{"id":3528,"date":"2015-11-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.review\/jehovahs-witnesses-and-the-worship-of-jesus-5250\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T15:02:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T20:02:25","slug":"jehovahs-witnesses-and-the-worship-of-jesus-5250","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/jehovahs-witnesses-and-the-worship-of-jesus-5250\/","title":{"rendered":"Jehovah's Witnesses and the Worship of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Article<\/a><\/div>\n

According to Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, \u201cJesus is not God,\u201d and thus should not be worshiped by Christians. The Watchtower<\/em>, a magazine published twice a month by Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, has repeatedly made such claims through the years. In their September 15, 2005 issue, for example, they stated quite simply that the Scriptures \u201cshow that Jesus is not God Almighty.\u201d The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses\u2019 official website (jw.org), which republishes many items from The Watchtower<\/em>, briefly answers the question \u201cDo Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses Believe in Jesus?,\u201d concluding, \u201cwe do not worship Jesus, as we do not believe that he is Almighty God\u201d (2015). After all, allegedly \u201cin his prehuman existence, Jesus was a created\u00a0<\/strong>spirit being\u2026. Jesus had a beginning and could never be coequal with God in power or eternity\u201d (\u201cWhat Does the Bible\u2026?,\u201d 2000, emp. added). The October 15, 2004 issue of The Watchtower<\/em> concluded a section about Jesus not<\/strong> being the true God with these words: \u201cJehovah, and no one else, is \u2018the true God and life everlasting.\u2019 He alone is worthy to receive exclusive worship from those whom he created.\u2014Revelation 4:11\u201d (p. 31). Since God alone is worthy of worship, and since Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses believe that Jesus is only an angel and not God (see \u201cThe Truth About Angels,\u201d 1995), He allegedly should not be worshiped.<\/p>\n

God alone is worthy of worship<\/h2>\n

There is no argument over the fact that God alone is worthy of worship. Jehovah revealed His will to Moses on Mt. Sinai, saying, \u201cYou shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image\u2014any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God\u201d (Exodus 20:3-5). Regarding the Gentiles who were sent to live in Samaria after the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Bible says:<\/p>\n

To this day they continue practicing the former rituals; they do not fear the Lord, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances, or the law and commandment which the Lord had commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel, with whom the Lord had made a covenant and charged them, saying: \u201cYou shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them; but the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice<\/strong>\u201d (2 Kings 17:34-36, emp. added).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Bible reveals time and again that God alone is to be worshiped. Luke recorded that King Herod was eaten with worms because, instead of glorifying God Almighty, he allowed the people to glorify him as a god (Acts 12:21-23). Herod\u2019s arrogant spirit stands in direct contrast to the reaction that Paul and Barnabas had when the citizens of Lystra attempted to worship them (Acts 14:8-18). After Paul healed a man who had been crippled from his birth, the people of Lystra shouted: \u201cThe gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.\u201d They even called Paul and Barnabas by the names of their gods (Hermes and Zeus), and sought to worship them with sacrifice. Had these two preachers had the same arrogant spirit as Herod, they would have accepted worship, and felt as if they deserved such honor. Instead, these Christian men \u201ctore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, \u2018Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you\u2019\u201d (Acts 14:15). Paul recognized that it is unlawful for humans to worship other humans, and thus sought to turn the people\u2019s attention toward God, and away from himself.<\/p>\n

The Bible also reveals that man must refrain from worshiping angels. When the apostle John fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had revealed to him the message of Revelation, the angel responded, saying, \u201cSee that you do not do that<\/strong>. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God<\/strong>\u201d (Revelation 22:9, emp. added; cf. 19:10). Angels, idols, and humans are all unworthy of the reverent worship that is due only to God. As Jesus reminded Satan: \u201cIt is written, \u2018You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only<\/strong> you shall serve\u2019\u201d (Matthew 4:10, emp. added).<\/p>\n

Jesus Accepted Worship<\/h2>\n

The dilemma in which Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses find themselves is that they believe Jesus was a good man and prophet, yet unlike good men and good angels who have always rejected worship from humanity, Jesus accepted worship. If worship is to be reserved only for God, and Jesus, the One \u201cwho knew no sin\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22), accepted worship, then the logical conclusion is that Jesus believed that He was deity. Numerous times the Bible mentions that Jesus accepted worship from mankind. Matthew 14:33 indicates that those who saw Jesus walk on water \u201cworshiped Him.\u201d John 9:38 reveals that the blind man whom Jesus had healed, later confessed his belief in Jesus as the Son of God and \u201cworshiped him.\u201d After Mary Magdalene and the other women visited the empty tomb of Jesus, and the risen Christ appeared to them, \u201cthey came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him\u201d (Matthew 28:9). When Thomas first witnessed the resurrected Christ, he exclaimed, \u201cMy Lord and my God\u201d (John 20:28). Later, when Jesus appeared to the apostles in Galilee, \u201cthey worshiped Him\u201d on a mountain (Matthew 28:17). A few days after that, his disciples \u201cworshiped Him\u201d in Bethany (Luke 24:52). Time and time again Jesus accepted the kind of praise from men that is due only to God. He never sought to correct His followers and redirect the worship away from Himself as did the angel in Revelation or the apostle Paul in Acts 14. Nor did God strike Jesus with deadly worms for not redirecting the praise He received from men as He did Herod, who, when being hailed as a god, \u201cdid not give praise to God\u201d (Acts 12:23).<\/p>\n

Sadly, Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses have attempted to circumvent the obvious references to Jesus accepting worship by changing the word \u201cworship\u201d in their New World Translation<\/em> to \u201cobeisance\u201d every time the Greek word proskuneo <\/em>(the most prominent word for worship in the New Testament) is used in reference to Jesus. Over 30 times in the New World Translation<\/em> (first published by the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in 1950) proskuneo<\/em> is correctly translated \u201cworship\u201d when God the Father is the recipient of glory and praise. This Greek word occurs 14 times in the New Testament in reference to Jesus, yet not once<\/strong> do more recent editions of the New World Translation<\/em> render it \u201cworship;\u201d instead, every time it is translated \u201cobeisance.\u201d Allegedly, Mary Magdalene, the apostles, the blind man whom Jesus healed, etc., never worshiped Jesus; rather, they only paid \u201cobeisance\u201d to Him.<\/p>\n

In 21st<\/sup>-century English, people generally make a distinction between the verbs \u201cworship\u201d and \u201cdo obeisance.\u201d Most individuals, especially monotheists, use the word worship in a positive sense when talking about God<\/strong>, whereas \u201cobeisance\u201d is used more often in reference to the general respect given to people<\/strong> held in high regard. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language<\/em> defines \u201cobeisance\u201d as \u201c1. A gesture or movement of the body, such as a curtsy, that expresses deference or homage. 2. An attitude of deference or homage,\u201d whereas the verb \u201cworship\u201d is defined as \u201c1. To honor and love as a deity<\/strong>. 2. To regard with ardent or adoring esteem or devotion\u201d (2000, emp. added). The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society agrees with the distinction often made between these words in modern English: God should be \u201cworshiped,\u201d while Jesus (we are told) should only receive \u201cobeisance\u201d (i.e., the respect and submission one pays to important dignitaries and superiors).<\/p>\n

The Greek word proskuneo<\/em>, which appears in the New Testament 60 times, literally means \u201cto kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence\u201d (Thayer, 1962, p. 548; see also Mounce, 1993, p. 398). According to Greek scholars Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker, this word was used in ancient times \u201cto designate the custom of prostrating oneself before a person and kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, the ground, etc.; the Persians did this in the presence of their deified king, and the Greeks before a divinity or something holy\u201d (1979, p. 723). Admittedly, the word \u201cobeisance\u201d could be used on occasions to translate proskuneo<\/em>. The problem is that Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses make an arbitrary distinction between obeisance and worship when it comes to the token of reverence that Jesus in particular was given. They translate proskuneo<\/em> as \u201cobeisance\u201d every time<\/strong> Jesus is the object, yet never <\/strong>when God the Father is the recipient of honor and praise.<\/p>\n

As with other words in the Bible that have multiple meanings, the context can help determine the writer\u2019s intended meaning. Consider the circumstances surrounding some of the occasions when Jesus is mentioned as the object of man\u2019s devotion.<\/p>\n