According
to Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Jesus is not God”, and thus should not be worshiped by
Christians. The Watchtower, a
magazine published twice a month by Jehovah’s Witnesses, has repeatedly made
such claims through the years. In their September 15, 2005 issue, for example,
they stated quite simply that the Scriptures “show that Jesus is not God
Almighty”. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ official Web site (jw.org), which
republishes many items from The
Watchtower, briefly answers the question “Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe in
Jesus?”, concluding, “we do not worship Jesus, as we do not believe that he is
Almighty God” (2015). After all, allegedly “in his prehuman existence, Jesus
was a created spirit being... Jesus
had a beginning and could never be coequal with God in power or eternity”
(“What Does the Bible…?”, 2000, emp. added). The October 15, 2004 issue of The Watchtower concluded a section about
Jesus not being the true God with these words: “Jehovah, and no one else, is
‘the true God and life everlasting.’ He alone is worthy to receive exclusive
worship from those whom he created.—Revelation 4:11” (p. 31). Since God alone
is worthy of worship, and since Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is only
an angel and not God (see “The Truth About Angels”, 1995), He allegedly should
not be worshiped.
God Alone Is Worthy Of Worship
There is no
argument over the fact that God alone is worthy of worship. Jehovah revealed
His will to Moses on Mt. Sinai, saying, “You shall have no other gods before
Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I,
the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:3-5). Regarding the Gentiles
who were sent to live in Samaria after the Assyrians conquered the Northern
Kingdom of Israel, the Bible says:
“To this
day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the Lord, nor
do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment
which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel, with
whom the Lord had made a covenant and charged them, saying: “You shall not fear
other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; but the
Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an
outstretched arm, Him you shall fear,
Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice” (2 Kings
17:34-36, emp. added).
The Bible
reveals time and again that God alone is to be worshiped. Luke recorded that
King Herod was eaten with worms because, instead of glorifying God Almighty, he
allowed the people to glorify him as a god (Acts 12:21-23). Herod’s arrogant
spirit stands in direct contrast to the reaction that Paul and Barnabas had
when the citizens of Lystra attempted to worship them (Acts 14:8-18). After
Paul healed a man who had been crippled from his birth, the people of Lystra
shouted: “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men”. They even
called Paul and Barnabas by the names of their gods (Hermes and Zeus), and
sought to worship them with sacrifice. Had these two preachers had the same
arrogant spirit as Herod, they would have accepted worship, and felt as if they
deserved such honor. Instead, these Christian men “tore their clothes and ran
in among the multitude, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these
things? We also are men with the same nature as you’” (Acts 14:15). Paul
recognized that it is unlawful for humans to worship other humans, and thus
sought to turn the people’s attention toward God, and away from himself.
The Bible
also reveals that man must refrain from worshiping angels. When the apostle
John fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had revealed to him
the message of Revelation, the angel responded, saying, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow
servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of
this book. Worship God” (Revelation
22:9, emp. added; cf. 19:10). Angels, idols, and humans are all unworthy of the
reverent worship that is due only to God. As Jesus reminded Satan: “It is
written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Matthew 4:10, emp. added).
Jesus Accepted Worship
The dilemma
in which Jehovah’s Witnesses find themselves is that they believe Jesus was a
good man and prophet, yet unlike good men and good angels who have always
rejected worship from humanity, Jesus accepted worship. If worship is to be
reserved only for God, and Jesus, the One “who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians
5:21; 1 Peter 2:22), accepted worship, then the logical conclusion is that
Jesus believed that He was deity. Numerous times the Bible mentions that Jesus
accepted worship from mankind. Matthew 14:33 indicates that those who saw Jesus
walk on water “worshiped Him”. John 9:38 reveals that the blind man whom Jesus
had healed, later confessed his belief in Jesus as the Son of God and
“worshiped him”. After Mary Magdalene and the other women visited the empty
tomb of Jesus, and the risen Christ appeared to them, “they came and held Him
by the feet and worshiped Him” (Matthew 28:9). When Thomas first witnessed the
resurrected Christ, he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Later,
when Jesus appeared to the apostles in Galilee, “they worshiped Him” on a
mountain (Matthew 28:17). A few days after that, his disciples “worshiped Him”
in Bethany (Luke 24:52). Time and time again Jesus accepted the kind of praise
from men that is due only to God. He never sought to correct His followers and
redirect the worship away from Himself as did the angel in Revelation or the
apostle Paul in Acts 14. Nor did God strike Jesus with deadly worms for not
redirecting the praise He received from men as He did Herod, who, when being
hailed as a god, “did not give praise to God” (Acts 12:23).
Sadly,
Jehovah’s Witnesses have attempted to circumvent the obvious references to
Jesus accepting worship by changing the word “worship” in their New World
Translation to “obeisance” every time the Greek word proskuneo (the most prominent word for worship in the New
Testament) is used in reference to Jesus. Over 30 times in the New World
Translation (first published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society in 1950) proskuneo is
correctly translated “worship” when God the Father is the recipient of glory
and praise. This Greek word occurs 14 times in the New Testament in reference
to Jesus, yet not once do more
recent editions of the New World Translation render it “worship;” instead,
every time it is translated “obeisance”. Allegedly, Mary Magdalene, the
apostles, the blind man whom Jesus healed, etc., never worshiped Jesus; rather,
they only paid “obeisance” to Him.
In
21st-century English, people generally make a distinction between the verbs
“worship” and “do obeisance”. Most individuals, especially monotheists, use the
word worship in a positive sense when talking about God, whereas “obeisance” is used more often in reference to the
general respect given to people held
in high regard. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
defines “obeisance” as “1. A gesture or movement of the body, such as a curtsy,
that expresses deference or homage. 2. An attitude of deference or homage”, whereas
the verb “worship” is defined as “1. To honor and love as a deity. 2. To regard with ardent or adoring esteem or devotion”
(2000, emp. added). The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society agrees with the
distinction often made between these words in modern English: God should be
“worshiped”, while Jesus (we are told) should only receive “obeisance” (i.e.,
the respect and submission one pays to important dignitaries and superiors).
The Greek
word proskuneo, which appears in the
New Testament 60 times, literally means “to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in
token of reverence” (Thayer, 1962, p. 548; see also Mounce, 1993, p. 398).
According to Greek scholars Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker, this word was used in
ancient times “to designate the custom of prostrating oneself before a person
and kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, the ground, etc.; the Persians
did this in the presence of their deified king, and the Greeks before a
divinity or something holy” (1979, p. 723). Admittedly, the word “obeisance”
could be used on occasions to translate proskuneo.
The problem is that Jehovah’s Witnesses make an arbitrary distinction between
obeisance and worship when it comes to the token of reverence that Jesus in
particular was given. They translate proskuneo
as “obeisance” every time Jesus is
the object, yet never when God the
Father is the recipient of honor and praise.
As with
other words in the Bible that have multiple meanings, the context can help
determine the writer’s intended meaning. Consider the circumstances surrounding
some of the occasions when Jesus is mentioned as the object of man’s devotion.
- In John chapter nine, Jesus miraculously healed a man who was “blind from his birth” (vs. 1). When the man upon whom this miracle was performed appeared before various Jews in the synagogue and called Jesus a prophet (vs. 17), he was instructed to “give glory to God”, not Jesus, because allegedly Jesus “is a sinner” (vs. 24). Later, after the man born blind was cast out of the synagogue, Jesus informed him of His true identity—that He was not just a prophet, but also “the Son of God”. At that moment, the gentleman exclaimed, “Lord, I believe”, and he worshiped Him (vs. 38). Although the Greek word proskuneo was used in ancient times of paying respect or doing obeisance to people, no such translation is warranted in this passage. In the Gospel of John, this word is found 11 times. In every instance, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation renders it “worship”, except here in John 9:38 where it is arbitrarily translated “obeisance”.
- Following a day in which Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men (not including women and children) with only five loaves of bread and two fish, Matthew recorded how Jesus literally walked on the water in the midst of the Sea of Galilee during a violent storm, saved Peter from drowning, and then walked onto a boat where He was met with those who “worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:33). Jesus’ worshipers did not merely pay Him the same respect (or “obeisance”) that one pays a respected ruler, teacher, or master—people incapable of such feats. On the contrary, they recognized that Jesus had overcome the laws of nature, and that His actions warranted praise and adoration—not as a man, but as the “Son of God”. If Jesus was not worthy of such praise, why did He accept it? If Jesus was not to be adored, why did the angel of the Lord not strike Him with the same deadly worms with which he struck Herod (Acts 12:23)?
- After defeating death and rising from the grave, a sign which declared Him to be “the Son of God with power” (Romans 1:4), Jesus accepted worship (proskuneo) from Mary Magdalene and the other women who went to visit the tomb of Jesus (Matthew 28:8-9), as well as all of the apostles (Matthew 28:17). Jesus was not the only one ever to be resurrected from the dead, but He was the only resurrected individual the Bible mentions as afterwards receiving praise and adoration (i.e., worship) from man. The widow’s son of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:22), the son of a Shunammite (2 Kings 4:32-35), the daughter of Jairus (Mark 8:21-24,35-43), the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-16), Lazarus (John 11:1-45), Tabitha (Acts 9:36-43), and Eutychus (Acts 20:7-12) all were raised from the dead, but none received proskuneo. The Bible never reveals any resurrected person other than Jesus who ever received and accepted worship. Jesus’ followers recognized that His resurrection was different. It verified His claims of divinity.
- The disciples worshiped Jesus again at His ascension. After recording that Jesus was “carried up into heaven”, Luke wrote: “[T]hey worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God” (Luke 24:52). Notice that the word “worshiped” (proskuneo) is used in this passage along with such words as “praising” and “blessing”—words that carry a religious connotation in connection with God. This fact highlights that the use of proskuneo in this context is not merely obeisance. Also, notice that the disciples offered worship to an “absent” Savior. It would make no sense to pay obeisance to a respected individual that has departed, but makes perfect sense if, rather, the individual is God and worthy of worship. The disciples did not just bow before some earthly ruler; they worshiped their Lord Who had defeated death 40 days earlier, and had just ascended up into heaven before their eyes.
Jesus did
not receive proskuneo on these occasions because He was a great teacher, or
because He was viewed at these moments simply as an earthly king. Rather, all
of these instances of worship were surrounded by miraculous events that were
done to prove He was Heaven sent, and that “in Him dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). There is every reason to believe that on
such occasions as these, Jesus’ disciples meant to pay divine, religious honor
to Him, not mere civil respect or regard that earthly rulers often receive.
Waffling On The Worship Of Jesus
To the
church at Philippi the apostle Paul wrote: “Therefore God also has highly
exalted Him [Jesus] and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11, emp. added). The reference to the bowing of
the knee is an obvious allusion to worship (cf. Isaiah 45:23; Romans 1:4). Such
worship, Paul wrote, would not only come from those on Earth, but also from
“those in heaven” (Philippians 2:10). This statement harmonizes well with
Hebrews 1:6. In a section in which the writer of Hebrews exalted Jesus above
the heavenly hosts, he affirmed that even the angels worship Christ. He wrote:
“Let all the angels of God worship (proskuneo)
Him”. The KJV, ASV, NKJV, NASB, ESV, NIV, RSVand a host of other translations
render proskuneo in this verse as
“worship”. How does the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation render this
passage? Unfortunately, as with all other times in the NWT when Jesus is
mentioned as being the object of proskuneo,
the word is translated “do obeisance”, not “worship”. Hebrews 1:6 reads: “Let
all God’s angels do obeisance to him”
(NWT).
Interestingly,
however, the NWT has not always rendered proskuneo
in Hebrews 1:6 as “do obeisance”. When Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society first printed the NWT in 1950, the verse actually rendered proskuneo as “worship” instead of “do
obeisance”. Even the revised 1961 edition of the NWT translated proskuneo as “worship”. But, by 1971,
Jehovah’s Witnesses had changed Hebrews 1:6 to read: “Let all God’s angels do obeisance to him”.
The fact
is, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has been very inconsistent in their
teachings on whether or not Jesus should be worshiped. In the past few decades
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ flagship magazine (November 1964, p. 671) has claimed that
“it is unscriptural for worshipers of the living and true God to render worship
to the Son of God, Jesus Christ” (as quoted in Rhodes, 2001, p. 26; see also
The Watchtower 2004, pp. 30-31). But, “from the beginning it was not so”.
Notice what Jehovah’s Witnesses used to teach in The Watchtower (called Zion’s
Watch Tower in the early days) regarding whether or not Jesus should be
worshiped:
- “The wise men came at His birth to worship Him. (Matt. 2) The leper worshiped Him. They in the ship worshiped Him, as did also the ruler and woman of Canaan. Yet none were ever rebuked for it... [T]o worship Christ in any form cannot be wrong” (Allen, 1880, emp. added).
- “[A]lthough we are nowhere instructed to make petitions to him, it evidently could not be improper to do so; for such a course is nowhere prohibited, and the disciples worshiped him” (Zion’s Watch Tower, 1892, emp. added).
- “Yes, we believe our Lord Jesus while on earth was really worshiped, and properly so” (Zion’s Watch Tower, 1898).
- “[W]hosoever should worship Him must also worship and bow down to Jehovah’s Chief One in that capital organization, namely, Christ Jesus…” (The Watchtower, 1945, p. 313).
For more
than half a century, Jehovah’s Witnesses taught that it was acceptable to
worship Jesus. Now, however, they claim it is unscriptural. Such inconsistency
regarding the nature of Christ, which is no small matter, reveals to the honest
truth seeker that the Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society is an advocate of serious biblical error.
Sadly,
Jehovah’s Witnesses not only reject the worship of Jesus because of their
belief that He is not deity, they also must deny Him such religious devotion
because they teach He actually is an angel. The Watchtower has taught such a
notion for several years. The November 1, 1995 issue indicated, “The foremost
angel, both in power and authority, is the archangel, Jesus Christ, also called
Michael” (“The Truth About Angels”). More recently, an article appeared on the
Jehovah’s Witnesses official Web site affirming “the Bible indicates that
Michael is another name for Jesus Christ, before and after his life on earth...
[I]t is logical to conclude that Michael is none other than Jesus Christ in his
heavenly role” (“Who Is Michael…?”, 2015). Since, according to Revelation 19:10
and 22:8-9, good angels do not accept worship, but rather preach the worship of
God, and no other, Jehovah’s Witnesses must reject paying religious praise and
devotion to Jesus. But, notice (again) how inconsistent Jehovah’s Witnesses
have been. In only the fifth issue of Zion’s
Watch Tower magazine (originally edited by Charles Taze Russell, the
founder of The Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society), regular contributing writer J.H. Paton stated about Jesus: “Hence
it is said, ‘let all the angels of God worship him’: (that must include
Michael, the chief angel, hence Michael
is not the Son of God)…” (1879, p. 4, emp. added). Thus, at one time
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ official publication taught that Jesus is not Michael the archangel, and that
He should be worshiped. In the 21st
century, however, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is Michael the
archangel, and that He should not be worshiped. Clear contradictory statements
like these found throughout the years in The
Watchtower should compel current and potential members of this religious
group to question their teachings in light of the Truth found in God’s Word.
“Worthy Is The Lamb”
One
additional passage to consider regarding the worship of Jesus is Revelation
chapters four and five. In chapter four, the scene in this book of signs (cf.
1:1) is the throne room of God. The “Lord God Almighty” is described as sitting
on His throne while “the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to
Him” (4:9). Also, “the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the
throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before
the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power; for You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were
created’” (4:10-11). In chapter five, the Lamb that was slain is introduced as
standing “in the midst of the throne” (5:6). No one argues the fact that this
Lamb is Jesus—the One Whom John the Baptizer twice called “The Lamb of God”
(John 1:29,36), and Whom Peter called the “lamb without blemish and without
spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Regarding this Lamb, the apostle John recorded the
following in Revelation 5:11-14:
“Then I
looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living
creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to
receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and
blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the
earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Then the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-four elders fell
down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever” (emp. added).
In this
chapter, John revealed that both God
the Father and Jesus are worthy to receive worship from all of creation. In
fact, Jesus is given the same praise
and adoration that the Father is given. Just as God is “worthy…to receive glory
and honor and power” (4:11), so Jesus is “worthy…to receive power…and honor and
glory…” (5:12). Indeed, “[b]lessing and
honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever” (5:13,
emp. added). Although Jehovah’s Witnesses use Revelation 4:11 as a proof text
for worshiping God the Father (see “What Does God…?”, 1996, p. 4), they reject
and call unscriptural the worship that Jesus rightly deserves.
Conclusion
Jesus once
stated during His earthly ministry, “[A]ll should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who
does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:23).
Sadly, Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to honor Jesus in the same way they honor God
the Father. While on Earth, Jesus was honored on several occasions. His
followers worshiped Him. They even
worshiped Him after His ascension into heaven (Luke 24:52). Unlike good men and
angels in Bible times who rejected worship, Jesus unhesitatingly received
glory, honor, and praise from His creation. Truly, such worship is one of the
powerful proofs of the deity of Christ.
References
Allen, L.A. (1880), “A Living Christ”, Zion’s Watch Tower,
March,https://archive.org/stream/1880ZionsWatchTower/1880_Watch_Tower_djvu.tx.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), (Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin), fourth edition.
Arndt, William, F.W. Gingrich, and Frederick W.
Danker (1979), A Greek-English Lexicon of
the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press), second edition revised.
“Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe in Jesus?”
(2015), http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/believe-in-jesus/.
Mounce, William D. (1993), Analytical Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan).
Paton, J.H. (1879), “The Name of Jesus”, Zion’s Watch Tower,
November,https://archive.org/stream/1879ZionsWatchTower/1879_Watch_Tower_djvu.txt.
Rhodes, Ron (2001), The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness
(Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers).
Thayer, Joseph (1962 reprint), Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
“The Truth About Angels” (1995), The Watchtower, November 1.
The Watchtower, 1945, October 15.
The Watchtower, 2004, October 15.
The Watchtower, 2005, September 15.
“What Does God Require of Us?” (1996), Watch
Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York.
“What Does the Bible Say About God and Jesus?”
(2000), Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
“Who Is Michael the Archangel?” (2015),
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teach/who-is-michael-the-archangel-jesus/.
Zion’s Watch Tower, 1892, May 15,
https://archive.org/stream/1898ZionsWatchTower/1898_Watch_Tower_djvu.tx.
Zion’s Watch Tower, 1898, July 15,
https://archive.org/stream/1892ZionsWatchTower/1892_Watch_Tower_djvu.tx.