Divinity of Christ and Jehovahs Witnesses

Yes, that's MY doorpost!

Last Saturday morning I was visited by a couple Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs), one elderly woman and one young woman.  I must admire their zeal for their convictions.  They were very proud of the fact that JWs are translating the Bible into many translations so that the Scriptures can be spread throughout the world and people can read in their own languages.  I identified myself as a Catholic, and the elderly one said, "Oh, I thought you might be Jewish" and pointed to the mezuzah on my door jam (which, I might add, has the Shema prayer inside it, blessed by a rabbi), to which I answered, "As Catholics, we embrace our Jewish roots and heritage."  I don't think she caught the significance of the mezzuzah or the fact that it contains the Hebrew prayer which destroys their argument against the Trinity.

The Shema prayer is one taught to all Jewish children and likewise, we teach it to our children.  It goes as follows:

Sh'ma Yisra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

Barukh sheim k'vod malkhuto l'olam va'ed.
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

V'ahav'ta eit Adonai Elohekha b'khol l'vav'kha uv'khol naf'sh'kha uv'khol m'odekha.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

V'hayu had'varim ha'eileh asher anokhi m'tzav'kha hayom al l'vavekha.
And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.

V'shinan'tam l'vanekha v'dibar'ta bam
And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them

b'shiv't'kha b'veitekha uv'lekh't'kha vaderekh uv'shakh'b'kha uv'kumekha
when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Uk'shar'tam l'ot al yadekha v'hayu l'totafot bein einekha.
And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

Ukh'tav'tam al m'zuzot beitekha uvish'arekha.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
http://www.jewfaq.org/shemaref.htm

This is taken straight from Scripture too - recognized as such by Jew, Christian and even the JW.  So, when we read that the Lord our God is One (Deut. 6:4) and we recognize the deity of Jesus Christ as even JWs do though they call Him "a" god, not co-eternal with the Father.  In Catholic translations (I use the DRB below), and even most, if not all, Protestant translations we read in John 1:1 - 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

However, the JW version (the NWT) says:

In the beginning was the Word,+ and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.

So, how can the JW reconcile that our God is One God, and yet declare that Jesus (the Word in John 1) is "a god" too?  

Back to my conversation with the two JW ladies...  
I stated, again, that we too are translating and have translated the Scriptures into all known (written) languages around the world.  We too are doing that, and then I said, "but we have an issue with your translation."  The elderly one stated, "You can find the truth in all translations, I assume you use the Douay-Rheims..."  I answered, "Yes, that is one I turn to the most, but not the only one."  I pointed to my computer screen and said, "I am a Catholic apologist and actually am researching Scripture right now on my computer."  (I was doing this for an on-going discussion in the Catholic Debate Forum with an atheist). 

I again drew the attention away from their boasting of bringing the Scriptures to so many different people, repeating that we do that too and have been doing it for a lot longer.  I brought the discussion back to the divinity of Jesus Christ and that He is One with the Father...  At this point they must have realized they brought a knife to a gunfight.  They were polite, but quickly excused themselves.  The irony of them bringing to my attention the mezzuzah on my doorpost did not go unnoticed.

The First and the Last

After some contemplation of last Sundays Mass Readings I felt the Holy Spirit guiding me to talk about the Divinity of Jesus.  This feeling came to me when I read the Scripture readings and fell on the passage of John describing the voice that said to him: “Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me recompense I will give to each according to his deeds.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning ant the end.”

One sentence later we find out that Jesus is the one speaking here but I’ve already heard from those who do not believe Jesus to be God that the one speaking was God the Father and that Jesus began speaking later.  Context is pretty plain that it is indeed Jesus speaking about being the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last but since this verse isn’t convincing for some, I thought I’d bring out some other verses that are a little clearer on this.

First, we know with certainty that the Lord God is the first and the last because the Old Testament explains this explicitly.  Isaiah 44, verse 6 tells us: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

God also describes Himself as the Alpha and Omega in the first chapter of Revelation when He says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev 1:8)  So, it’s established that God is the Alpha and the Omega.  And earlier in Isaiah we see that God describes Himself as the first and the last.  The New Testament being written in Greek, the idea of ‘the first and the last’ is expressed using the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and omega.

So, does Jesus call himself the first and the last to describe himself as God?  In fact, He does.  In the Book of Revelation the Apostle John writes: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Do you see it?  God is the First and the Last and here the one calling Himself the ‘First and the Last’ also says in the same breath that he once was dead but now is alive for ever and ever.  The only one that can claim this title is God, and yet Jesus is also the only one who can say that he once was dead but is alive once again.  Therefore since Jesus describes Himself by a title that only God can have tells us that Jesus, right here in Scripture, declares Himself to be God.

God Bless
Nathan

Jesus Is God

 

 

Last weeks Mass readings on Christ the King reminded me of a discussion I had with a close relative who doubted Jesus’ divinity because Jesus Himself never claimed to be God in the Scriptures. At the time I was ill-prepared to respond but I was able to at least point to the place where Jesus said: “Before Abraham was, I am.” in the Gospel of John, Chapter 8, verse 58. You see when Moses asked the Lord God what His name was, God answered him: “I am who I am. Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”(Exo 3:14) Therefore when Jesus said“Before Abraham was, I am” He was in fact calling Himself God.

In reality, many times did Jesus make it plain to his listeners that He was claiming to be God and we know this because these listeners tried to stone and kill him. For a clear example of this see John 10:31-33 where it says: “--"I and the Father are one." The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

If Jesus was not God then being a good Jew, Jesus would’ve stopped anyone from worshipping Him as God and yet we find the Apostle Thomas, at seeing the risen Christ in front of him and touched his wounds, said: “My Lord, and my God.” (John 20:28) with no rebuke from Jesus.

Are these verses enough evidence? No, you say? Well then how about we look at a few more. We find in the Old Testament that the Lord said: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” (Isaiah 44:6) and we find in the New Testament that Jesus said: “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.”(Rev 1:17-18) We know with certainty that the one speaking here must be Jesus since he says that he was dead. And yet he calls himself by the same title as the Lord God “the first and the last”.

Still not enough? Alright, here’s one final proof which can be found in the last two chapters of the book of Revelation. According to Revelation 21:6-7, the Almighty God reveals himself in plain terms: “And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.’”

But then, in Revelation 22:6, 13, 16, we find Jesus revealing himself to be “the Alpha and the Omega . . . the beginning and the end.”:

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end . . . I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.”

Therefore Jesus Is God.

God Bless
Nathan