Arius and the Jehovah’s Witnesses

.... The modern groups we’ve just named, plus a few others, get their basic doctrinal positions from Arius of Alexandria. But I must alert you to an exception, which pertains to the doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In a way they’re Arian, and in a way they’ve digressed a step from Arius. Let me explain what I mean by this:

.... If you ask a Jehovah’s Witness about Jesus, they’ll basically agree with Arius but add a twist of their own. They don’t believe that Jesus was God, they believe He was simply a created being. So what do they believe He was? A Jehovah’s Witness will tell you that he believes Jesus Christ was Michael the archangel, who was promoted to be the Son of God.

.... Now this runs into a serious problem because the Bible repeatedly shows us that Jesus is worthy of worship, and that we are to worship Him (Matthew 2:2; 14:33; 28:9,17). Even the angels worship Him (Hebrews 1:6). So if they believe that Jesus is an angel, and the Bible teaches that He is to be worshiped, then they are teaching the worship of angels, one of the original abuses that the Arians were fighting against! And it’s also something that the Epistle to the Colossians spoke against (Colossians 2:18-19).

.... And just for the record, Michael the archangel isn’t mentioned in the Scriptures very often. But when he is, there are always other references that can show Jesus already existing at the same time. Jesus is here, and Michael is over there, as two wholly separate being. They’re mentioned contemporarily (from Michael’s view), but never as one and the same.

.... Like Arius, the Jehovah’s Witnesses will take any Scripture that refers to Jesus Christ as God, and answer that Jesus Christ was ‘a’ god, but He was not ‘the’ God. They believe that only God the Father was ‘the’ God. Now the Trinitarian school of thought would really, really have a problem with that conclusion because the Bible teaches pointedly and repeatedly that there is only one God. It just couldn’t be much clearer than all of this.

.... So if the Jehovah’s Witnesses are saying that Jesus is ‘a’ god and God the Father is ‘the’ God, they are still teaching polytheism as we have already discussed. But Hebrews chapter One would settle the entire question of Jesus being ‘a’ god, or Jesus being Michael the archangel. For God the Father Himself speaks of Christ in this manner:

.... "having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son"?

(Hebrews 1:4-5)

.... And what else does the Father say of Him?

.... ‘But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

(Hebrews 1:8-9)

.... Okay, now let’s leave the Arian heresies off to the side and return to the first branch of research. Let’s go back to what was happening with the people who were working with the Doctrine of the Trinity.