Jehovah's Witnesses ..the Deity of God and Christ..what do you think about this?

Question

Christ received worship as God.

Jesus is worshipped by the angels (Heb. 1:6) and by man (Matt. 14:33), and yet only God is to be worshipped (Ex. 34:14). Christ Himself said that worship is due to God alone (Matt. 4:10), and yet He accepted worship. If Jesus in His pre-existent state were the archangel Michael, how could He have received worship, since angels are not allowed to receive worship (Rev. 19:10)? If Christ were not God, then worshipping Him would be idolatrous.

There are many, many more scriptures that could be quoted in support of the diety of God and Christ..

keiichi.......If that is the case..why do JW's not salute the flag? Same thing..just showing respect...it is not worshiping idols..You guys have your facts mixed up.

achtung_heiss...Yes your religion is the only one that has changed the words in the bible that states worship to Jesus..and has added the word "other" to take away the meaning of scriptures..Yes..There is also a scripture that talks about ones that would be twisting the scriptures to their own interpretations..So yes..I agree your religion is the only one doing this.

Lysdexic...I agree with you..We are begging them pretty much to look into these things that are so purely stated in the Bible..If they were to really search the Bible..one that has not been twisted they would be able to see..
They do expect us to listen to everything they have to say and take it to hear as truth..but they will not give us the same respect.

Answer 1

IS Jesus God? Early Christian writers didn’t seem to have any doubts. Just look at what they wrote:

Ignatius of Antioch
"Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the Church at Ephesus in Asia . . . predestined from eternity for a glory that is lasting and unchanging, united and chosen through true suffering by the will of the Father in Jesus Christ our God (Epistle to the Ephesians 1 [A.D. 110]).

Ignatius of Antioch
"For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary in accord with God’s plan: of the seed of David, it is true, but also of the Holy Spirit (Epistle to the Ephesians 18:2).


Ignatius of Antioch
". . . to the Church beloved and enlightened after the love of Jesus Christ, our God, by the will of him that has willed everything which is (Epistle to the Romans 1 [A.D. 110]).

Aristides
"[Christians] are they who, above every people of the Earth, have found the truth, for they acknowledge God, the creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit" (Apology 16 [A.D. 140]).


Tatian
"We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor do we talk nonsense, when we report that God was born in the form of a man" (Address to the Greeks 21 [A.D. 170]).

Melito
"It is no way necessary in dealing with persons of intelligence to adduce the actions of Christ after his baptism as proof that his soul and his body, his human nature, were like ours, real and not phantasmal. The activities of Christ after his baptism, and especially his miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the deity hidden in his flesh. Being God and likewise perfect man, he gave positive indications of his two natures: of his deity, by the miracles during the three years following after his baptism; of his humanity, in the thirty years which came before his baptism, during which, by reason of his condition according to the flesh, he concealed the signs of his deity, although he was the true God existing before the ages" (Fragment in Anastasius of Sinai’s, The Guide 13 [A.D. 177]).


Irenaeus
"For the Church, although dispersed throughout the whole world even to the ends of the Earth, has received from the apostles and from their disciples the faith in one God, Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and Earth and sea and all that is in them; and in one Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who announced through the prophets the dispensations and the comings, and the birth from a Virgin, and the passion, and the Resurrection from the dead, and the bodily Ascension into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, and his coming from heaven in the glory of the Father to re-establish all things; and the raising up again of all flesh of all humanity, in order that to Jesus Christ our Lord and God and Savior and King, in accord with the approval of the invisible Father, every knee shall bend of those in heaven and on Earth and under the earth . . " (Against Heresies 1:10:1 [A.D. 180]).


Irenaeus
"Nevertheless, what cannot be said of anyone else who ever lived, that he is himself in his own right God and Lord . . . may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth" (Against Heresies 3:19:1).


Tertullian
"God alone is without sin. The only man who is without sin is Christ; for Christ is also God" (The Soul 41:3 [A.D. 208]).


Tertullian
"The origins of both his substances display him as man and as God: from the one, born, and from the other, not born.." (The Flesh of Christ 5:6-7 [A.D. 208]).


Tertullian
"That there are two Gods and two Lords, however, is a statement which we will never allow to issue from our mouth; not as if the Father and the Son were not God, nor the Spirit God, and each of them God; but formerly two were spoken of as Gods and two as Lords, so that when Christ would come, he might both be acknowledged as God and be called Lord, because he is the Son of him who is both God and Lord" (Against Praxeas 13:6 [A.D. 213]).



Hippolytus
"Only [God’s] Word is from himself and is therefore also God, becoming the substance of God" (Philoso-phoumena 10:33 [A.D. 222]).


Hippolytus of Rome
"For Christ is the God over all, who has arranged to wash away sin from mankind, rendering the old man new" (Philosophoumena 10:34).



Clement of Alexandria
"The Word, then, the Christ, is the cause both of our ancient beginning, for he was in God, and of our well-being. And now this same Word has appeared as man. He alone is both God and man, and the source of all our good things" (Exhortation to the Greeks 1:7:1 [ante A.D. 200]).



Clement of Alexandria
"Despised as to appearance but in reality adored, [Jesus is] the Expiator, the Savior, the Soother, the Divine Word, he that is quite evidently true God, he that is put on a level with the Lord of the universe because he was his Son." (Exhortation to the Greeks 10:110:1).



Origen
"Although he was God, he took flesh; and having been made man, he remained what he was, God" (The Fundamental Doctrines 1:Preface:4 [A.D. 220-230]).



Origen
"While we have been sketching the proof of the divinity of Jesus, we have made use of the prophetic statements concerning him, and have at the same time demonstrated that the writings which prophesied about him are divinely inspired" (The Fundamental Doctrines 4:1:6).


Cyprian
"One who denies that Christ is God cannot become his temple [of the Holy Spirit] . . . " (Letter to Jubaianus 73:12 [A.D. 255])


Arnobius
"'Well, then,' some raging, angry, and excited man will say, 'Is that Christ your God?' 'God indeed,' we shall answer, 'and God of the hidden powers.'" (Against the Pagans 1:42 [A.D. 305]).

Lactantius
"He was made both Son of God in the spirit and Son of man in the flesh--that is, both God and man" (The Divine Institutions 4:13:5 [A.D. 310]).

Answer 2

Prostrating, bowing or honoring a king is not idolatrous. It is a sign of respect. The Jews bowed to Pharaoh on numerous occasions. In modern day Japan bowing is very common.

Self-worship is idolatrous.
Jesus prayed and worshiped his father. If they are both the same God then Jesus would be a sinner.

Who called Jesus God?

It was lying Jews that Jesus labeled as Satanic sons of the devil that ACCUSED Jesus of being God. - Jhn 8:44, 10:33

Jesus corrected them saying he is a god (small g) as a representative of his father as Moses was and the Jews were suppose to be. - Jhn 10:34,36 (compare Exo 7:1)

Why do JW's not salute the flag?

JWs pledge their allegiance to Jehovah's kingdom.

Would Jesus salute a flag?

Jhn 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world

Mat 4:8,9 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Answer 3

Jesus is God's Son.

The Greek pro·sky·ne´o corresponds closely with the Hebrew sha·hhah´ as to conveying the thought of both obeisance to creatures and worship to God or a deity. While the manner of expressing the obeisance is perhaps not so prominent in pro·sky·ne´o as in sha·hhah´, where the Hebrew term graphically conveys the thought of prostration or bowing down, some lexicographers suggest that originally the Greek term did emphatically portray this idea.

Obeisance to a human king is found in Jesus’ illustration at Matthew 18:26. It is also evident that this was the kind of obeisance the astrologers rendered to the child Jesus, “born king of the Jews,” and also that Herod professed interest in expressing, and that the soldiers mockingly rendered to Jesus before his impalement. They clearly did not view Jesus as God or as a deity.—Matt. 2:2, 8

If the rendering “worship” is preferred, then it must be understood that such “worship” is only of a relative kind. For Jesus himself emphatically stated to Satan that “it is Jehovah your God you must worship [form of pro·sky·ne´o], and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Matt. 4:8-10; Luke 4:7, 8) True, Psalm 97, which the apostle evidently quotes at Hebrews 1:6, refers to Jehovah God as the object of the ‘bowing down,’ and still this text was applied to Christ Jesus. (Ps. 97:1, 7) However, the apostle previously had shown that the resurrected Christ became the “reflection of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of his very being.” (Heb. 1:1-3) Hence, if what we understand as “worship” is apparently directed to the Son by angels, it is in reality being directed through him to Jehovah God, the Sovereign Ruler, “the One who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters."

Answer 4

We have been round and round with the Jw's on this and many other subjects...It is so frustrating to see them spit out the standard WBTS dogma and not one as of yet has actually gone researching into these issues with materials other than the stuff the WBTS tells them they can use.

Jehovah's Witnesses need to go and address some of the things TRUE Christians are imploring them to look at.
They come to our doors and ask us to go looking into our beliefs, but they have no idea how offensive it is to have them completely shut off their minds to the obvious.

djmantx...gets a thumbs down for what? Quoting the Gospel?!...see what I mean?

Learn more
http://watchman.org
http://freeminds.org
http://silentlambs.org

Answer 5

Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Here Jesus is going to have the Jews worship Christians.

Are we to assume Christians are part of the Godhead?

If your understanding of worship is correct, then Christians must be part of the Godhead.

Lexicon Results for proskyneō (Strong's G4352)

proskyneō

1) to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence

2) among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence

3) in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication

a) used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank

This is the word used to discribe people bowing down to Jesus,

This is the word used to discribe the jews bowing down to Christians.

It is a sign of homage to someone of higher authority.

Jesus as been appointed, anointed, given that authority.

By Whom

Heb 1:9, By his God, Jehovah.

.

Answer 6

Jehovah's Witnesses are probably the foremost Christians on the globe who are working to teach others that Jehovah God is the only Almighty deity and Christ the Son is a lesser deity in subjection to God the Father.

In fact, Jehovah's Witnesses officially reserve the English word "worship" to describe a Christian's unique devotion to Almighty God the Father. The Scriptures quite plainly show that true worship is uniquely devoted to the person of Almighty Jehovah God the Father. His Son, Jesus, personally taught that Jehovah deserves a unique form of "sacred service".

(Matthew 4:10) Jesus said... ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’

(Luke 4:8) Jesus said... ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’

(Exodus 20:5) I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion


The bible teaches that Jehovah has given Jesus extraordinary authority, and so true Christians (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) work to demonstrate their devotion, love, obedience, and obeisance to Jesus.

(Hebrews 1:3-4) [Jesus] sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in lofty places. 4 So he has become better than the angels

(Matthew 28:18) And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying: "All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth [by God the Father]

(Acts 2:36) God made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you impaled.

(John 3:35) The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

(Acts 5:31) God exalted this one as Chief Agent and Savior to his right hand

(Psalm 2:2-6) The kings of earth take their stand And high officials themselves have massed together as one Against Jehovah and against his anointed one... Jehovah himself will hold them in derision..., Saying: "I, even I, have installed my king [Jesus]

(Hebrews 1:6) When [God] again brings his Firstborn [Jesus] into the inhabited earth, he says: “And let all God’s angels do obeisance to him.”


Thanks for another opportunity to effectively demonstrate that Jehovah God the Father is a distinct person from Jesus Christ the Son!

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_05.htm

Answer 7

I agree with you compeltely.

I have often wondered why Jehovah's Witnesses are so busy with sharing their views but turn a deaf ear to other views.

Answer 8

Yes...there is also John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

Answer 9

Shhhhh......that's why the word "worship" is changed to "obeisance" in their literature.

Time for thumbs down?

Answer 10

Jesus Christ is Jehovah's son. he never said he was God.