Vol. 6, No. 11, 1989

The Trinity: The Watchtower Has Lied!

David Henke

In its attempt to support its unitarian theology the Watchtower has distorted the definition of the Trinity so that their attempts to refute it would seem more credible. No attempt is being made in this article to prove the doctrine, but rather to ask why the Watchtower has used a lie as a means of proving its ""truth''?

Lest it be said that because they do not understand the doctrine they have improperly defined it, or, that any misrepresentations are isolated occurences, this article will show otherwise.

It has been their pattern for one hundred years to do one of two things in regard to the Trinity. First, they will mis-define it as three Gods in one God, or three Persons in one Person. Or, if they define it properly as three Persons in one God, they will try to refute it as if this definition was saying there are three Persons in one Person, or three Gods in one God. This practice will be illustrated in quotes drawn from Watchtower material.

The misrepresentation can be shown in another very practical way. The next time you meet a Jehovah's Witness ask him to supply the correct answer to a multiple choic question on the definition of the Trinity. It is this: In the doctrine of the Trinity do we have, A) Three Persons in one Person?, B) Three Gods in one God?, or C) Three Person in one God? Most Jehovah's Witnesses think of the Trinity as three Persons in one Person and will probably answer in this way.

In the Athanasian Creed quoted in part below, we see that answers A and B are specifically repudiated: ""For we worship one God in trinity, and trinity in unity. Neither CONFOUNDING THE PERSONS ("A' three Persons in one Person) nor DIVIDING THE SUBSTANCE ("B' three Gods in one God). For the PERSON of the Father is one; of the Son, another; of the Holy Spirit, another. But the DIVINITY (divine nature) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is one, the glory equal, the majesty equal...Thus the Father is God, the Son, God, and the Holy Spirit, God. And yet there are NOT THREE GODS, but one God only...For as we are compelled by Christian truth to confess each person distinctively to be both God and Lord, we are prohibited by the Catholic (Universal Christian) religion to say that there are three Gods, or three Lords.''

"In this and all other Christian definitions of the Trinity, there is agreement that within the nature of the one God there are three distince Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christians do not disagree on this foundational truth. In fact, even secular sources are consistently accurate in their representation of the Trinity.

Charles T. Russell, in his Studies in The Scriptures, volume V, (1899), page 55, describes the Trinity like this: ""They declare in one breath that there is only one God..., yet in the same breath they declare that there are three Gods...But how could there be three Gods and yet only one God?''

And again on page 59, Russell says: ""The doctrine of the Trinity holds that the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit "are ONE IN PERSON (emphasis mine), equal in glory and in power,' as stated in the church creeds.''

Other quotes could be given throughout the Watchtower's history to illustrate their deception but space allows only a couple. However, in their booklet, The Word: Who Is He? According to John, the Watchtower made a concerted effort to debunk the deity of Christ, and with it the Trinity. This booklet was mailed to thousands of Christian pastors around the country. On page 6, it says, ""But even then, how could John say that the Word, as God the Son, was the Trinity made up of three Persons? How could one Person be three?''

And again, on page 7, the Watchtower uses this outworn argument, ""Since we cannot scientifically calculate that 1 God (the Father) + 1 God (the Son) + 1 God (the Holy Ghost) = 1 God, then we must calculate that 1/3 God (the Father) + 1/3 God (the Son) + 1/3 God (the Holy Ghost) = 3/3 God, or 1 God...Are readers of this booklet now confused?''

In the above quotes we find both ""confusion of Persons'' and ""division of substance'' in the same argument. While the mathematical approach used is simplistic and faulty, it should be observed that the mathematical formula of 1 X 1 X 1 = 1 was not mentioned. Thus, any confusion the reader may have after reading The Word booklet is due to the Watchtower's misrepresentation, a condition they would desire for the sake of establishing their ""truth''.