Today saw me running from Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Not literally, but you know how you do: you walk out your door, glance at them getting out of their car two doors down, realize who they are, break out in a cold sweat, and then it becomes an awkwardly casual footrace to reach your car without making eye-contact.
Safely ensconced in my not-so-safe ’04 Corolla, I backed out of my driveway and beat a hasty retreat.
I’m not proud of fleeing from Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I’m not particularly ashamed, either.
It is what it is.
Arriving home an hour later, I discovered some Edward Jones Financial Investments literature tucked away at my front door.
I’m not saying I felt foolish, but I’m not saying I didn’t, either.
I’m sure I’m not the first person to run away from financial advisors, and I won’t be the last, but that’s not why I’m writing.
You see, during my hiding (err, I mean, my “me time”), I was thinking long and hard about what I would even say to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
(For those who may not know, JWs teach the Bible… sort of. They teach that Jesus Christ, is actually a created being, as opposed to being what the Bible clearly says he is—the second person of the Holy Trinity. This false teaching of theirs ends up making the Bible into nonsense basically, because the divine eternality of Christ is fundamentally essential to the Scriptures—as well as the whole of creation itself. Removing Jesus’ “God-ness” immediately and inescapably causes every core doctrine of the Christian faith to fail.)
So, I sat in my car, eating McNuggets and thinking about the implications of Jesus being infinite God of infinite God (as one does).
It occurs to me, that if (err, since) God is infinite, we have an interesting math equation on our hands.
I started in Genesis, so that’s where I’ll take you…
TO THE BATCA..!!… I mean… THE GARDEN OF EDEN!!
*Adam West-y scene change*
“In the beginning…” the infinite God made all things.
But He didn’t make all things infinite—that’s a theological impossibility.
The infinite God made a finite universe.
Enter Adam.
God, being infinite, told Adam, being finite, “Don’t eat that fruit.”
Adam, being finite, and not an idiot (yet), said, “Yes, sir.”
Eventually, Adam becomes an idiot (probably over a girl, too), and eats the fruit.
Now, we have a problem.
A finite creature has broken the command/law of the infinite God.
We have to do some thinking now. (sorry!)
I’ll make the keywords bold here, just to help us follow…
If a finite creature breaks an infinite law, what is the magnitude of the break?
Is it a finite infraction because the one who broke it was finite?
Or is it an infinite infraction because the One who gave the law was infinite?
Obviously, a command or law only has as much power as the one who gives it, therefore, Adam’s transgression of God’s law was an infinite transgression.
But wait!… there’s more…
We’re not done thinking yet, we’ve merely read the rules and set up the board… Now it’s time to play…
Adam is now indebted to God, infinitely.
Think about it!
Adam (a finite being) owes God (an infinite being) an infinite debt!
(This is completely justified and logical!)
How can God receive payment for this debt?
A finite thing can’t possibly pay back an infinite price!
Can he?
Well, there is one mathematically sound possibility…
He can pay back his debt for all eternity.
If the price is infinite (never-ending), then the payment must be likewise.
Adam can pay his debt, in a way—though it will never be fully satisfied.
Exeunt Adam.
(I hope you realize that everything that applies to Adam applies to all of Humanity.) (Romans 5)
Okay, cool. So… What does any of this have to do with Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Well, see, Jehovah’s Witnesses want to tell you that you can be saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, because his blood has the power to save us from our debt to God.
But they’re wrong.
Not about how you can be saved from your sins, but about who can save you from your sins. (Try and follow me here… It’s still Jesus!)
The Jesus that JWs believe in has absolutely zero power to save.
The Jesus of the Bible, on the other hand, CAN save!
So, now we have a battle of Jesus vs Jesus on our hands.
But that might get confusing, so let’s call the Jesus of the Bible, the uncreated, eternal, fully-divine, truly God Jesus by an appropriate title—let’s go with “Lord and Master Jesus Christ”, or “Jesus” for short.
We’ll call the Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witnesses something equally appropriate—“Bob.”
COME ONE, COME ALL, TO THE COSMIC SMACK-DOWN OF THE CENTURY! IN THE RED CORNER, HAILING FROM THE REALMS OF HEAVEN ABOVE, MAKER OF ALL THINGS, VERY GOD OF VERY GOD, UNMATCHED, UNCREATED, UNDEFEATED, ALL HAIL THE POWER OF… JESUS!!!
AND IN THE BLUE CORNER, FROM THE MIND OF CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL, IT’S A NEW SPIN ON YOUR OLD FAVORITE ARIAN HERESY… Bob.
I’m not trying to make anyone upset here. If you’re a Jehovah’s Witness, and you’re reading this, please understand… I am NOT, nor would I EVER, belittle the name of the infinite God of the Universe.
But what I hope to help you see is that your “Jesus”, is not anything even close to worthy of worship.
Hence, Bob.
I could point to dozens of biblical texts to prove my point (and I will add a link to resources at the end of this), but I believe that the very order and logic of the universe that God has created also has the power to defend the God of the Bible (Romans 1).
Let’s return to our equation from the Garden—finite being (A) owes infinite debt (d) to infinite being (G).
Another way of saying it might be, A + d = hopeless.
Here’s the plain explanation, if you haven’t already put the math together in your head:
The only thing that can repay an infinite debt is an infinite payment; therefore, any payment made which is less than infinite is an insufficient payment.
Only a being of infinite proportions can repay a debt of infinite proportions; thus a finite being is, by definition, mathematically prohibited from repaying an infinite debt (save by payment over infinite time).
Any claim made, therefore, to payment of an infinite debt must be made by an infinite being, otherwise it is a lie.
Are you tracking with me? Read it again if you need to…
Therefore, when Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that their savior, Bob, is a created being, being made by Jehovah, the Father, but not fully equal to Him, and certainly not of the same essence and substance, they mathematically eliminate Bob from being capable to save them from their infinite debt to God because of their sins.
But when the biblical Jesus says, “ego eimi,” “I am,” He is claiming full deity and equality with Yahweh.
If/since he is equal to God, thus being of the very same infinite essence and substance, he has the power, and the infinitude to pay the infinite price on behalf of the finite transgressors (i.e. us).
The math works.
It also works logically in both directions (much like an equation would).
Jesus is God, therefore he is able to pay the infinite debt owed by man to the Father.
And…
Jesus is able to pay the infinite debt owed by man to the Father, therefore he is God.
Bob can’t do that.
Now, somebody may say that Jesus never actually claimed to be God; that that’s not what he meant when he said all that stuff.
That’s bogus.
Of course, that’s what he meant!
That’s why the Jews picked up stones to try and kill the guy, because they knew he was equating himself with their God!
They called him a blasphemer for his statements, and then put him to death for the very same crime!
The whole reason Jesus was killed by the Jews was because he claimed to be the almighty, infinite, God.
If you do not know Jesus, the real Jesus (not Bob), please read the Bible.
Start in the Gospel of John (New Testament, fourth book/section).
You can read the whole thing in a couple hours.
Spread it out over the week if you want.
If you aren’t used to historical accounts, then I recommend the New International Version, for readability. If you don’t mind slightly archaic phrasing, go for the English Standard Version. Both are quite faithful to the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible.
Avoid the New World Translation, published in 1950, because it has been purposefully edited by the Watch Tower Society to add and remove certain keywords and phrases that point to the divinity of Christ.
I hope you have learned something today, and that I haven’t been a poor witness for my God, Jesus Christ.
As promised, here are the resources for further study on Jehovah’s Witnesses, Arianism, and a biblical response to them: https://carm.org/jehovahs-witnesses
I know this post definitely took on a teachy kind of tone.
I’m almost sorry about that…
Beyond the Garden 