Do Jehovah Witnesses believe JESUS was God?

Question

I'm really only interested in hearing JW's responses on this. I'm trying to understand completely their percerption of JESUS.

Like do you view him ONLY as a prophet?
Do you view him as the Son of God, and not being God?

Would you describe Jesus as "being God?"

then...if NOT, why would you consider yourselves "Christian"?
(I could never understand the relation.)

one would assume that to classify oneself as "Christian" then you'd believe in the deity of Christ ----

(and thus, be a follower of Him)

"HannahJPaul" - does that mean they don't believe the Bible, because Jesus' prophesied birth as described in Isaiah 9:6 declares him to be "Mighty God" ...

(which really DOES support the concept that HE IS GOD.)

I honestly am interested in all of this, btw --- this is not a question of mockery...

Nobody has yet explained the indescretion regarding Isaiah 9:6 which clearly states that Jesus (a.k.a. Immanuel) will be called "Mighty God"...

If you believe the Bible, and the Bible don't lie, well ---- How can anyone refuse to acknowledge his complete deity???

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, MIGHTY GOD,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Answer 1

I studied with Jehova's witnesses but I am not one, but i know the answer to your question.
(I am Christian). Jehova's Witnesses believe that Jesus was Archangel Michael.

ta da! you go figure whree the rest falls.

:-(

Of course they consider themselve Christian but they are not. Its a cult.
Jesuschrist is the founder of Christianity, as the son of God, who specifically said to clarify the doubters "not by anyone but me shall you come to your lord God".
He is no archangel, he is the son of God, he is not of this earth even though he came to show non believers that in the flesh could perhaps understand better, that He is son of a Heavenly Father HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.

Jehova's do not believe this at all. And so if you can pls read again what Jesus said and also remember that when he was talking to the thief crucified next to Him and the thief told him and perceived He indeed was supernatural "this man has done nothing, Jesus remember me when you are in your Kingdom", Jesus replied "I tell you today you shall sit by my side in my father's Kingdom".

Now if Jehova Witnesses dont belive Jesus is the son of God they are denying all these which Christ made clear and thus is refuting that he is the son of God. If they dont believe in Christ as the son of God how can they be Christians?

They are not. And its a dangerous cult I might add, they will take your hcildren away from you and will brainwash so good others that they loose their reasoning with the facts and stray away. These is exactly what Christ warned about the end times (end times of the current system of things) "there will be a springing up of false prophets, and lovers of money".

As nice as J.W. seem to be, just as Mormons, both are cults far away from the teachigns of Christ so no, neither one religion is a Christian religion. They are cults with their own believes.
Set of instructions for teaching the public the wrong thing, and rarely do they allow women to participate in othre than being subservient.

Answer 2

linnea is wrong. jesus is the arch angel michael. nearly every faith believes that. why? an arch angel is just a leader of angels. the leader does not have to be an angel themselves. it is stated very clearly n the bible who michael is. anyone trying to think of someone else being michael is an idiot. i come from both 7da & messianic faiths & have catholic background. we all know who michael is. that is jesus.

i have also studied with JW's. & yes they do beleive he is god/son of god as well. the JW's have a lot of truth but they just like any faith do stray in many places. so far i find that the 7da's have the most truth out of the protestant faiths. the messianics are even better. they are not considered part of the protestant vs catholic battles though. we are on our own.

Answer 3

Simply put, the Bible says that he is the Son of God. Buy an Interlinear Greek Translations of the New Testament from any Bible book store and look up how many ways John spelled the word "god". Try to find any where he used the same spelling in reference to The Word and to his Father. Note, he does use the same spelling in reference to The Word, Satan, and to Men as what? God or a god? Is Satan God?

You're talking about a complicated question. Even from the stand point of the churches who teach the Trinity, they say it is beyond the understanding of simply humans.

What you have to do is look at the rest of what a religion is? As a whole, do they follow all the tenets and teachings of Christ? Do their members learn the Bible, preach the Bible, teach the Bible, and teach others how to preach and teach?

Do they rely on Gods Kingdom for the answers, or do they rely on the governments of man, while trying to force others to believe their way through the passage of laws?

Do they keep their congregations above reproach, forgiving those who ask for forgiveness and mend their ways, but expelling those who choose to commit wilful sin, regardless of how much they donate to the church?

Do encourage that all taxes on income and retail sales be paid in full?

If the Governments of Man decided to turn and destroy the churches, would the continue to thrive and grow, even doubling in their numbers, as the witnesses did under the Nazis or Communists or would they diminish in their numbers?

If it came down to following a church that places itself above the laws of God and Man, or one that lives by all the laws of God and follows all the laws of man, as long as their don’t interfere with the teachings of God and Christ, then I would think the one that believes what the Bible says, that forgiveness comes through the one and only begotten “Son” of God, than there is little choice.

Answer 4

The Bible tells of many gods and goddesses that people worshiped, including Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, and Molech. (1 Kings 11:1, 2, 5, 7) Even many people in the ancient nation of Israel once believed that Baal was the true God. So Jehovah’s prophet Elijah presented the challenge: “If Jehovah is the true God, go following him; but if Baal is, go following him.”—1 Kings 18:21.

The worship of pagan gods grouped in threes, or triads, was also common before Jesus was born. “From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity,” observed historian Will Durant. In the Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings wrote: “In Indian religion, e.g., we meet with the trinitarian group of Brahma, Siva, and Visnu; and in Egyptian religion with the trinitarian group of Osiris, Isis, and Horus.”

So there are many gods. Did early Christians acknowledge this? And did they view Jesus as Almighty God?

WHEN the apostle Paul healed a lame man in Lystra, the people shouted: “The gods have become like humans and have come down to us!” Paul they called Hermes, and his companion Barnabas, Zeus. (Acts 14:8-14) In Ephesus the silversmith Demetrius warned that if Paul was allowed to continue to preach, ‘the temple of the great goddess Artemis would be esteemed as nothing.’—Acts 19:24-28.

People in the first century—like many today—worshiped “those who are called ‘gods,’ whether in heaven or on earth.” Paul, in fact, said: “There are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’.” However, he also explained: “There is actually to us one God the Father,” and “there is one Lord, Jesus Christ.”—1 Corinthians 8:5, 6.

Although Jesus never claimed to be God, as Jehovah’s appointed ruler he is identified in Isaiah’s prophecy by the terms “Mighty God” and “Prince of Peace.” Isaiah’s prophecy adds: “To the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6, 7) So, as the “Prince”—the son of the Great King, Jehovah—Jesus will serve as Ruler of the heavenly government of “God Almighty.”—Exodus 6:3.

Yet, a person may ask, ‘In what sense is Jesus a “Mighty God,” and didn’t the apostle John say that Jesus is himself God?’ In the King James version of the Bible, John 1:1 reads: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Some argue that this means that “the Word,” who was born on earth as the baby Jesus, is Almighty God himself. Is this true?

If this verse were interpreted to mean Jesus was himself God Almighty, it would contradict the preceding statement, “the Word was with God.” Someone who is “with” another person cannot be the same as that other person. Many Bible translations thus draw a distinction, making clear that the Word was not God Almighty. For example, a sampling of Bible translations say the following: “The Word was a God,” “a god was the Word,” and “the Word was divine.”*

Bible verses that in the Greek language have a construction similar to that of John 1:1 use the expression “a god.” For example, when referring to Herod Agrippa I, the crowds shouted: ‘It is a god speaking.’ And when Paul survived a bite by a poisonous snake, the people said: “He is a god.” (Acts 12:22; 28:3-6) It is in harmony with both Greek grammar and Bible teaching to speak of the Word as, not God, but “a god.”—John 1:1.

Consider how John identified “the Word” in the first chapter of his Gospel. “The Word became flesh and resided among us,” he wrote, “and we had a view of his glory, a glory such as belongs [not to God but] to an only-begotten son from a father.” So “the Word,” who became flesh, lived on the earth as the man Jesus and was seen by people. Therefore, he could not have been Almighty God, regarding whom John says: “No man has seen God at any time.”—John 1:14, 18.

‘Why, then,’ one may ask, ‘did Thomas exclaim when seeing the resurrected Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”?’ As already noted, Jesus is a god in the sense of being divine, but he is not the Father. Jesus had just told Mary Magdalene: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.” Remember, too, why John wrote his Gospel. Three verses after the account about Thomas, John explained that he wrote so that people “may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God”—not that he is God.—John 20:17, 28, 31.

Answer 5

Son of God, and look up the definition of Christian in M-W.com. JW's preach, like Jesus commanded, unlike many religions that are so-called christians, but don't really follow all of Jesus commandments.

Biblically Jesus is a god, but not God.

Answer 6

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the things taught in the Bible about Jesus. They believe that he is the son of God, the first born of God. They believe he existed in heaven before he was born as a human on earth. They believe he is the Messiah, the propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, the king of God's kingdom, now enthroned, the head of the Christian congregation, the prophet promised.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is divine inasmuch as he existed in heaven before coming to earth. Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God Almighty, but rather that he is - just as he taught - the son of God.

All the angels are spoken of as God's sons so being a son of God does not translate to being God himself, does it? Even Adam was God's son, but Adam is never spoken of as God.

Jesus himself, time and again, made it plain by his teaching that he was not God Almighty. He taught that no man had seen God at any time; that he could not do a single thing of his own initiative; that he always did the things pleasing to God. Jesus himself referred to God as "his God". He did this while on earth, after his resurrection, and after his return to heaven.

The scriptures speak of Jesus as, among other things, presenting the value of his sacrifice to God and later, sitting at the right hand of God. When all the scriptural evidence is considered, and it must be remembered that it is cumulative, it becomes readily apparent that neither Jesus nor the scriptures teach that he is God Almighty.

There is one thing to be remembered: the scriptures teach that it is impossible for God to die. Impossible. Yet Jesus died. Some people say that only the human part of Jesus died. But it is inconsistent to insist that Jesus was fully God and fully man all at the same time, but then to suggest that only the "man part" of him died. If Jesus were God then God died. And that simply cannot be.

Hannah J Paul

Answer 7

Hi. We believe Jesus to be the only begotten son of Jehovah God. As to the scripture, it could be said Christ is a God. Notice he is not refered to as Almighty God. That title is reserved for Jehovah. Even Satan is said to be God of this wicked system, a God, so to speak, but not the Almighty.

Answer 8

Hello, I am currently a Bible student studying with Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus is the only begotton son of Jehovah God. In other words he was the first and only one created directly by God. They also believe it is only through Jesus' ransom sacrifice that mankind have the hope of everlasting life. JW's often get a negative connotation by use of the word cult. I strongly suggest researching the definition of cult by people who so freely use it to judge and condemn.

The following is a 6 page article written by Jehovah's Witnesses explaining the origins of the Trinity doctorine and why it is not believed to be scriptual.
http://www.watchtower.org/library/ti/article_04.htm

Definition of a Christian from the American Heritage Dictionary

ADJECTIVE:

Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
Relating to or derived from Jesus or Jesus's teachings.
Manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus; Christlike.
Relating to or characteristic of Christianity or its adherents.
Showing a loving concern for others; humane.
NOUN:

One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
One who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.

By definition JW's are infact Christian. They strive to live a clean Christian life as according to the scriptures. They use Jesus' perfect example on the earth as basis for their own life. They do not celebrate holidays like the example of early Christians. The only event they do celebrate is the Memorial of Jesus' death as instructed at Luke 22:19. Jehovah's Witnesses have deep love and respect for Jesus and Jehovah God.

Hope this helps answer your question!


ADDED:

Here is part of the article from above related to your second question about Isaiah 9:6.

DOES saying that Jesus Christ is "a god" conflict with the Bible's teaching that there is only one God? No, for at times the Bible employs that term to refer to mighty creatures. Psalm 8:5 reads: "You also proceeded to make him [man] a little less than godlike ones [Hebrew, ´elo·him']," that is, angels. In Jesus' defense against the charge of the Jews, that he claimed to be God, he noted that "the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed," that is, human judges. (John 10:34, 35, JB; Psalm 82:1-6) Even Satan is called "the god of this system of things" at 2 Corinthians 4:4.


Since the Bible calls humans, angels, even Satan, "gods," or powerful ones, the superior Jesus in heaven can properly be called "a god"

Jesus has a position far higher than angels, imperfect men, or Satan. Since these are referred to as "gods," mighty ones, surely Jesus can be and is "a god." Because of his unique position in relation to Jehovah, Jesus is a "Mighty God."—John 1:1; Isaiah 9:6.

But does not "Mighty God" with its capital letters indicate that Jesus is in some way equal to Jehovah God? Not at all. Isaiah merely prophesied this to be one of four names that Jesus would be called, and in the English language such names are capitalized. Still, even though Jesus was called "Mighty," there can be only one who is "Almighty." To call Jehovah God "Almighty" would have little significance unless there existed others who were also called gods but who occupied a lesser or inferior position

Answer 9

The religion is false and no they don't believe Jesus is God, They also view him as the son of God which is false.

J

Answer 10

no