Introduction
It is always helpful to have a plan for when Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking at your door. Something that has always resonated with me is hearing James White say that we should try to keep the conversation focused on one topic. All too often we will want to talk about John 1:1 or failed prophecy (after prophecy, after prophecy).
The purpose of this post is to help us have an intentional topic of discussion. I have provided a rough sketch of this post to my son and a friend from X. I know my son was able to have a lengthy discussion about this with some Jehovah’s Witnesses on his campus and my friend on X said that the conversation around this “was one of the best moments I’ve had with a Jehovah’s Witness”.
Ultimately, the focus verse for this conversation is Isaiah 44:24.
Opening Questions
Before going there, I would begin with a leading set of questions in order to get a baseline from them. First, I would ask them to go through what they think Colossians 1:16 means about Jesus. One interesting translation consideration here is that the ESV has “for by him all things were created” and the NWT (New World Translation, the official version for Jehovah’s Witnesses) has “because by means of him”. On this difference, I would imagine that this allows for them to still say that Jehovah used Jesus to do the creating.
On your part, this should lead to some discussion about Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3. You will want to ask them something like “How much of creation do you think Jehovah used Jesus to create?”. Their answer will most likely be that Jehovah used Jesus to create everything except for Jesus himself (I have heard this response from many of them in the past – it is the typical answer here). We see that John 1:3 in the NWT states that “all things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence”.
We are now at the point where I would ask them further leading questions here. These might include:
“Did Jesus stretch out and create the expanse of the heavens?”
“Did Jesus create the earth and everything else on it?”
And finally a key question at this point would be along the lines of “Would you say that Jesus was with Jehovah when he was creating the earth?” As you will see below, this is a crucial question as it allows them to further create a distinction between Jehovah and Jesus.
Focusing on the Text
Now, let us look at Isaiah 44:24 (ESV):
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
who formed you from the womb:
“I am the LORD, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself“
The ESV is clear here, but the NWT is actually even more explicit for the purpose of this discussion!
Isaiah 44:24 (NWT):
This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser,
Who formed you since you were in the womb:
“I am Jehovah, who made everything.
I stretched out the heavens by myself,
And I spread out the earth.
Who was with me?“
They have likely admitted above that Jesus was with Jehovah (in some way) while carrying out the creation. And they have likely already admitted that it was indeed Jesus who stretched out the heavens. But Jehovah asks in their own NWT Translation “Who was with me?”
This is where the pre-existence of Jesus and the fact of the Trinity is seen clearly. We as Christians (i.e. Trinitarians) have no problem here in agreeing that no one was with Jehovah. Jehovah is the Triune God. Jesus the Word of God and Second Person of the Trinity, being Jehovah, was indeed the creator of all things as John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16 state. And this is in full agreement with Isaiah 44:24.
Conclusion
Finally, if there is any push back for some reason that Isaiah 44:24 may not really be clear on who Jehovah is (which would be quite odd, but remember you have just boxed them in to a Trinitarian interpretation here!), then you can just go back a chapter in Scripture and point out that the Jehovah in Isaiah 44:24 is the same Jehovah we read about in Isaiah 43:10 (which is the verse from which Jehovah’s Witnesses derive their name!).
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.”
Isaiah 43:10
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