. And Luke. And his disciples acknowledged this fact, Joh 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God which in verse 31 explained that such use meant the Christ the Son of God. This human Son standing before Thomas, the way Adam should have been if he did not sin. So does this make two God’s when the authority that God has is passed to another to perform this task for him? No! Why! Because the title God is not a personal identity. Applying this word to someone else like the WORD that was with God does not make them the Supreme Being. Heavy use of it to the Supreme Being tends to make us think that it does but the word God can be used of others without making two God’s or another Supreme Being. In fact since it was used for Moses. the Kings of Israel, Judges of Israel, and even the Devil, and we do not think of them as the Supreme Being our Lord could use it in his defense when they tried to stone him. If we believe the scriptures that teach that there is only one God, Jas 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” well then maybe it is time to rethink such other uses of this word in scripture that do not violate this truth. We do not step on one truth to make another because of such use of this word in the text. To put it another way: 2Jo 1:3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. You see that is another truth that does not support the concept to three persons needed to make up this one God.
Joseph
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jonathan dough
John means to convey that the Word has the same NATURE as God.
Sd-7,
And does that mean that the Angels or not the same NATURE as God? They appear before God as well like the Word did. And instead of saying that John means to convey something about the NATURE of God, could it be that John was simply conveying the fact that the Word was being made God to the human race he created as the verses were provided for them? He was given authority over the human race and would be shown by John as looking out for it. That is after all what John is talking about when he traced our life back to its source and completed the genealogy lists given in Matt. And Luke. And his disciples acknowledged this fact, Joh 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God which in verse 31 explained that such use meant the Christ the Son of God. This human Son standing before Thomas, the way Adam should have been if he did not sin. So does this make two God’s when the authority that God has is passed to another to perform this task for him? No! Why! Because the title God is not a personal identity. Applying this word to someone else like the WORD that was with God does not make them the Supreme Being. Heavy use of it to the Supreme Being tends to make us think that it does but the word God can be used of others without making two God’s or another Supreme Being. In fact since it was used for Moses. the Kings of Israel, Judges of Israel, and even the Devil, and we do not think of them as the Supreme Being our Lord could use it in his defense when they tried to stone him. If we believe the scriptures that teach that there is only one God, Jas 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” well then maybe it is time to rethink such other uses of this word in scripture that do not violate this truth. We do not step on one truth to make another because of such use of this word in the text. To put it another way: 2Jo 1:3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. You see that is another truth that does not support the concept to three persons needed to make up this one God.
Joseph
This is completely false and they know it. Very few so-called Christians believe this, a tiny fraction, so don't be mislead. The Trinity doctrine is very logical and well thought out. The problem with the JWs, and it's a big one, is they don't think very deeply about these things. Very superficial arguments. If you lack a formal education they will take advantage of you. They are not Bible scholars in the real meaning of the word. They don't even come close when you compare their theology with the great Christian theologians of the past 2,000 years.
Go here and spend a little time understanding that "a god" is a false interpretation. Jesus was, and is, God. More specifically God-man.
http://144000.110mb.com/trinity/index.html
http://144000.110mb.com/trinity/index-5.html#20
http://144000.110mb.com/trinity/index-6.html#29
The fullness of the Godhead dwells inseparably in Jesus - (Colossians 2:9); He is the very imprint of God’s being - (Hebrews 1:3)
Colossians 2:9 is convincing evidence of the divinity of Christ. It states of Christ that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Green’s Literal Translation). The Greek word for “Godhead” is theotes and means divinity. It “stresses deity, the state of being God (Strong and Vine’s, 115). It is to be distinguished from theiotes which refers to the attributes of God, his divine nature and properties and it is this definition which the Jehovah's Witnesses incorrectly attach to Col 2:9 when they claim that the Godhead there merely refers to His “divine qualities” (Reasoning, 420). This is manifestly incorrect according to Strong and Vine’s, and what the Jehovah's Witnesses are actually doing is swapping theiotes for theotes. Regarding the Godhead (theotes) at Colossians 2:9:
In Col 2:9, Paul is declaring that in the Son there dwells all the fullness of absolute Godhead; they were no mere rays of divine glory which gilded him, lighting up His Person for a season and with a splendor not His own; but He was, and is, absolute and perfect God; and the apostle uses theotes to express this essential and personal Godhead of the Son. Theotes indicates the divine essence of Godhood, the personality of God; (Strong and Vines, 114). [Theotes] stresses deity, the state of being God. (ibid, 115).
(Theiotes, on the other hand), … refers to the attributes of God, His divine nature and properties. (Strong and Vine’s, 114)
The Jehovah's Witnesses argue that “[b]eing truly “divinity,” or of “divine nature,” does not make Jesus as the Son of God coequal and coeternal with the Father, any more than humans are coequal or all the same age just because they share humanity or human nature” (Reasoning, 421). But that is not necessarily true. If all persons share humanity it does make them all human, and they are all equally “human.” One person is not more or less human than another. So, if the inevitability of death is one aspect of humanity, then all humans die, all are mortal; they are equal in that regard. Similarly, if divinity inherently includes an eternal nature, and Jesus and God are divine, of the same essence (consubstantial), then both are eternal.
Actually, the Jehovah's Witnesses’ comparison of Jesus with all humans who share humanity is another flawed analogy because Jesus doesn’t share God at all like humans have a share in humanity. Jesus is fully God, and not somehow made God by virtue of the hypostatic union.
At Hebrews 1:3 Christ is said to be “the very imprint of His (God’s) being” (NAB) (“the very stamp of his nature” (RS) (“the express image of His substance” (Strong and Vine’s, 269). The Greek word used here for image, stamp or imprint is charaktar and means an exact copy or representation, and stresses complete, not partial, similarity of essence.
(2) In the NT it is used metaphorically in Heb 1:3, of the Son of God as “the express image of His substance.” The phrase expresses the fact that the Son “is both personally distinct from, and yet literally equal to, Him of whose essence He is the imprint. The Son of God is not merely his “image” (His character), He is the “image” or impress of His substance, or essence. It is the fact of complete similarity which this word stresses. (Strong and Vine’s, 269)
Accordingly, such equality applies to His eternal existence, omnipotence and omniscient nature, as God and the Word are literally equal to each other with respect to their essential being.
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designs
Superstition reigns...........get out the juju beads and the prayer wheels
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javig
Thanks for welcoming me
...Having been born directly from the Father, he retains the divine nature just as humans have human nature due to being born from other humans. Hope that helps.
SD-7 ....i hope you SD-7 not saying that God the Father gave birth to God the Son (Jesus) and because of that he obtain a Divine nature...Jesus never obtain or inherit a divine due to his birth...He always had, before incarnation and after incarnation, will have His divine nature...Incarnation teaches that God himself became flesh, in human form...not that he obtain or inherit that Divine nature due to his birth...If you are not saying that, then i understand your point that Jesus, the Son, has the same nature as the Father. Just becareful choosing your words...
If you are a Jw your explanation needs more explanation. why? Jesus, the Word, is not subordinate to the Father in the sense of being less or inferior to the Father. He is subordinate in the sense of been obedient and humble to the Father. He doesnt have to be superior or inferior to the Father becuase He has the same Divine nature as the Father. The fact that he was born doesn't make him inferior or superior. That was the way God, Jehova, Jesus choosed to show Himself to humanity and the only way to save humanity from the course of sin....
I do believe in the Trinity. Why? simple, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, have the same Divine nature and have exactly the same attributes of God. All of them can Create, all knowing, all powerful, etc...I cant fully explain the trinity the same way i cant explain how electricity works or the relationship between the mind and the brain, but God has show us enough proof to be able to aprehend his Nature...and the fact that i cant explain something doesn't mean is not truth nor real....1 Timothy 3:14-15, John 10:30, john 14:8-11, Hebrews 1:1-14, Revelation 1:1-8....read the context because is then 2nd key(after the Holy Spirit) of understanding scriptures...( Biblical Hermeneutics) not the WT organization and their publications.
If you SD-7 are not a jw then praise our LORD JESUS CRHIST OUR SAVIOUR....
i know this topic of the Trinity is very controversial to jw but what is more controversila is that they twist, ommit, and dont considers other scriptures before printing their teachings. Like i said. i am not a Jw and i have tried to understand thier logic and teachings but always have more questions. If there is no Hell what is the purpose of living a godly life? but if i dont live a godly life God is going to annihilate me becuase i did not please him? why even bother to live a godly life when there is no hell and i will be annihilate? Can i really please Him and fullfill his perfect and holy laws? If i even fullfill his perfect laws can i be saved? If there is no Hell then there is no evil or devil? But Mathew 25:41. Hell is the place that God prepared for the devil. If jesus said Hell is a real prepared eternal place for the devil and his angels then why the Jw has the audacity to contradict Jesus?....and i have a more question about those jw beleivers that will spend eternity in paradise and others in heaven...but that will be in another session...
thanks to any jw that is reading and critically thinking about this issues. This is not who have more knowledge or understand the bible better. This is about having an open heart and mind to the Word of God and letting His words transform us to His image because we as beleivers are a new creation in Jesus Christ 2 corinthin 5:17....AMEN