http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=10&article=1481
Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Worship of Jesus
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 Translationrender
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 21
st-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 Translationrender 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 founderof 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 21
st 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.txt.
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.txt.
Zion’s Watch Tower, 1898, July 15, https://archive.org/stream/1892ZionsWatchTower/1892_Watch_Tower_djvu.txt.
The
first chapters of the book of Genesis give us a “play by play” analysis
of many of the main events in the creation of the Universe. The text
explains that God created everything in the Universe in six, literal
days. Included in His “very good” creation (Genesis 1:31) was the
formation of the first man—Adam. After God breathed life into his
nostrils, the Bible states that God did not want man to be alone, and so
the Creator brought into existence a helper comparable to Adam. The
Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam, and He fashioned Eve from
one of the man’s ribs. This well-known narrative is often one of the
first Bible stories children learn.
Christianity
is a historical religion. The Bible makes claims about events that
happened in real time and space that can be evaluated in light of the
historical and archaeological records. If the events of the Bible truly
happened, then one would expect the surviving evidence to lend support
to the biblical record. If not, then we would naturally expect the
evidence to contradict it. Over the last two centuries, the Bible has
fared incredibly well.