# The Deity of Christ: Answering JW Objections to John 1:1, John 14:28, and Colossians 1:16

- Link: https://lordjesuschristreigns.blog/2026/03/12/the-deity-of-christ-answering-jw-objections-to-john-11-john-1428-and-colossians-116/
- Published: 2026-03-12T10:45:00-07:00
- Author: LordJesusChristReigns

_This is Part 4 of a 7-part series: **The Holy Trinity — Answering Jehovah’s Witnesses**._

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## Introduction

Of all the objections Jehovah’s Witnesses raise against the Trinity, the most sustained
and detailed concern the person of Jesus Christ. The Watchtower teaches that Jesus
is Michael the Archangel — the first and greatest of God’s created beings — who 
was sent to earth, became a man, died, and was then re-created as a spirit being.
On this view, Jesus is not God; he is a god — a powerful but created, finite, derivative
being entirely subordinate to Jehovah.

To support this view, the Watchtower relies on a small number of key proof texts.
In this post, we will examine each one carefully, show why the JW interpretation
fails, and present the affirmative biblical case for the full deity of Christ.

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## Objection 1: John 1:1 — “The Word Was _a_ God”

The New World Translation renders John 1:1c as “the Word was _a_ god” — making Jesus
a lesser divine being rather than the fully divine God. This is the Watchtower’s
signature translation, and it has been used for decades to deny Christ’s deity. 
But it fails on multiple grounds.

### The Greek Grammar

In Greek, the absence of the definite article (the word “the”) before a noun does
not automatically require the indefinite article “a” in translation. In John 1:1,
the Greek reads _kai theos en ho logos_ — “and God was the Word.” The noun _theos_(
God) is placed before the verb and lacks the article — a construction known as a
_predicate nominative_.

Renowned New Testament scholar Dr. Bruce Metzger explained clearly that when a predicate
nominative appears without the article, it emphasizes the _nature or quality_ of
the noun. John is saying that the Word fully partakes of the divine nature. He is
not saying “a god” — he is saying “the Word was of the very nature of God.”

The Watchtower’s own rule, applied consistently, would produce absurdities throughout
John’s Gospel. The same Greek construction (anarthrous predicate nominative) occurs
in John 4:24: “God is spirit” — yet the NWT does not translate this as “God is _a_
spirit.” It occurs in John 8:44: “the devil… is a liar and the father of lies” —
no indefinite article controversy there. The rule is applied selectively only where
it serves to demote Christ.

### The Watchtower’s Own Interlinear Undermines Them

The Watchtower’s own publication, the _Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek
Scriptures_, shows the word-for-word Greek-to-English rendering in one column and
the NWT rendering in another. In that interlinear, the literal rendering of John
1:1 reads “god was the Word” — without the indefinite article “a.” The NWT’s “a 
god” appears only in the adjusted column. This means the Watchtower’s own interlinear
contradicts its own translation.

### The Context of John’s Entire Prologue

John 1:18 calls Jesus the “only begotten God” (_monogenes theos_ — the best-supported
Greek manuscripts). John 20:28 records Thomas calling Jesus “my God” (_ho theos 
mou_) — with the definite article, the strongest possible expression. Jesus receives
this confession without correction. If Jesus were only “a god,” John’s Gospel — 
and Jesus Himself — would be promoting polytheism. The God of the Old Testament 
says in Isaiah 43:10: “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after
me.” If Jesus is “a god,” then Isaiah 43:10 is false.

---

## Objection 2: John 14:28 — “The Father Is Greater Than I”

Jehovah’s Witnesses frequently quote this verse as definitive proof that Jesus cannot
be equal to God:

> _“You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved
> me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father 
> is greater than I.”_ (John 14:28, ESV)

This is one of the most misunderstood verses in the New Testament, and the misunderstanding
stems from failing to grasp the distinction the early church made between two kinds
of divine relationships.

### The Economic vs. Ontological Trinity

Orthodox theology distinguishes between:

 * **The Ontological Trinity** — the eternal, inner being of God as He is in Himself.
   Father, Son, and Spirit are co-equal, co-eternal, of the same substance.
 * **The Economic Trinity** — the outward activity of God in redemption history:
   the Father sends, the Son is sent, the Spirit is sent. In this economy of redemption,
   the Son voluntarily takes a subordinate role.

When Jesus says “the Father is greater than I,” He is speaking of His position in
the economy of the incarnation — not His eternal divine nature. As the incarnate
Son, He has voluntarily “emptied Himself” (Phil. 2:7) by taking on human limitations:
hunger, fatigue, suffering, and death. He operates in submission to the Father as
part of His mission. This is a functional, voluntary, temporary subordination — 
not an ontological inferiority of nature.

Consider a human analogy Paul himself uses: “The head of every man is Christ, the
head of a wife is her husband” (1 Cor. 11:3). A husband is the “head” of his wife
in terms of role and authority — but this does not mean wives are less human than
husbands, or made of lesser material. The subordination is relational and functional,
not a matter of essential nature. The same logic applies to the Son’s submission
to the Father in the economy of redemption.

### Jesus Also Said “I and the Father Are One”

Just two chapters earlier (John 10:30), Jesus said “I and the Father are one” — 
and the Jews picked up stones to kill him for blasphemy, saying “you, being a man,
make yourself God” (v. 33). Both statements are true simultaneously. Jesus is one
in nature with the Father (John 10:30) and temporarily subordinate in role during
His incarnation (John 14:28). These are not contradictions — they are two aspects
of the one Trinitarian reality.

---

## Objection 3: Colossians 1:15 — “Firstborn of All Creation”

The Watchtower points to Colossians 1:15 — “He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation” — as proof that Jesus is a created being, the “first”
thing God made.

But the Greek word translated “firstborn” here is _prototokos_, and it does not 
mean “first created.” In biblical usage, “firstborn” consistently refers to **rank,
priority, and pre-eminence** — not necessarily to the order of birth or creation.

 * In Psalm 89:27, God calls David “My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the
   earth.” David was not literally the first king born — he was the seventh son 
   of Jesse. “Firstborn” denotes his supreme rank before God.
 * In Romans 8:29, believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of the
   Son, “so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” This does not mean
   Jesus was created before believers. It means He holds first rank among them.

The very next verses in Colossians 1 make the meaning of “firstborn” unmistakably
clear:

> _“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
> whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created
> through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold
> together.”_ (Col. 1:16–17)

Christ is “firstborn of all creation” in the sense that He has supreme rank over
all creation — because He is the Creator of all creation. He cannot be both Creator
of all things and also one of the things created. The Watchtower’s New World Translation
illegitimately inserts the word “other” four times in these verses (“all _other_
things”) — a word that has absolutely no support in any Greek manuscript, any ancient
translation, or any credible scholarly text. The NWT inserts it for one reason only:
to force the text to support a pre-determined theological conclusion.

---

## Objection 4: Mark 13:32 — “Only the Father Knows”

JWs sometimes cite Mark 13:32 — “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows,
not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” — as evidence that
Jesus cannot be omniscient and therefore cannot be God.

This is another case of confusing the two natures of Christ. Christian theology 
has always affirmed that Jesus is fully God and fully human — the God-Man. In His
human nature, Jesus experienced genuine human limitations, including limitations
of knowledge during His earthly ministry. This is part of what it meant for the 
eternal Son to “empty Himself” in the incarnation (Phil. 2:7 — the Greek word _kenosis_).

The limitation of knowledge here is not a limitation of the divine nature but a 
limitation of the _human_ nature the Son assumed. It is entirely consistent with
the incarnation — and entirely consistent with His full divinity.

---

## The Positive Case: Jesus as YHWH in the New Testament

Beyond answering specific objections, there is a powerful affirmative case for Christ’s
full deity that the Watchtower cannot account for: the New Testament consistently
applies Old Testament texts about YHWH directly to Jesus.

 * **Isaiah 40:3**: “Prepare the way of the LORD [YHWH]” — applied to John the Baptist
   preparing the way of Jesus (Matt. 3:3)
 * **Isaiah 45:23**: “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance”—
   YHWH speaking — applied to Jesus in Philippians 2:10–11
 * **Joel 2:32**: “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD [YHWH] shall be saved”—
   applied to calling on the name of Jesus in Romans 10:13
 * **Psalm 102:25–27**: A prayer addressed to YHWH as Creator — cited in Hebrews
   1:10–12 and addressed to the Son
 * **Isaiah 6:10**: The vision of YHWH’s glory — attributed to Jesus in John 12:
   41

The New Testament authors are doing something deliberate and breathtaking: they 
are identifying Jesus of Nazareth as the YHWH of the Old Testament — now incarnate
in human flesh. This is not the theology of a created angelic being. This is the
theology of God Himself stepping into His creation.

---

## John 8:58 — “Before Abraham Was, I AM”

One of the most striking and explicit claims Jesus made to full deity in the Gospels
occurs in John 8:58:

> _Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”_ (
> John 8:58, ESV)

The phrase “I AM” (_egō eimi_) is the divine name revealed to Moses at the burning
bush (Exodus 3:14 — “I AM WHO I AM”). Jesus does not say “before Abraham was, I 
_was_” — as if He merely pre-existed. He says “I AM” — the eternal present tense
of the divine self-existence. Once again, the audience understood exactly what He
was claiming: “So they picked up stones to throw at him” (John 8:59).

The NWT translates this as “I have been” — but this distorts the Greek. The verb
_eimi_ is present tense, not past perfect. “I AM” is the correct translation, and
every major Bible translation in history has rendered it that way.

---

## Conclusion

The Watchtower’s case against the deity of Christ rests on a handful of verses taken
out of context, a translation that manipulates the Greek for theological purposes,
and a fundamental failure to account for the incarnation — the mystery that the 
eternal Son of God took on human flesh and, in that humanity, voluntarily submitted
to the Father.

When the evidence is examined honestly:

 * John 1:1 says the Word was God — and the Watchtower’s “a god” is a grammatically
   unsupported theological invention
 * John 14:28 reflects the economic subordination of the incarnate Son, not an inferiority
   of divine nature
 * Colossians 1:15–17 calls Jesus the Creator of all things — making Him the _prototokos_(
   first in rank) over creation, not part of it
 * John 8:58 applies the divine “I AM” to Jesus directly
 * The NT applies YHWH texts to Jesus throughout

Jesus Christ is not a god. He is not Michael the Archangel. He is the eternal Son
of God — fully divine, co-equal with the Father, YHWH incarnate.

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_**Next in this series:** [Part 5 — The Holy Spirit: Person or Active Force? Answering the JW Denial of the Spirit’s Personhood and Deity](https://lordjesuschristreigns.blog/2026/03/12/the-holy-spirit-person-or-active-force-answering-the-jw-denial-of-the-spirits-personhood-and-deity/)_

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**Key Scriptures Referenced:** John 1:1–3, 14, 18 | John 8:58–59 | John 10:30–33
| John 14:28 | John 20:28 | Colossians 1:15–17 | Colossians 2:9 | Philippians 2:
5–11 | Hebrews 1:5–12 | Isaiah 40:3 | Isaiah 45:23 | Isaiah 6:10 | Exodus 3:14

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