Jehovah's Witnesses

Jesus is not God but God's first and greatest creation — identified with Michael the archangel, and rendered 'a god' (not 'God') in John 1:1.

Their basis
Their New World Translation reads John 1:1 'the Word was a god.' They cite Colossians 1:15 ('firstborn of all creation'), Revelation 3:14 ('the beginning of the creation of God'), Proverbs 8:22, and John 14:28 ('the Father is greater than I') to argue Jesus is a created, subordinate being. They identify him with Michael from 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Jude 9, and Daniel 12:1. They guard God's oneness (Deuteronomy 6:4) and read John 17:3 as making the Father 'the only true God.'

Scripture answers
Scripture calls Jesus fully God and the uncreated Maker of all. John 1:1 is anchored by John 1:3 — 'all things were made through him,' so he cannot himself be a made thing. He says 'Before Abraham was, I AM' (John 8:58), Thomas worships him as 'My Lord and my God' (John 20:28), and 'in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily' (Col 2:9). 'Firstborn' (prōtotokos) means heir and preeminent one, not first-created — proven by the next verses, 'by him all things were created… he is before all things' (Col 1:16-18; cf. Ps 89:27). 'Beginning of the creation' (archē) means source/origin. The Father calls the Son 'God': 'Your throne, O God, is forever' (Heb 1:8), and Isaiah 9:6 names him 'Mighty God.' Yahweh says he made all things 'alone, by myself' (Isa 44:24) — leaving no created co-maker.

John 1:1John 1:3John 8:58John 20:28Colossians 1:16Colossians 2:9Hebrews 1:8Isaiah 9:6Isaiah 44:24Philippians 2:6

In fairness: They are right to reject any teaching of three gods and to take God's oneness (Deut 6:4) with utter seriousness, and Jesus truly did say 'the Father is greater than I' (John 14:28) — genuinely true of the Son in his incarnate, submitted role (Phil 2:6-8). The word 'Trinity' is indeed not in the Bible. Their error is not caring about God's unity; it is drawing from these truths a conclusion the text forbids — a created Christ.

The Holy Spirit is not a person but God's impersonal 'active force,' and the Trinity is a pagan-rooted, unbiblical doctrine.

Their basis
They point out that 'Trinity' does not appear in Scripture and argue the doctrine entered the church from pagan philosophy in the fourth century. The Spirit, they say, is never named alongside the Father and Son as a worshiped person, and is likened to power that 'fills' people (Acts 2:4), so it is God's energy, like electricity — an 'active force,' not a 'he.'

Scripture answers
The Spirit does what only a person can do — he speaks ('the Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul,' Acts 13:2), has a mind and will ('apportions to each one individually as he wills,' 1 Cor 12:11), can be lied to (Acts 5:3), grieved (Eph 4:30), and outraged/insulted (Heb 10:29). Lying to the Holy Spirit is called lying to God: 'You have not lied to men but to God' (Acts 5:3-4). Jesus repeatedly calls him 'he,' the Helper who teaches and testifies (John 14:26; 16:13-14). And the three are named together as one shared 'name' in baptism (Matt 28:19) and blessing (2 Cor 13:14).

Acts 5:3Acts 5:4Acts 13:21 Corinthians 12:11Hebrews 10:29John 14:26John 16:13Ephesians 4:30Matthew 28:192 Corinthians 13:14

In fairness: They have a genuine point that the systematic word 'Trinity' and its precise formula were hammered out by the church over the first four centuries, not handed down as a ready-made term, and the Spirit truly is God's power at work in the world. Their instinct to protect biblical monotheism is a real biblical value — but the data of Scripture is that the one God exists as Father, Son, and Spirit, not that the Spirit is a mere force.

Jesus was not raised bodily; his human body was disposed of and he was resurrected as an invisible spirit creature. His invisible presence and heavenly enthronement as king likewise began, they teach, in 1914.

Their basis
They cite 1 Peter 3:18, 'put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,' and 1 Corinthians 15:44-50, 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,' to argue Jesus rose as a spirit. The post-resurrection appearances, they say, were materialized bodies temporarily assumed. His 'coming' is an invisible 'presence' (parousia), which they date to 1914.

Scripture answers
Jesus staked his identity on a bodily resurrection: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' — 'he was speaking of the temple of his body' (John 2:19-21). The risen Jesus insisted, 'A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have,' and ate before them (Luke 24:39-43). He showed the nail-marks and wounded side and told Thomas to touch them (John 20:27). The empty tomb matters precisely because the body was raised (Luke 24:3-6). Paul makes the physical resurrection the hinge of the faith — 'if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile' (1 Cor 15:14-17) — and says our lowly bodies will be transformed like his glorious body (Phil 3:21). As for his return, it will be visible: 'every eye will see him' (Rev 1:7; Acts 1:11).

Luke 24:39Luke 24:43John 2:19John 2:21John 20:271 Corinthians 15:14Philippians 3:21Acts 1:11Revelation 1:7

In fairness: They rightly affirm that the resurrection body is glorified and Spirit-empowered, not merely resuscitated mortal flesh (1 Cor 15:44) — Paul does contrast the 'natural' and the 'spiritual' body. But 'spiritual body' means a real body animated and glorified by the Spirit, not a bodiless spirit; the text says flesh and bones, wounds, and eating.

Salvation comes by faith plus loyal obedience to 'Jehovah's organization' — meeting attendance, the door-to-door preaching work, and moral works — with no assurance of everlasting life in this age.

Their basis
They point to Matthew 24:45-47 to identify a 'faithful and discreet slave' (the Governing Body) through whom God feeds and directs his people, and Matthew 24:14 to require the preaching work. They cite James 2:24 ('a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone') and Matthew 24:13 ('he who endures to the end') to argue salvation depends on ongoing faithful works, and teach that no one should presume they are saved.

Scripture answers
The gospel is that salvation is God's free gift received by faith, not earned: 'by grace you have been saved through faith… not a result of works, so that no one may boast' (Eph 2:8-9); 'to the one who does not work but believes… his faith is counted as righteousness' (Rom 4:5; 3:28); 'not because of works done by us… but according to his mercy' (Titus 3:5). Salvation is found in the person of Christ, not membership in an organization: 'there is salvation in no one else' (Acts 4:12). Believers are meant to have assurance now: 'I write these things… that you may know that you have eternal life' (1 John 5:13); 'whoever hears my word and believes… has passed from death to life' (John 5:24). And any 'gospel' that adds requirements to Christ is placed under anathema (Gal 1:8-9).

Ephesians 2:8Ephesians 2:9Romans 4:5Titus 3:5Acts 4:121 John 5:13John 5:24Galatians 1:8James 2:17

In fairness: They are right that a living faith produces works and that faith without works is dead (Jas 2:17) — cheap, fruitless 'belief' saves no one, and they take discipleship, moral seriousness, and evangelism (Matt 28:19-20) with a devotion that shames much of the wider church. James and Paul agree: works are the evidence of saving faith, never its purchase price. The error is making obedience and organizational loyalty the ground of acceptance rather than its fruit.

Only 144,000 go to heaven to rule with Christ; the rest of the faithful (the 'great crowd,' 'other sheep') will live forever on a restored paradise earth. Only the anointed 144,000 partake of the communion emblems.

Their basis
They read the 144,000 of Revelation 7:4 and 14:1-3 literally as the limited number who reign in heaven, and identify the 'great crowd' of Revelation 7:9 and the 'other sheep' of John 10:16 as a separate, earthly class. They cite Psalm 37:29 ('the righteous will inherit the earth') and Matthew 5:5 for the earthly hope, and restrict the Lord's Supper accordingly.

Scripture answers
Revelation itself describes the 'great crowd' as standing 'before the throne and before the Lamb' in heaven, serving God 'in his temple' (Rev 7:9-15) — the same redeemed people, not a lower earthly class. The 144,000 is plainly symbolic (12 x 12 x 1,000, sealed from the tribes of Israel), and Jesus prayed that all his people would be with him and see his glory (John 17:24). Heaven is promised to every believer: 'our citizenship is in heaven' (Phil 3:20), an inheritance 'kept in heaven for you' (1 Pet 1:4), and 'one flock, one shepherd' (John 10:16) — one people, not two tiers. The Supper is for all who trust him: 'as often as you eat this bread… you proclaim the Lord's death' (1 Cor 11:26). And everyone who believes, not a select 144,000, receives eternal life (John 3:16).

Revelation 7:9Revelation 7:15John 10:16John 17:24Philippians 3:201 Peter 1:41 Corinthians 11:26John 3:16Revelation 21:3

In fairness: They preserve something much of the church has neglected — the concrete, physical hope of a renewed earth. Scripture really does promise 'new heavens and a new earth' where the meek inherit the land and God dwells with his people (Rev 21:1-4; Rom 8:21; Isa 65:17; Matt 5:5), and the number 144,000 genuinely appears in Revelation. Their error is splitting God's one redeemed family into two destinies and fencing off Christ's table.