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Responses to Jehovah's Witnesses 11
TL;DR
This page records theological dialogue between the author and a Jehovah's Witness about "headship," the meaning of John 3:13 about ascending and descending from heaven, and the origin of the word "Trinity." Overall, the page affirms the divinity and equality of Christ within the Trinity and urges careful, context-based interpretation of Scripture rather than isolated proof-texting.
"You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me!" — John 5:39, The Message
A member of Jehovah's Witnesses and I exchanged many email messages about beliefs and doctrines. These excerpts record questions he asked and responses I gave. Some material overlaps because our discussion occasionally returned to the same themes.
One of the sad things about our email exchanges is that my Jehovah's Witness friend rarely asked me a follow-up question. As a result, we seldom explored a topic in depth through follow-up questions.
My answer: This scripture appears in a letter Paul wrote to a church in tumult. The larger passage in which this verse appears is about order and authority. One key question is: What does Paul mean by the word "head" in this scripture?
This passage demonstrates an important point: If we misunderstand one biblical concept, we will likely misunderstand others. For instance, if the "headship" idea in 1 Corinthians 11:3 is taken to mean that God is superior to Jesus, then we may well conclude that this verse is also saying that the Bible teaches that men are superior to women. That, of course, is not a biblical concept. While men and women differ, in God's eyes they are equal. That should be clear from Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." The Contemporary English Version wording of that verse is even clearer: "Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman."
Therefore, if "head" in the first part of this verse about men and women is not setting up superior/inferior categories, then the last part of the verse is not trying to do that either.
What, then, does the last part of this verse mean? God the Father sent God the Son on a divine mission to redeem humankind. Without ceasing to be divine, God the Son took on human nature and the role of a servant. During His earthly ministry, God the Son voluntarily submitted to the headship of God the Father. He became subservient to Him. Was Christ equal with the Father in terms of His divine nature? Yes. However, in His role of Redeemer, God the Son acknowledged the headship of the Father.
The point being made in 1 Corinthians 11:3 is not that the Son is inferior to the Father. Rather, the point is that the Son willingly submits Himself to the Father's authority. The Son's willing submission to the Father in the work of redemption does not imply inferiority in His divine nature. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons who share the one divine being. Even 1 Corinthians 15 clarifies that Paul did not see the Son as inferior to the Father. Instead, God the Son voluntarily subjects Himself to God the Father's authority. 1 Corinthians teaches that God the Son has a different function or role from that of the Father. It does not teach that the Son is inferior in essence or being. Indeed, the Son is of the same essence as the Father. (More on the "Sonship" of Jesus)
My answer: To understand John 3:13, we need to read it in the context of John 3:1-21. This passage recounts Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus about being born again and develops the themes of heavenly revelation, faith, and eternal life. Isolating one sentence can obscure its meaning.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council, or Sanhedrin. Jesus challenges him to understand the need for birth from above and to receive the testimony of the One who has come from heaven.
In verse 14, Jesus refers to Moses lifting up the bronze snake in the wilderness, drawing a comparison with His own being lifted up. The direct background is Numbers 21:4-9.
Jewish traditions about heavenly ascent may also help illuminate verse 13. Some traditions portrayed Moses as ascending to receive divine revelation. Philo, a Jewish writer whose life overlapped that of Jesus, offers insight into Jewish interpretations of Moses. However, we should not assume that Nicodemus knew a particular story about Moses or that such a story explains Jesus' teaching about being born again.
The nonbiblical work The Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah also describes a heavenly ascent and revelation. Such accounts provide possible background for understanding the contrast between human seekers of heavenly knowledge and the Son who has come from heaven. They do not establish that Jesus was explicitly refuting these particular stories.
The central emphasis of John 3:13 is Jesus' unique authority to reveal heavenly truth. Reading this verse as a census of heaven's inhabitants misses that emphasis. It does not, by itself, establish a limit of 144,000 people who may enter heaven.
Deuteronomy 30:12 and Proverbs 30:4 provide additional biblical passages to consider alongside Jesus' language about ascending and descending.
My answer: The history of the word "Trinity" needs to distinguish its Latin and Greek forms. Tertullian, a Christian writer from North Africa, is the earliest surviving Christian author known to use the Latin term trinitas. Before him, Theophilus of Antioch used the Greek term trias in reference to God, His Word, and His Wisdom (To Autolycus, book 2, chapter 15).
Tertullian helped develop the vocabulary of Christian theology in Latin at a time when much Christian literature was written in Greek. Latin itself had already been widely used in the Roman Empire for centuries. Tertullian's writings show familiarity with law, although the traditional description of him as a practicing lawyer is uncertain.
Tertullian used Trinitarian terminology to explain Christian belief, particularly in Against Praxeas. The development of theological vocabulary does not, in itself, demonstrate that the belief it describes was borrowed from pagan religion.
Tertullian also wrote about the growth of Christianity under persecution. The familiar saying "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church" is an adaptation of his statement in Apology, chapter 50, that the blood of Christians is seed.
Earlier Christian writers also bear witness to belief in Christ's divinity and to developing language about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The following are paraphrases of their teaching, rather than direct quotations:
These writers did not all express their understanding in precisely the same way, and their formulations should not be treated as identical to later creedal statements. Nevertheless, they show that Christian reflection on Christ's divinity and on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit preceded the later councils.
Questions for you to ask a Jehovah's Witness