“The Most Useful Comparison You May Ever Make” (The Watchtower)
From page 14, “Today, there are thousands of denominations that are called Christian, yet they are divided by conflicting doctrines and differing views.” This is true, yet there are basic doctrines that Christians traditionally hold in common, such as those stated in the Apostles Creed. The doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses are different than those common doctrines traditionally believed by Christians.
From page 14, “Jesus is the firstborn Son of God. Jesus was created, and thus he had a beginning.”
This is not clear or explicit biblical doctrine. Paul said Jesus was the “firstborn of all creation” meaning he has the highest place. Nowhere in the Bible is it said Jesus was created. Revelations 3:14 says that Jesus is the beginning of God’s creation. The word for beginning is ἀρχὴ which can be beginning but can also mean ruler, or originator or source.
The proof text that the Watchtower publication gives at this point is John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I am”. This is true, especially when Jesus spoke these words as a man “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3). The Watchtower publication is also correct when is says that Jesus is subject to God and obedient to his will. But, we can’t ignore that the Bible also says Jesus is the unique son of God (John 1:14), who is divine (John 1:1), and in whom “the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col 1:19). No where does the Bible say Jesus was created or had a beginning.
From page 14, “The holy spirit is a force that God uses to accomplish his will. It is not a person.”
It is true that the Holy Spirit is forceful and powerful for the purposes of God, just as the Father is and just as the Son is. But the Bible doesn’t say that the Holy Spirit is merely a force and not a person. That doctrine goes against what Christians as a whole have believed over the course of Church history. Many examples can be given from the Bible where the Holy Spirit is regarded as a person.
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