Doctrine of the Trinity: Differences between Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christians, and Muslims

Jehovah’s Witnesses differ from Orthodox Christians in their belief on the doctrine of the Trinity; they take the position that Jesus (the Son) is not equal in nature with God (the Father). I have written this article with the intent of challenging this claim and showing that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is logically sound and non-contradictory in such a way that it is viable for Jesus and the Father to be equal in nature.

The claim of a Jehovah’s Witness that Jesus is not equal in nature with God hangs on the following assumption, which I believe is false: “A difference in function necessarily means a difference in nature.”

Based on this assumption, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that God the Father has a different nature than Jesus the Son. This belief is derived primarily from the passage in John 14:28 in which Jesus says, “...the Father is greater than I.” Obviously, Jesus says in this passage that in some way, the Father is greater than He is. Notice, though, that the text doesn’t make it clear whether the difference is in function or in nature.

If the assumption that “A difference in function necessarily means a difference in nature” is true, then we can clearly deduce from this passage that Jesus and God cannot be the same in nature, since they are unequal in function.

Based on John 14:28 and the assumption above, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus and God have different functions and therefore cannot be equal in nature. In other words, they believe that Jesus is not a Divine Being (equal in nature with God the Father), but rather a being that is lesser in nature than God the Father. God the Father is not a created Being, but Jesus is a created being, according to Jehovah’s Witnesses’ teaching.

This is contrary to the understanding of the Trinity that Christianity has maintained from its inception—that within the one Being that is God, there exist eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. According to the classical Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are equal in nature and essence but differ from one another in their functions (or roles). God the Father is the Creator, God the Son is the Savior/Redeemer, and God the Holy Spirit is the Sustainer.

Therefore, there are two contradictory claims present here: Christianity says that Jesus and God are equal in nature, whereas Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Jesus and God are not equal in nature. It is possible for both of these claims to be false at the same time; however, by the Law of Non-contradiction, they cannot both be true simultaneously, as they contradict each other.

Let us examine the following statement more thoroughly: “A difference in function necessarily means a difference in nature.”

Consider an example: let’s say Jack is a factory worker and Andrew is his manager. Jack reports to Andrew every day, and Andrew manages Jack’s daily work routine. One day, Jack states, “Andrew is greater than I am.” What can we learn from that statement? We know that Jack is a human being with a function: he is a factory worker. Andrew is also a human being, but he has a different function: he is a manager at the factory. In terms of function, Andrew is greater than Jack, since Andrew is Jack’s manager. However, in terms of nature, they are equal, as they both are human beings.

Thus, while Andrew can be and is greater than Jack in function (the former is the manager, while the latter is the employee), they can be and are equal in nature—both are human beings. According to this illustration, it is clear that a difference in function does not necessarily mean a difference in nature.

When Jesus says that the Father is greater than He is, it can simply mean that in terms of function, God the Father is greater than Jesus. There is no way to, from that verse, logically deduce that God the Father is greater than Jesus in nature. In fact, other verses show that Jesus does indeed have the same nature as God. For example, Matthew 26:63-65 makes it clear that Jesus was condemned for crucifixion by the Jewish people for the crime of blasphemy, which is equating oneself with God in nature.

Unless Jehovah’s Witnesses can show that their assumption, that a difference in function necessarily means a difference in nature, is true, their entire argument for Jesus not being equal in nature with God falls apart. On the other hand, the classical Christian doctrine of the Trinity is not built on such a false assumption. The doctrine of the Trinity has no logical contradictions in it, as it doesn’t try to say that God is one and three at the same time. Rather, its claim is that God, who is one Being, exists in three distinct persons. God is one in nature and essence but three in persons. The doctrine of the Trinity doesn’t explain how this God-Being can be one in nature and three in persons at the same time; rather, it asserts the truth that is revealed in Scripture.

Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims reject the classical Christian doctrine of the Trinity on the basis of incomprehension. They claim that it is impossible for a single being to have more than one person associated with it. Their belief is based on the common understanding of the human being, which is that a single human being exists as a single person. I am a human being, and I exist in only one person. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims make the error of assuming that God must be like a human being, with one being in one person. There is no reason to assume that this must be the case. Human beings are not the only kind of personal beings that exist; we know that there are also angelic beings and the God Being, and perhaps more that we are not aware of. Do all those beings have to be the same as human beings? Certainly not, and it would be wrong to assume so. If the God Being is higher than human beings, as Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Muslims rightly believe, then why can’t the God Being have more than one person in the same Being? If we insist that the God Being has to be like a human being, then we are trying to limit God to be like ourselves, which I believe is presumptuous and dangerously arrogant.

It is certainly possible, and Scripture clearly seems to indicate as such, that the God Being is different from human beings in that the one God Being exists in three coequal and coeternal persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is logically sound and non-contradictory.