It Is A Fundamental Error of Textual Criticism to Assert Jesus is Merely “A God”
The church known as the “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” exercise changes to the Greek Texts that permit their interpretation that Jesus is the brother of Michael, and angel of God, rather that the Original Greek texts that state Jesus is Yahweh/Jehovah, of the entire Bible.
In several essays I document that Jesus is Yahweh from the Old Testament. The following is a link to a former essay I published that documents Jesus as Yahweh/Jehovah, in the Old Testament
As Yahweh, Jesus is well documented throughout the Bible as the Creator of all that exists. Since He existed before everything existed, He is defined as the Eternal God.
Old Testament: Yahweh is the Creator
Before proving that Jesus is the Creator, we must first establish that Yahweh alone is the Creator, and then demonstrate that the New Testament assigns these same creative acts to Jesus, identifying Him as Yahweh.
Yahweh Created the Universe Alone
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” — This foundational verse attributes the creation to Elohim, the plural intensive form of God, used in a singular sense. It allows for a plurality within God.
Isaiah 44:24 “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth?” — Yahweh (the LORD) declares He created all things by Himself, with no other alongside Him.
Job 33:4 “For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Psalm 102:25-27 “Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever…” — This Psalm speaks of Yahweh as the eternal Creator.
New Testament: Jesus is the Creator
The New Testament authors, all monotheistic Jews, make an astonishing claim: Jesus is the One who created everything, using the exact language and theology reserved for Yahweh.
John 1:1–3, 14 “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him… So the Word became human and made his home among us.”
Jesus (the Word) is explicitly identified as eternal, divine, and the agent of all creation.
“Nothing came into existence apart from Him”—mirroring Isaiah 44:24.
Colossians 1:15–17 “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see… Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”
Jesus is not only Creator, but also sustainer of all creation.
Paul attributes preexistence, supremacy, and divine purpose to Christ, affirming Him as Yahweh.
Hebrews 1:2–3, 10 “And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.
God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command…” He also says to the Son, ‘In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands.’”
Verse 10 is a direct citation of Psalm 102:25–27—which speaks of Yahweh—and applies it to the Son.
This is the strongest possible identification: Jesus is the eternal Creator, and Yahweh.
1 Corinthians 8:6 “But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything, and through whom we have been given life.”
Paul redefines the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) in light of Jesus.
The Father is the source (“from whom are all things”), and Jesus is the agent (“through whom are all things”)—yet both are described as God.
Jesus is Yahweh: Additional Proofs
Beyond creation, Jesus is identified directly with Yahweh by His titles, actions, and acceptance of worship.
Jesus Forgives Sins (A Power Exclusive of God)
Mark 2:5–7 “Son, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the teachers of religious law… said to themselves, ‘What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!’
Jesus Allowed People To Worship Him (Expressly Prohibited in the OT)
Matthew 14:33 “Then the disciples worshiped him. ‘You really are the Son of God!’ they exclaimed.”
Hebrews 1:6 “Let all God’s angels worship him.” (citing Deut. 32:43 LXX and Psalm 97:7)
Jesus Assigns the Name of God To Himself: “I AM”
John 8:58 “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!” — Echoing Exodus 3:14, where Yahweh says, “I AM WHO I AM.”
The Writers of the New Testament Call Jesus “God” Explicitly
- John 1:1 .”..and the Word was God”
- John 20:28 – “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
- Titus 2:13 – “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”
- Hebrews 1:8 – “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever’”
The Trinity in Creation: Yahweh as Father, Son, and Spirit. The full biblical picture shows the triune God involved in creation.
Genesis 1:2 – The Spirit of God: “The earth was formless and empty… and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”
Psalm 33:6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath [Spirit] of his mouth all their host.”
This demonstrates that Yahweh created through His Word (Jesus) and His Spirit, consistent with John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1.
Jesus Is Yahweh, the Creator
The Bible Establishes:
- Yahweh alone created all things.
- Jesus is the agent of creation, before all things, and sustains all things.
- The New Testament authors apply Old Testament texts about Yahweh directly to Jesus.
- Jesus bears the divine name, receives worship, and is called God.
For these reasons, Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh—the eternal Creator who made and sustains all things.
REGARDING JOHN 1:1 AND THE USAGE OF “A GOD”
The insertion of “a” in John 1:1c — “and the Word was a god” — has no grammatical, contextual, or theological precedence in Greek grammar or in the broader textual tradition of the New Testament. The correct and universally accepted translation is:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1, NLT, KJV, NASB, ESV, etc.)
The Greek Text of John 1:1
Greek:
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος,
καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν,
καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.
Literal Translation:
“In [the] beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with [the] God,
and God was the Word.”
Notice These Three Clauses:
1. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος – “In the beginning was the Word”
2. καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν – “and the Word was with the God”
3. καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος – “and God was the Word”
The Use of the Article in Greek: “Ho Theos” vs. “Theos”
Greek does not use the article (“the”) in the same way as English. Its presence or absence has grammatical and semantic implications, but not necessarily indefinite meaning (i.e., “a god”).
“τὸν Θεόν” (ton Theon) – with the article – refers to the person of God, often the Father.
“Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος” – without the article before Theos, but with the article before “ho Logos” (the Word).
This is a known and intentional grammatical structure called a Colwell’s Construction, from Greek scholar E.C. Colwell.
Colwell’s Rule (1933)
“In Greek, a definite predicate noun which precedes the verb is usually anarthrous (lacks the article), and yet it is still definite in meaning.”
In John 1:1c:
“Theos” (God) is the predicate nominative, and it precedes the verb ἦν (“was”). It does not have the article, not because it is indefinite (“a god”), but because it is qualitative or definite — to show nature or essence, not identity.
John is not saying “The Word was the Father,” but “The Word was God in essence.”
Had John written ὁ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος, he would have taught modalism—that the Word and the Father are the same person—which contradicts the prior clause.
Why “a god” Is Grammatically and Contextually Wrong
The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation renders John 1:1c: “and the Word was a god”
This violates basic Greek grammar:
- Greek has an indefinite article in concept, but it is expressed by context, not by the absence of the definite article.
- The word “Theos” without an article, in this context, is qualitative, not indefinite.
- If John had wanted to say “a god,” he could have used a different construction, like placing Theos after the verb or using a different word entirely, such as θεῖος (divine being).
Early Church Leaders and Greek-Speaking Christians
No Greek-speaking church father, scribe, or theologian ever translated or interpreted John 1:1 as “a god.” Instead:
- Athanasius (4th century): Used John 1:1 to defend the full deity of Christ against Arianism.
- Augustine, Tertullian, and others quoted it to affirm that Jesus is God, not “a god.”
- The Nicene Creed (325 AD) reflects this: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God…”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses Predicted Jesus’ Return 8 Times Since Their Founding In 1879
SEE THE 400 PROPHECIES OF THE MESSIAH THAT JESUS FULFILLED
Categories: Robert Clifton Robinson
Robert Clifton Robinson 
This post is for those who may speak to a Jehovah Witness and are told about the 144,000.
Jehovah Witnesses believe the 144,000 are comprised of anointed members of the WatchTower Society of Jehovah Witness, and, will form the Heavenly government with Jesus as its Head. This means they will be in the Heavens after their deaths, or, at The Rapture which Jehovah’s Witnesses believe to be the First Resurrection.
Below are three historical and scriptural illustrations of why this view fails.
First. Revelation 7 makes it clear that the 144,000 are called from the tribes of Israel. After Titus destroyed the Temple in 70 AD all records necessary to prove a Jewish genealogy were destroyed. Thus the Jehovah Witnesses would have no historical claim for their anointed members being Jewish since the records that would offer such proof would no longer exist. Thus, this becomes a major stumbling block for them. And thus they will claim that the number of the anointed is literal (a literal 144,000), where as, the genealogy is symbolic (meaning they are not really from the tribes of Israel). Thus this belief is cherry-picked, falsely, against both the historical and scriptural accounts. No one, on their own, could make such a claim of being one of the 144,000 outside that which scripture provides unless that person is demonic, or, a straight out liar – specifically those that have died or had families. Thus to accept the number as literal but genealogy as symbolic is done so in a deceptive and demonic manner.
Second. The 144,000, according to Revelation 7, are not anointed until right before the Tribulation begins and|or maybe right before or slightly after the Rapture. (I will lean on the Holy Spirit and Pastor Rob for clarification on this observation of how I read Revelation 6 and 7). Now the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe there are still approximately 23,000 anointed Jehovah Witnesses still alive. So that would mean approximately 121,000 that were (considered) anointed have died. How can this be when Revelation 7 gives a very clear picture that all are alive, without being resurrected, when they were anointed? The claim fails scripturally because of how Revelation 7 introduces those wonderful beings to us and how they became anointed. Thus the WatchTower Society again has taken a deceptive and demonic view of how Revelation 7 was written and why it was written in the manner it was as an answer to the question posited in Revelation 6:17.
Third. This one is not so obvious. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Revelation 11:15 (The 7th Trumpet Judgement) was fulfilled in 1914 (See Rob’s essay https://robertcliftonrobinson.com/2025/07/24/the-jehovahs-witnesses-predicted-jesus-return-8-times-since-their-founding-in-1879/ – I refer to that essay for point falsity here). And because they believe this fulfillment, along with the belief that the 144,000 are in the heavens serving with Jesus in a heavenly government, they fail to understand what Revelation 9:4, along with every preceding seal and trumpet judgement, states. Revelation 7:3 states very clearly that the 144,000 will have the seal of God placed on their foreheads. And this is how they will be identified going forward. Now Revelation 9:4 makes it clear during the 5th Trumpet Judgement that locust will come from the bottomless pit, and, were given power to harm men with the exception being those who had the seal of God on their foreheads. Now the only ones we know for certain that has this (described) seal are the 144,000. So you can see that the 144,000 are not in the Heavens, as Jehovah’s Witnesses claim, but right here upon the Earth. So the claim that Jehovah’s Witnesses make about the 144,000 are scripturally false. For the 144,000 are truly Israelites preaching to the world, along with the Two Witnesses, as God’s way of giving Gentiles, who missed the Rapture, and the Jews, under Tribulation, an opportunity for salvation. Praise God. I should further (in sarcasm), if the 7th Trumpet Judgement was fulfilled in 1914, who was the antichrist since he will be identified by the First Seal Judgement (Revelation 6:1). But I digress.
It is possible to make many more claims of falsity here but the above three points are so powerful that any Jehovah Witness who may have been in the discussion at the start will have long departed.
The Beginning is Near!
Peace be among anyone who reads these pages.
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An interesting youtube short about Christ.
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This article describes how the Witnesses come to the conclusion that Michael is the Son of God renamed Jesus.
https://www.catholic.com/qa/is-it-true-jehovahs-witnesses-believe-that-michael-the-archangel-and-jesus-are-the-same-person
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I find John 1:18 interesting in that it suggests `No one has seen God at anytime…`. Now I believe that to be true. So who did Isaiah see setting on the throne of God in Isaiah 6? He saw Jesus as Yahweh on the throne because John 1:18 further indicates that the Son declares Him. Secondarily John 14:9 states that if you have seen Jesus you have seen the Father. But when shown this verse one should ask ‘Do they really want me to believe that a created being can actually be like the Father?` Isn’t that what Satan said to Eve?
I find the belief that Micheal the Archangel being Jesus to be heresy and in contradiction with Hebrews 1:5 and 13 along with hundreds other verses. I would suspect Michael would strike them down for this heresy if he met them face to face.
The Watch Tower Society has a very tight lock on these people and most of them have never read their own Bible – they rely heavily on Watch Tower material states for their beliefs.
Prayers and Blessings to you brother Rob.
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