"Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." This phrase is most applicable to heretical doctrines that pop up at different time periods. Heresies never really die. They always die down, and many lie dormant for several centuries, but they always manage to return in one form or another. Therefore, it's so important to study the ancient heresies, so that we can better understand the modern ones. This applies especially to the quasi-Christian group known as the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Central to the theology of Jehovah's Witnesses is the rejection of the Holy Trinity, which is why I refer to them as quasi-Christian. The JWs believe that the Trinity goes against what Scripture teaches. Instead, they hold that only the Father is God, while Jesus is the first and highest creation of God. Not only that, but Jesus is the incarnation of St. Michael the Archangel, and His pre-human life began in heaven. While God used Jesus as a means to create the rest of the universe, Jesus is not God, and He does not share in the divine substance.
To anyone who is well versed in the heresies of the early Church, these ideas should seem familiar. After all, it basically boils down to Arianism, or the idea that Jesus is like the Father but is not coeternal with or substantially the same as the Father. In the fourth century, Arius, a fourth-century clergyman, taught the doctrine that Jesus was subordinate to the Father, which in Greek is homoiousious (similar substance). This was opposed to the orthodox position as spelled out in the Athanasian Creed, namely homoousious (same substance). In essence, orthodox Christians believed that Jesus was one in substance with the Father, while the Arians viewed Jesus as similar in substance to (but still different from) the Father. Furthermore, the Arians believed that Jesus was created by God in time, making Him God's first creation.
One problem that 4th-century trinitarians had with Arianism is the atonement. If Christ died for our sins, which neither side of the controversy denied, then how could man's sins be forgiven if He wasn't even God? How could one finite man's death (even if He was sinless) be enough to bridge he infinite divide between God and man? It is not enough if Jesus was only a human being; in order to open the gates of heaven to humanity, reconcile us to God, and ultimately allow us to participate in the divine life, God had to die for us. As Athanasius put it, "God became man so that man might become God." He wasn't referring to a pantheistic notion of becoming subsumed into the divine substance. Rather, we retain our individuality while being perfect. In this sense we can truly and authentically become like God. However, it can only happen if God Himself died as the final sacrifice for our sins.
Since Jehovah's Witnesses hold to the same anti-trinitarian view as the Arians, their idea of the subordinate nature of Christ can be refuted in the same way. Furthermore, there is plenty of biblical evidence that points to the reality of the Trinity.
Let's look at John 1:1, which says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Of course, JWs would immediately reply that this Bible translation is incorrect, because the New Word Translation (the JW version) translates John 1:1 differently. They say that the correct version should say "and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god." While JWs argue that their translation is the most accurate, it clearly fails when compared to the original Greek text, as we will see below.
In the Greek version, John 1:1 reads "ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος." In the second part of the verse, which translates as "and the Word was with God," the word for "God" (θεόν, or theon), is in the accusative case, meaning that it is the direct object of the phrase. As the direct object, theon receives the verb, which in this case is "was." However, in the last phrase, we see that the word for "God" has a different ending (θεὸς, or theos). This form is in the nominative case, making it the subject of the phrase. Literally, it translates as "and God was the Word." Also, the word for "Word," (λόγος, or logos) is also nominative, making it a predicate nominative. This means that "Word" is simply another way of saying "God." For instance, if I were to say "Caesar, the emperor of Rome, is coming," the word "emperor" would be a predicate nominative, since it's just another way of referring "Caesar." It is the same way with the last part of John 1:1. If "Word" is the predicate nominative of "God," then "God" and "Word" must refer to the same thing, making the correct translation "and the Word was God."
Moreover, if we look at 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, we can see evidence for the divinity of the Holy Spirit. In this verse St. Paul tells us that "For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God. Among human beings, who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the person that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God." Paul very clearly states that no human being can comprehend God's mind, and that only the Holy Spirit can search and understand the mysteries of God. Now, if the Holy Spirit is the only entity that can understand God, no creatures (including human beings and angels) can access His mysteries. As Paul writes just a few verses earlier, in verse 7, God's wisdom is "mysterious, hidden, which God has predetermined before the ages of our glory." God's mysteries are not known to anyone apart from God Himself. So how can the Spirit know them--unless He is God? As a result, 1 Corinthians 2:10-11 is a strong indication that the Holy Spirit is God.
Overall, we can be confident that John intended to communicate a fundamental truth about the Holy Trinity, namely that the Father and the Son are one in substance, yet distinct in person. We can also conclude that the New World Translation significantly alters the original intent of the ancient Greek for the sake of convenience rather than for the truth. Lastly, St. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians that the Holy Spirit is divine. Ultimately, the faith of the Jehovah's Witnesses can be reduced to a modern rebranding of the Arian heresy, which teaches that the Son is subordinate to the Father. The Church has dealt with this grave error before, and so we should have confidence in addressing it today.
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