Proving to Jehovah’s Witnesses that Jesus is God (Part 2)

The deity of Christ is made clear throughout both the Old and New Testament. Of course, with a reputable Bible translation, it’s easy to show someone several verses that say Jesus is God (such as Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6, Zechariah 12:10, Matthew 1:23, Luke 8:38-39, John 1:1, 14, John 8:58, John 20:28, Acts 20:28, Titus 1:3, Hebrews 1:8, 2 Peter 1:1, and 1 John 5:20). But the Jehovah’s Witnesses have done a good job editing all of those out of the “Bible” they use—the New World Translation. Nevertheless, there are many ways to show them Jesus is God using even their Bible. I gave a few examples in a previous post, but here are a few more.

• Jehovah’s Witnesses like to point out John 17:3, where Jesus refers to His Father as the one true God. Two verses later, Jesus reveals that He shared glory with the Father before the world began. But in Isaiah 42:8, Jehovah says that He will not share His glory with another. So Jehovah’s Witnesses are left to decide whether John 17:5 or Isaiah 42:8 is true, because to them, both verses can’t be true.
• Jesus made everything (John 1:3). Jehovah made everything by Himself (Isaiah 44:24). If I were to build a house by hiring carpenters, electricians, roofers, and others, I could still say I built the house, but I would be a liar if I said I built it alone, with my own hands. Is Jehovah a liar when He says He created the universe by Himself, or is Jesus Jehovah?
• Isaiah 40:3 contains a prophecy about someone clearing the way for Jehovah. This prophecy is fulfilled by John the Baptist clearing the way for Jesus to begin His ministry. A good way to approach this is to have the Jehovah’s Witness read Matthew 3:3 in an accepted translation where it quotes that prophecy: “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” Ask him or her who this prophecy is referring to, and the individual will most likely say it’s referring to Jesus. Then, have him read it in his NWT Bible where ‘Lord’ is replaced with ‘Jehovah’.
• There are a lot of interesting ways to go with Isaiah 43:10-11. Verse 10 says that we are witnesses of Jehovah. But, in Acts 1:8, Jesus says that we are to be His witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses need to decide who they will be witnesses of, and who they will disobey.
• It’s also clear from Isaiah 43:10 that there is only one God. Jesus can’t be “a god” as the JW version of John 1:1 says.
• Isaiah 43:11 says Jehovah is the only savior. Of course there can be other saviors in other contexts, such as someone who pulls a drowning child from a pool, but Jehovah is the only one who can save us from our sins. Acts 4:12, which refers to Jesus, says there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Are we saved by Jehovah alone, or by Jesus alone? Again, to a Jehovah’s Witness, only one of these verses can be true.

Many times Jehovah’s Witnesses go door to door in pairs, and often one is an experienced Jehovah’s Witness while the other is newer to the religion. The JWs tell the new recruits that Christians don’t know what they’re talking about, and this is all too often true. If you’re a Christian who doesn’t know why you believe what you believe, and can’t show it to someone else in the Bible, you’re making the Watchtower look good, and proving the JWs right.

There are many good ways to show the Watchtower to be false. It’s easy to pick one of these and learn it. So the next time JWs want to talk with you, don’t slam the door in their face. God may use you to get someone out of that organization. Even if you blow it, it’s okay. It will inspire you to study the Bible, and you’ll do better next time.

Even with just these few passages, from the NWT (a completely trashed translation of the Bible), is there any doubt that Jesus is God?