Many persons today deny that Jesus Christ is
God. Some are willing to concede that He may be "a
god", but not God Almighty. Some believe that Jesus
is the Son of God only, a lesser created personage,
forever inferior to the Father God. This is the
belief of groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses
and others like them.
While teaching that Jesus is Jehovah, the
Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day
Saints) believe that Jesus is one of a plurality of
gods, and Jehovah is not the Father. Mormons hope
to be gods themselves one day.
Eastern Hinduistic religions which have spread
to the West allow for Jesus to be "a god" along
with their gurus, and followers also hope to be
gods one day.
We therefore turn to the Bible as our reliable
guide - the only book that has proven itself to be
historically correct - the only book that has
accurately foretold events that have proven to be
true - the only book God has given to man,
"inspired of God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction..." (2 Timothy 3:16)
Let's let the Bible answer the question "could
Jesus be 'a god' or is He God Almighty?"
ONLY ONE TRUE
ETERNAL GOD
According to the Bible, there is only ONE, TRUE,
ETERNAL GOD by nature. All others are created, and
by biblical definition, FALSE.
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the
earth; For I am GOD, and THERE IS NO OTHER."
(Isaiah 45:22).
"God is ONLY ONE." (Galatians 3:20).
"And we know that the Son of God has come and
has given us understanding, in order that we might
know HIM WHO IS TRUE, and we are in HIM WHO IS
TRUE, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is THE TRUE GOD
and eternal life." (1 John 5:20).
"You believe that GOD IS ONE, you do well; the
demons also believe, and shudder...." (James
2:19)
So, the Scriptures are clear. There is only one
true eternal God. The words ONE, TRUE, ETERNAL
indicate that all other gods outside of this one
TRUE ETERNAL ONE must be, by biblical definition,
FALSE. The other gods are also not eternal, but
created by someone.
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER
GODS?
The Bible acknowledges the existence of other
gods, but places them in categories other than the
exclusive position of the ONE TRUE GOD. These
"gods" are, without exception, CREATED AND FALSE.
They are not GOD by nature.
"However at that time, when you did not know
God, you were slaves to those which BY NATURE ARE
NO GODS." (Galatians 4:8).
"For even if there are so-called gods whether in
heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods
and many lords, yet for us there is but ONE GOD the
Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for
Him; and ONE LORD, Jesus Christ, through whom are
all things, and we exist through Him." (1
Corinthians 8:5-6).
Belief in the ONE TRUE GOD of Scripture has
always necessitated renouncing ALL OTHER GODS. The
Ten Commandments begin, "I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery. YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS
BEFORE ME... You shall not worship them or serve
them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..."
(Exodus 20:2, 3, 5).
CATEGORIES OF
"GODS" IN SCRIPTURE
Category 1 - Satanic
"We know that we are of God, and the whole world
lies in the power of the evil one." (1 John
5:19)
"...the god of this world has blinded the minds
of the unbelieving, that they might not see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:4).
It is evident, if we believe Jesus to be "a
god", He would NOT fit this category!
Category 2 - Idols
A. Carved Idols -
"And he did evil in the sight of the Lord as
Manasseh his father had done, and Amon sacrificed
to all the carved images which his father Manasseh
had made, and he served them." (2 Chronicles
33:22).
B. Molten Images -
"They shall be turned back and be utterly put to
shame who trust in idols, who say to molten images,
"you are our gods". (Isaiah 42:17)
"And do not be idolators." (1 Cor. 10:7)
If we think that Jesus is "a god", He would NOT
fit into the above category!
Category 3 -
Exaltation of Humans to
Gods
"Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written
in your Law, "I said, you are gods?" (John
10:34)
Who were called "gods" by Jesus? It was the
judges who ruled Israel before the days of the
Kings. These judges had the power of life and death
over the people, and were called "gods".
Were they true gods or false gods? Psalm 82
tells us in verses 1 and 2,
"God takes His stand in His own con-gregation;
He judges in the midst of the rulers. How long will
you judge unjustly and show partiality to the
wicked?"
Yes, God's judgement awaited these
men-"gods".
"I said, "You are gods, and all of you are sons
of the Most High. Nevertheless you will die like
men..." (Psalm 82:6-7).
No exalted man is a true god, but a false one.
Do not be deceived by the same lie Satan told Eve
in the garden of Eden...
"...You will be like God (or, "as gods") knowing
good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)
The teaching that any man can become a god is
unscriptural. GOD has an exclusive on godship. If
we think Jesus is "a god", we see that we cannot
place Him in this category of corrupt men.This
concludes the biblical categories of "gods". Jesus
fits NONE of them.
Jesus is NOT "a
god"
COULD JESUS BE
THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL?
The Archangel Michael is specifically mentioned
in three books of the Bible; Daniel, Jude and
Revelation.
"Michael, one of the chief princes" (Daniel
10:13)
"Michael your prince" (Daniel 10:21)
"Now at that time Michael the great prince who
stands guard over the sons of your people." Daniel
12:1
Notice that Michael is just "one of the chief
princes" - not unique at all. Michael is obviously
a stong guardian angel, and nothing more is implied
in Daniel. On to Jude.
"But Michael the archangel, when he disputed
with the devil and argued about the body of Moses,
did not dare pronounce against him a railing
judgement, but said "the Lord rebuke you." (Jude
9)
This Scripture proves that Jesus is not the
Archangel Michael since Jesus repeatedly rebuked
the devil (Matthew 17:18, Mark 9:25 etc.), while
Michael did not dare rebuke the devil.
"And there was war in heaven, Michael and his
angels waging war with the dragon." (Revelation
12:7)
Again we see an archangel in charge of angels.
Michael is Michael just as Gabriel is Gabriel. All
the angels of God are commanded to worship Jesus in
Hebrews 1:6. If Jesus is the archangel Michael then
we are stuck with angels worshipping an archangel.
No Scripture says Jesus is Michael and so Jesus in
NOT Michael the Archangel.
IS JESUS CREATED OR
THE CREATOR?
The following Scriptures are used in an attempt
to prove Jesus' "creation".
"and He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation." (Colossians 1:15)
The word in Greek for "first-created" is
"protoktistos". This term is NOT used in connection
with Jesus. The term "firstborn" means in Greek,
"Preeminence in rank". Christ was preeminent
before all creation and is therefore the Creator.
Read John 1:3-4 and Colossians 1:16-17. "...the
beginning of the creation of God says this"
(Revelation 3:14)
The word "beginning" in Greek means
"Supervisor", "Designer", "Origin", "Source". Jesus
is the Creator.
The term "only begotten" referring to Jesus
occurs in John 1:14, 18; 3:16-18; Hebrews 11:17;
and 1 John 4:9. This term has no application to the
time of Jesus' so-called "creation", but Acts 13:33
applies it to the time of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ...
"that God has fulfilled this promise to our
children in that HE RAISED UP JESUS, as it
is also written in the second Psalm, "Thou are my
Son; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN THEE."
Jesus is nowhere in Scripture spoken of as being
created - rather He is called "eternal". "Eternal
Father, Mighty God" in Isaiah 9:6, and in Micah 5:2
His goings forth are from "the days of
eternity".
Jesus is NOT created
and HE IS THE CREATOR.
The Jesus of
the Bible -
Truly God,
Truly Man!
Truly, God's Blood
Purchased the Church - Acts
20:28
SUPPORT FOR THE
JOHN 1:1 TRANSLATION
"and the Word was a
god"
The New World Translation of the Jehovah's
Witnesses caused quite a stir in the religious
world when John 1:1 was translated... "and the Word
was a god".
They are not without support for this
translation, however, and we will now take a closer
look at the precedents for translating, "and the
Word was a god".
We find this important topic discussed in the
publication by the Watchtower Society of Jehovah's
Witnesses, "The Word Who is He? According to John".
On page 5 we read:
"Similar is the reading by a former Catholic
Priest: "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was a god".
We are directed to a footnote which reads,
"The New Testament -- a New Translation and
Explanation" Based on the Oldest Manuscripts, by
Johannes Greber [a translation from German into
English], edition of 1937, the front cover of
this bound translation being stamped with a gold
cross."
Likewise, we find this translation by Johannes
Greber referred to in "Make Sure of All Things
Hold Fast to What is Fine " (1965), page
489.
The Johannes Greber New Testament obviously set
a precedent for the Jehovah's Witnesses, and their
rendering of John 1:1 is almost identical.
We again find Johannes Greber quoted in "Aid
to Bible Understanding" on pages 1134 &
1669. This translation used to be available from
the Johannes Greber Memorial Foundation.
Prior to the introduction of this New Testament
by Greber, we find the following statements about
the man himself and his prayers for guidance in his
translating task...
"Prayers that were answered, and
discrepancies clarified to him, by God's Spirit
World. At times he was given the correct answers in
large illuminated letters and words passing before
his eyes. Other times he was given the correct
answers during prayer meetings. His wife, a medium
of God's Spirit World was often instrumental in
conveying the correct answers from God's Messengers
to Pastor Greber."
As we examine this New Testament further we find
constant references to God's holy spirits (plural),
and it becomes more and more obvious that we are
dealing with a man deep into spiritism. This, of
course, is forbidden by God's word. Leviticus 19:31
says, "Do not turn to mediums or spiritualists;
do not seek them out to be defiled by
them".
Johannes Greber published not only the New
Testament, but we are also told by his
foundation,
Later he translated the New Testament with the
help of God's spirit world." Late in the summer of
1923 God's holy spirits contacted Pastor Greber...
In his spare time he started to work on his book
"Communication with the Spirit World of God."
The Johannes Greber Memorial Foundation provided
a photocopy of a letter from the Watchtower Society
acknowledging receipt of not only several of his
New Testaments, but also Greber's book
"Communication with the Spirit World of God."
Why has the Watchtower Society of Jehovah's
Witnesses willingly and knowingly been in
communication with a spiritistic society?
It's true that in the April 1, 1983 Watch-tower,
page 31, under "Questions from the Readers",
the Society claims that they found out from the
1980 Edition of the New Testament by Johannes
Greber that he was involved with spiritism, and
therefore they would not quote from his bible in
the future. However, the facts are that the
Watchtower Society knew, at least from 1956, that
Johannes Greber was involved with demon spirits.
They published an article to that effect in the
Watchtower of February 15, 1956. With this
knowledge, they deliberately used his "translation"
of the bible as a basis for their "New World
Translation of the Holy Scriptures", in 1961. These
dates do not lie.
Why would the Watchtower Society knowingly
embrace a translation of John 1:1 given by demon
spirits? Every Jehovah's Witness needs to check
this out.
Continuing on with the precedents for
translating John 1:1,... "and the Word was a
god", we also find the Watchtower Society
quoting on page 5 of "The Word Who is He? According
to John".
"This reading is also found in the
"New Testament in an Improved Version", published
in London, England in 1808."
We are directed to a footnote which reads, The
title page reads: "The New Testament in An
Improved Version, upon the basis of Archbishop
Newcome's New Translation: with a Corrected Text,
and Notes Critical and Explanatory. Published by a
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and the
Practice of Virtue, by the Distribution of
Books---Unitarian."
Yes, the key word above is "UNITARIAN".
This is a cult teaching that Jesus was an
extraordinarily good man only, nothing more. A
Mr.Thos. Belsham after Archbishop Newcome's death,
altered his text. (See page 394, "Manual of
Biblical Bibliography".) This altered text
dishonoring Archbishop Newcome's careful
scholarship also provided a basis for the New World
Translation's "...and the Word was a god".
(see also the Kingdom Interlinear Translation, page
1160. 1960 Ed.)
Archbishop Newcome certainly never said, the
Word was "a god". Why would the Watchtower
use as their guide a cult denying the Biblical
Christ, and guilty of altering a reputable biblical
text? Every Jehovah's witness needs to check this
out.
A third precedent for translating John 1:1,"...
and the Word was a god" comes from the Emphatic
Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson. His translation
actually reads "the LOGOS was God". but he placed
the words "a god " under "theos" in the Greek and
English.
Yet in the alphabetical index of the Emphatic
Diaglott under the heading "Almighty" we
find, "ALMIGHTY; able to do all things; an
attribute of Deity; also of the glorified
Jesus." (Rev. 1:8)
So even the Emphatic Diaglott, which the
Watchtower printed on its own presses recognizes
that Jesus Christ is Almighty God, and correctly
applies Revelation 1:8 to Jesus. Furthermore, Mr.
Wilson never studied biblical Greek in college. He
was a follower of John Thomas, a proven false
prophet by biblical definition, and the founder of
the Christadelphians, a Christ-dishonoring
cult.
A 1998 publication from England, "The
Twenty-first Century New Testament" by Vivian Capel
surprised scholars by translating John 1:1 with the
words "a god" instead of "God", similar to the
Jehovah's Witnesses. Small wonder the promotional
material promised that this version "could be used
to convey thoughts free from the restrictions of
the original words and phrases". This work actually
has two parallel columns, one with a "literal"
translation, and one with a "free" rendering.
The author states that he spent four years on
the project. Two translations in four years! This
pales besides scholars like Dr. Randy Yeager, who
spent fifty years on his New Testament Translation
out of the original Greek, the Renaissance New
Testament. Careful scholarship takes time!
The author also felt he should do away with the
word "Logos" or "Word" in John 1:1, replacing it
with the term "Marshall", which he believes conveys
Jesus' rank. He goes so far as to call Jesus a
"field marshall" in Revelation 19:13. He reasons
that since "everything came into existence by means
of him", he "arranged or marshaled the forces and
materials supplied by the Father to create the
universe".
He thereby alters the plain teaching that Jesus
is the Creator, and replaces it with a lesser job
description! Like the Watchtower, he reduces Jesus
to a "he", small "h", again unconventional and
insulting to Christ. He refers to Jesus being
"first to be produced" in Colossians 1:15 and "the
beginning of God's creation" in Revelation
3:14.
Not surprisingly, we find "cross" replaced with
"execution stake" at Mark 8:34, and the use of the
incorrect name for God, "Jehovah", at Mark
12:28.
This "translation" does support the Jehovah's
Witnesses views, and presents cult doctrines on
Christ. Not surprisingly the author's credentials
are strangely missing from the promotional
material. Obviously an isolated "translation" which
is suspect to say the least, and to be avoided by
serious Bible Students.
Yes, all the "precedents" for translating John
1:1 "...and the Word was a god" crumble away under
close and honest scholarship.
Why would the Watchtower Society CHOOSE
precedents that are false and even demonic?
Why do they CHOOSE to ignore Greek Scholars who
are reputable? Every Jehovah's Witness needs to get
satisfactory answers to these important
questions.
Each one of us needs to settle the question, "Is
Jesus THE GOD, or "a god"? If we have the right
Jesus Christ, we are right for all eternity, but if
we have the wrong Jesus Christ then we are wrong
for all eternity.
Jehovah's Witnesses, write to us in total
confidentiality, and we will send you more biblical
information and facts you may not know about the
Watchtower Society. This is sent out to you
confidentially, with no follow up unless requested
by you.
CONCLUSION
The question on the cover of this booklet asked,
"Is Jesus 'a god'?" Based on the Scriptures, we
answer a resounding NO!
Jesus is not some false, created god, but is God
Almighty. No wonder Colossians 2:9 says, "In Him
is dwelling ALL the FULLNESS of the Godship
bodily."
All is all and full is full. Jesus is
God.
Jesus Christ is no archangel or lesser god
but as the ONE TRUE GOD referred to in 1 Timothy
1:16, 17, He can impart to us that which He
possesses, ETERNAL LIFE.
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