Could Jesus Be Just "a god"?

Many persons today deny that Jesus Christ is God. Some are willing to concede that He may be "a god", but not God Almighty. Some believe that Jesus is the Son of God only, a lesser created personage, forever inferior to the Father God. This is the belief of groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses and others like them.

While teaching that Jesus is Jehovah, the Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints) believe that Jesus is one of a plurality of gods, and Jehovah is not the Father. Mormons hope to be gods themselves one day.

Eastern Hinduistic religions which have spread to the West allow for Jesus to be "a god" along with their gurus, and followers also hope to be gods one day.

We therefore turn to the Bible as our reliable guide - the only book that has proven itself to be historically correct - the only book that has accurately foretold events that have proven to be true - the only book God has given to man, "inspired of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction..." (2 Timothy 3:16)

Let's let the Bible answer the question "could Jesus be 'a god' or is He God Almighty?"

ONLY ONE TRUE ETERNAL GOD

According to the Bible, there is only ONE, TRUE, ETERNAL GOD by nature. All others are created, and by biblical definition, FALSE.

"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am GOD, and THERE IS NO OTHER." (Isaiah 45:22).

"God is ONLY ONE." (Galatians 3:20).

"And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, in order that we might know HIM WHO IS TRUE, and we are in HIM WHO IS TRUE, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is THE TRUE GOD and eternal life." (1 John 5:20).

"You believe that GOD IS ONE, you do well; the demons also believe, and shudder...." (James 2:19)

So, the Scriptures are clear. There is only one true eternal God. The words ONE, TRUE, ETERNAL indicate that all other gods outside of this one TRUE ETERNAL ONE must be, by biblical definition, FALSE. The other gods are also not eternal, but created by someone.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER GODS?

The Bible acknowledges the existence of other gods, but places them in categories other than the exclusive position of the ONE TRUE GOD. These "gods" are, without exception, CREATED AND FALSE. They are not GOD by nature.

"However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which BY NATURE ARE NO GODS." (Galatians 4:8).

"For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but ONE GOD the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and ONE LORD, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we exist through Him." (1 Corinthians 8:5-6).

Belief in the ONE TRUE GOD of Scripture has always necessitated renouncing ALL OTHER GODS. The Ten Commandments begin,

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME... You shall not worship them or serve them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God..." (Exodus 20:2, 3, 5).

CATEGORIES OF "GODS" IN SCRIPTURE

Category 1 - Satanic

"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (1 John 5:19)

"...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:4).

It is evident, if we believe Jesus to be "a god", He would NOT fit this category!
 

Category 2 - Idols

A. Carved Idols -

"And he did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father had done, and Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them." (2 Chronicles 33:22).

B. Molten Images -

"They shall be turned back and be utterly put to shame who trust in idols, who say to molten images, "you are our gods". (Isaiah 42:17)

"And do not be idolators." (1 Cor. 10:7)

If we think that Jesus is "a god", He would NOT fit into the above category!
 

Category 3

Exaltation of Humans to Gods

"Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, "I said, you are gods?" (John 10:34)

Who were called "gods" by Jesus? It was the judges who ruled Israel before the days of the Kings. These judges had the power of life and death over the people, and were called "gods".

Were they true gods or false gods? Psalm 82 tells us in verses 1 and 2,

"God takes His stand in His own con-gregation; He judges in the midst of the rulers. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?"

Yes, God's judgement awaited these men-"gods".

"I said, "You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless you will die like men..." (Psalm 82:6-7).

No exalted man is a true god, but a false one. Do not be deceived by the same lie Satan told Eve in the garden of Eden...

"...You will be like God (or, "as gods") knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)

The teaching that any man can become a god is unscriptural. GOD has an exclusive on godship. If we think Jesus is "a god", we see that we cannot place Him in this category of corrupt men. This concludes the biblical categories of "gods". Jesus fits NONE of them.

Jesus is NOT "a god"

COULD JESUS BE THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL?

The Archangel Michael is specifically mentioned in three books of the Bible; Daniel, Jude and Revelation.

"Michael, one of the chief princes" (Daniel 10:13)

"Michael your prince" (Daniel 10:21)

"Now at that time Michael the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people." Daniel 12:1

Notice that Michael is just "one of the chief princes" - not unique at all. Michael is obviously a stong guardian angel, and nothing more is implied in Daniel. On to Jude.

"But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgement, but said "the Lord rebuke you." (Jude 9)

This Scripture proves that Jesus is not the Archangel Michael since Jesus repeatedly rebuked the devil (Matthew 17:18, Mark 9:25 etc.), while Michael did not dare rebuke the devil.

"And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon." (Revelation 12:7)

Again we see an archangel in charge of angels. Michael is Michael just as Gabriel is Gabriel. All the angels of God are commanded to worship Jesus in Hebrews 1:6. If Jesus is the archangel Michael then we are stuck with angels worshipping an archangel. No Scripture says Jesus is Michael and so Jesus in NOT Michael the Archangel.

IS JESUS CREATED OR THE CREATOR?

The following Scriptures are used in an attempt to prove Jesus' "creation".

"and He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." (Colossians 1:15)

The word in Greek for "first-created" is "protoktistos". This term is NOT used in connection with Jesus. The term "firstborn" means in Greek, "Preeminence in rank". Christ was preeminent before all creation and is therefore the Creator. Read John 1:3-4 and Colossians 1:16-17. "...the beginning of the creation of God says this" (Revelation 3:14)

The word "beginning" in Greek means "Supervisor", "Designer", "Origin", "Source". Jesus is the Creator.

The term "only begotten" referring to Jesus occurs in John 1:14, 18; 3:16-18; Hebrews 11:17; and 1 John 4:9. This term has no application to the time of Jesus' so-called "creation", but Acts 13:33 applies it to the time of the resurrection of Jesus Christ...

"that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that HE RAISED UP JESUS, as it is also written in the second Psalm, "Thou are my Son; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN THEE."

Jesus is nowhere in Scripture spoken of as being created - rather He is called "eternal". "Eternal Father, Mighty God" in Isaiah 9:6, and in Micah 5:2 His goings forth are from "the days of eternity".
 

Jesus is NOT created and HE IS THE CREATOR.

Truly, God's Blood Purchased the Church - Acts 20:28

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES SUPPORT FOR THE  New World Translation of JOHN 1:1: "and the Word was a god"

The New World Translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses caused quite a stir in the religious world when John 1:1 was translated... "and the Word was a god".

They are not without support for this translation, however, and we will now take a closer look at the precedents for translating, "and the Word was a god".

We find this important topic discussed in the publication by the Watchtower Society of Jehovah's Witnesses, "The Word Who is He? According to John". On page 5 we read:

"Similar is the reading by a former Catholic Priest: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god".

We are directed to a footnote which reads, "The New Testament -- a New Translation and Explanation" Based on the Oldest Manuscripts, by Johannes Greber [a translation from German into English], edition of 1937, the front cover of this bound translation being stamped with a gold cross."

Likewise, we find this translation by Johannes Greber referred to in "Make Sure of All Things Hold Fast to What is Fine " (1965), page 489.

The Johannes Greber New Testament obviously set a precedent for the Jehovah's Witnesses, and their rendering of John 1:1 is almost identical.

We again find Johannes Greber quoted in "Aid to Bible Understanding" on pages 1134 & 1669. This translation used to be available from the Johannes Greber Memorial Foundation.

Prior to the introduction of this New Test-ament by Greber, we find the following statements about the man himself and his prayers for guidance in his translating task...

"Prayers that were answered, and discrepancies clarified to him, by God's Spirit World. At times he was given the correct answers in large illuminated letters and words passing before his eyes. Other times he was given the correct answers during prayer meetings. His wife, a medium of God's Spirit World was often instrumental in conveying the correct answers from God's Messengers to Pastor Greber."

As we examine this New Testament further we find constant references to God's holy spirits (plural), and it becomes more and more obvious that we are dealing with a man deep into spiritism. This, of course, is forbidden by God's word. Leviticus 19:31 says,

"Do not turn to mediums or spiritualists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them".

Johannes Greber published not only the New Testament, but we are also told by his foundation,

Later he translated the New Testament with the help of God's spirit world." Late in the summer of 1923 God's holy spirits contacted Pastor Greber... In his spare time he started to work on his book "Communication with the Spirit World"

The Johannes Greber Memorial Foundation provided a photocopy of a letter from the Watchtower Society acknowledging receipt of not only several of his New Testaments, but also Greber's book "Communication with the Spirit World of God."

Why has the Watchtower Society of Jehovah's Witnesses willingly and knowingly been in communication with a spiritistic society?

It's true that in the April 1, 1983 Watch-tower, page 31, under "Questions from the Readers", the Society claims that they found out from the 1980 Edition of the New Testament by Johannes Greber that he was involved with spiritism, and therefore they would not quote from his bible in the future.

However, the facts are that the Watchtower Society knew, at least from 1956, that Johannes Greber was involved with demon spirits. They published an article to that effect in the Watchtower of February 15, 1956. With this knowledge, they deliberately used his "translation" of the bible as a basis for their "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures", in 1961. These dates do not lie.

Why would the Watchtower Society knowingly embrace a translation of John 1:1 given by demon spirits? Every Jehovah's Witness needs to check this out.

Continuing on with the precedents for translating John 1:1,... "and the Word was a god", we also find the Watchtower Society quoting on page 5 of "The Word Who is He? According to John".

"This reading is also found in the "New Testament in an Improved Version", published in London, England in 1808."

We are directed to a footnote which reads, The title page reads: "The New Testament in An Improved Version, upon the basis of Archbishop Newcome's New Translation: with a Corrected Text, and Notes Critical and Explanatory. Published by a Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and the Practice of Virtue, by the Distribution of Books---Unitarian."

Yes, the key word above is "UNITARIAN". This is a cult teaching that Jesus was an extraordinarily good man only, nothing more. A Mr.Thos. Belsham after Archbishop Newcome's death, altered his text. (See page 394, "Manual of Biblical Bibliography".)

This altered text dishonoring Archbishop Newcome's careful scholarship also provided a basis for the New World Translation's "...and the Word was a god". (see also the Kingdom Interlinear Translation, page 1160. 1960 Ed.)

Archbishop Newcome certainly never said, the Word was "a god". Why would the Watchtower use as their guide a cult denying the Biblical Christ, and guilty of altering a reputable biblical text? Every Jehovah's witness needs to check this out.

A third precedent for translating John 1:1,"... and the Word was a god" comes from the Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson. His translation actually reads "the LOGOS was God". but he placed the words "a god " under "theos" in the Greek and English.

Yet in the alphabetical index of the Emphatic Diaglott under the heading "Almighty" we find, "ALMIGHTY; able to do all things; an attribute of Deity; also of the glorified Jesus." (Rev. 1:8)

So even the Emphatic Diaglott, which the Watchtower printed on its own presses recognizes that Jesus Christ is Almighty God, and correctly applies Revelation 1:8 to Jesus.

Furthermore, Mr. Wilson never studied biblical Greek in college. He was a follower of John Thomas, a proven false prophet by biblical definition, and the founder of the Christadelphians, a Christ-dishonoring cult.

A 1998 publication from England, "The Twenty-first Century New Testament" by Vivian Capel surprised scholars by translating John 1:1 with the words "a god" instead of "God", similar to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Small wonder the promotional material promised that this version "could be used to convey thoughts free from the restrictions of the original words and phrases".

This work actually has two parallel columns, one with a "literal" translation, and one with a "free" rendering.

The author states that he spent four years on the project. Two translations in four years! This pales besides scholars like Dr. Randy Yeager, who spent fifty years on his New Testament Translation out of the original Greek, the Renaissance New Testament. Careful scholarship takes time!

The author also felt he should do away with the word "Logos" or "Word" in John 1:1, replacing it with the term "Marshall", which he believes conveys Jesus' rank. He goes so far as to call Jesus a "field marshall" in Revelation 19:13. He reasons that since "everything came into existence by means of him", he "arranged or marshaled the forces and materials supplied by the Father to create the universe".

He thereby alters the plain teaching that Jesus is the Creator, and replaces it with a lesser job description! Like the Watchtower, he reduces Jesus to a "he", small "h", again unconventional and insulting to Christ. He refers to Jesus being "first to be produced" in Colossians 1:15 and "the beginning of God's creation" in Revelation 3:14.

Not surprisingly, we find "cross" replaced with "execution stake" at Mark 8:34, and the use of the incorrect name for God, "Jehovah", at Mark 12:28.

This "translation" does support the Jehovah's Witnesses views, and presents cult doctrines on Christ. Not surprisingly the author's credentials are strangely missing from the promotional material. Obviously an isolated "translation" which is suspect to say the least, and to be avoided by serious Bible Students.

Yes, all the "precedents" for translating John 1:1 "...and the Word was a god" crumble away under close and honest scholarship.

Why would the Watchtower Society CHOOSE precedents that are false and even demonic?

Why do they CHOOSE to ignore Greek Scholars who are reputable? Every Jehovah's Witness needs to get satisfactory answers to these important questions.

Each one of us needs to settle the question, "Is Jesus THE GOD, or "a god"? If we have the right Jesus Christ, we are right for all eternity, but if we have the wrong Jesus Christ then we are wrong for all eternity.

Jehovah's Witnesses, write to us in total confidentiality, and we will send you more biblical information and facts you may not know about the Watchtower Society. This is sent out to you confidentially, with no follow up unless requested by you.

CONCLUSION

The question on the cover of this booklet asked, "Is Jesus 'a god'?" Based on the Scriptures, we answer a resounding NO!

Jesus is not some false, created god, but is God Almighty. No wonder Colossians 2:9 says, "In Him is dwelling ALL the FULLNESS of the Godship bodily."

All is all and full is full. Jesus is God.

Jesus Christ is no archangel or lesser god but as the ONE TRUE GOD referred to in 1 Timothy 1:16, 17, He can impart to us that which He possesses, ETERNAL LIFE.