Arianism – The Lowedown

Colossians 1

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20, NIV)

The Daily DAVEotional

In the first chapter of Colossians, Paul pens one of the greatest treatises on the divine nature of Christ in all of Scripture. And yet, some have used this very section to promote a false understanding of Jesus.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a religious group that was birthed in the late 1870’s when Charles Taze Russell, who had been highly influenced by Adventist teachings, determined that certain Christian doctrines, such as the Trinity and divinity of Christ, were not supported by Scripture.

I’ve written a number of posts regarding the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their view that Jesus is not God, including the following posts:

The bottom line with Jehovah’s Witnesses is that they don’t believe in the trinity. Therefore, they don’t believe that Jesus is God. They teach a doctrine that is known as Arianism (see post here), which teaches that Jesus is a created being who does not possess a divine nature.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are highly committed to their understanding of Jesus as a created being, and they believe that this passage, in Colossians 1, serves as strong evidence in support of their view.

Specifically, this passage twice describes Jesus as being “firstborn”. The thinking goes that if Jesus was born, then he must be created. If he was created then he clearly isn’t God. If he isn’t God, then he’s just a man. Hence, the view that Jesus is a created being without a divine nature must be the correct view.

That logic might sound correct on the surface, but there is one small problem, as our good friend Inigo Montoya will explain:

The problem is that we interpret the word “firstborn” based on our modern understanding. Naturally, we see the word “born” and assume that it refers to a birth. We assume therefore that the passage is saying that Jesus was “born”, just as all people are naturally born.

But that’s not at all what the passage is saying.

To understand this passage, we need to understand a little bit about the culture of the Ancient Near East, particularly how the family heirs were treated.

In the Ancient Near East culture, it was customary for the oldest son to receive a double portion of any inheritance. The oldest son enjoyed this benefit because of his status as the highest in rank of all the sons. So, if you had two sons, your assets would be divided into 3 parts. The oldest son would get 2 shares and the youngest son would get one share.

The oldest son was therefore the pre-eminent, or favored son. The oldest son was the highest in rank – usually.

However, there are a number of Biblical examples where this was not the case.

Take Jacob and Esau for example. Esau was the oldest son but God favored Jacob, who received Isaac’s blessing over Esau.

Jacob’s sons are another example. Jacob had 12 sons. Reuben was the oldest and therefore, was considered the pre-eminent son, eligible for the double portion.

However, Reuben forfeited his rank and the blessing associated with the oldest son when he slept with one of his father’s wives. As a result, Jacob made Joseph the pre-eminent son, even though he was NOT born first. In fact, he was the eleventh born! (see 1 Chronicles 5:1)

When you see a list of the tribes of Israel (Jacob’s new name), you never see Joseph listed. Why is that? It’s because Joseph was given two shares. Joseph’s shares are represented by his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

The Greek word that is translated “firstborn” is the word “prototokos”. While the word is translated as “firstborn”, it doesn’t mean that Jesus was created. If Paul wanted to communicate that Jesus was the first-created, he would have used a different word, “protoktisos”, which literally means “first-created.”

How do we know that Paul is not trying to communicate that Jesus was “born” if he indeed uses this word which translates to “firstborn”?

It’s clear from the context that Paul is not using the word in the way the Jehovahs Witnesses assert.

In the first instance of the word, Paul says that Jesus is “the firstborn over all creation.” If Paul were communicating that Jesus was “born” then he’s also saying that “creation” is the parent. That doesn’t make sense. If Paul was communicating that Jesus was literally born, shouldn’t the passage say that Jesus was the “firstborn of God”?

In the second instance of the word “firstborn”, Paul states that Jesus is firstborn from among the dead. Again, this language doesn’t make sense if Jesus is actually born. How can Jesus be parented by creation and also by “the dead”?

This passage makes complete sense if we understand that the word “firstborn” carries the meaning of pre-eminence or rank, just as the firstborn child of any ancient near eastern family held pre-eminent status over his siblings due to his higher rank.

In this case, Paul says in verse 15 that Jesus is pre-eminent over creation. Why? Paul gives the answer in the very next verse. It’s because Jesus is the CREATOR. Jesus is pre-eminent (firstborn) over creation because he is the author of ALL of creation.

In the same way, Jesus is pre-eminent over death precisely because he has demonstrated supremacy over death by rising from the dead.

So in the end, this passage doesn’t teach that Jesus is a created being as the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. Instead, this passage teaches the exact opposite. Jesus is the uncreated creator of all things in whom the fullness of deity dwells and through whom all things are reconciled by His shed blood on the cross.

Jesus is indeed firstborn. He has demonstrated supremacy over creation and death precisely because He is GOD!

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Reflection

Genesis 41:51-52 says, “Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh…. ⁵²The second son he named Ephraim”. Yet in Jeremiah 31:9 it says, “Ephraim is my firstborn son”. How can Ephraim be the second son in the Genesis passage but the firstborn in Jeremiah? How do you explain this apparent contradiction?

If Jesus is a created being, as the Jehovahs Witnesses contend, what do you think are the implications in terms of Jesus’ ability to save humanity? In other words, how can a savior who is not divine atone for the sins of the world?

What are some personal examples you can think of where the first born son (or daughter) did not enjoy the favored status you might expect?

What are some other qualities of Jesus that you learn from this short passage in Colossians? What else can we say about Jesus from these verses?

Photo is a screenshot from the movie “The Princess Bride”

Proverbs 8

¹Listen as wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice! ²She stands on the hilltop and at the crossroads. ³At the entrance to the city, at the city gates, she cries aloud, ⁴“I call to you, to all of you! I am raising my voice to all people. ⁵How naive you are! Let me give you common sense. O foolish ones, let me give you understanding. ⁶Listen to me! For I have excellent things to tell you. Everything I say is right, ⁷for I speak the truth and hate every kind of deception. ⁸My advice is wholesome and good. There is nothing crooked or twisted in it. ⁹My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those who want to learn.

¹⁰“Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge over pure gold. ¹¹For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can be compared with it.

¹²“I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment. ¹³All who fear the LORD will hate evil. That is why I hate pride, arrogance, corruption, and perverted speech. ¹⁴Good advice and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine. ¹⁵Because of me, kings reign, and rulers make just laws. ¹⁶Rulers lead with my help, and nobles make righteous judgments.

¹⁷“I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me. ¹⁸Unending riches, honor, wealth, and justice are mine to distribute. ¹⁹My gifts are better than the purest gold, my wages better than sterling silver! ²⁰I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice. ²¹Those who love me inherit wealth, for I fill their treasuries.

²²“The LORD formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else. ²³I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began. ²⁴I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters. ²⁵Before the mountains and the hills were formed, I was born—²⁶before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil.

²⁷“I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans. ²⁸I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established the deep fountains of the earth. ²⁹I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth’s foundations, ³⁰I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence. ³¹And how happy I was with what he created—his wide world and all the human family!

³²“And so, my children, listen to me, for happy are all who follow my ways. ³³Listen to my counsel and be wise. Don’t ignore it.

³⁴“Happy are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home! ³⁵For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the LORD. ³⁶But those who miss me have injured themselves. All who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:1-36, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

When I was a high school senior, I took AP English. At one point we were studying poetry and we read a famous poem by Robert Frost, entitled, “The Road Not Taken”. The poem starts with the line:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

and ends with the oft-quoted phrase:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Our teacher asked the class what we thought the poem was about. A few people in the class who had a somewhat religious background, including myself, thought the poem was a metaphor for heaven and hell. After all, if you’re going to talk about two roads that diverge, you cannot get any more divergent than heaven and hell.

I remember our teacher graciously telling us that we were overthinking the poem. There was nothing in the poem that mentioned heaven or hell and the context of the poem was not about eternal destiny. There was really nothing about the poem that would indicate that it was religious in nature.

To my surprise, I learned that the plain meaning was usually the correct meaning, unless there was some compelling reason to believe that the writer was speaking metaphorically or allegorically.

In our case, the poem was simply about two different choices, both of which were appealing in their own way. Which one should I choose? How do you choose? The author is simply writing about the conflict that arises when we have to choose between two paths. That’s it.

What can happen though is that some people will naturally want to import their own views and perspectives into the poem. In my case, being a person who went to church and Sunday school and who had heard a lot about the two different life choices of heaven and hell, I saw “two paths” and immediately concluded “heaven and hell” without really thinking about whether that was what the author was really writing about.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses make a similar error in their understanding and explanation of Proverbs 8.

If you’ve ever had a discussion with a Jehovah’s Witness, you likely know that they do not believe that Jesus is God. Instead, they teach that Jesus is a created being. They believe that Jesus is God’s first created being, which makes him extra special, but in the end, he’s still a created being like you and me.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses theological viewpoints on Jesus are rooted in an ancient heresy known as Arianism. I wrote about their views in my blog post “A Modern Day Version of an Ancient Heresy” in which I discuss their views of the opening verses of John’s gospel.

When talking to a Jehovah’s Witness regarding their view that Jesus was a created being, they have a number of biblical “proof-texts” to support their theological stance. One of those passages is Proverbs 8.

According to the Jehovah’s Witness, Proverbs 8 provides ironclad evidence that the Bible teaches that Jesus is NOT God.

Verses 22-31, in particular, demonstrate that Jesus is created. The Jehovah’s Witness argument is that Jesus is speaking about how he was formed “before he created anything else.” Jesus was there at God’s side when He created everything.

To the Jehovah’s Witness, this fits perfectly with their view that Jesus was the first created “thing” and then God created everything else through Jesus.

There is only one problem with this reasoning – the subject of this passage is wisdom not Jesus.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their haste to project their theological view of Jesus into any text that might have words or phrases that trigger their theological bias, have erred in much the same way I, and others in my high school English class, so quickly attributed a wrong context to Robert Frost’s famous poem.

Solomon, the author of Proverbs, is using a literary device known as personification to explain and highlight the importance of wisdom.

There is nothing in the context to suggest that Wisdom is really Jesus. Actually, when you really look at this passage, you realize that the text cannot be referring to Jesus. Here are a couple of reasons why:

First, wisdom in this passage is identified as a female, whereas Jesus is male.

Secondly, if wisdom is an actual person, then “good judgment” must also be a person because wisdom lives with good judgment according to verse 12. If wisdom is really Jesus, then who is this “good judgment” character?

Lastly, if you know anything about the broader context of Proverbs, it is a collection of sayings and instruction regarding wise living. This is made clear at the very outset of the book:

The purpose of these proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline, and to help them understand wise sayings. ³Through these proverbs, people will receive instruction in discipline, good conduct, and doing what is right, just, and fair. ⁴These proverbs will make the simpleminded clever. They will give knowledge and purpose to young people. (Proverbs 1:1-4, NLT – emphasis added)

Additionally, in this particular section of the book, Wisdom is personified as a female instructor. Proverbs 9 continues with this personified motif as Wisdom is contrasted with Folly, both of whom are given female personalities.

So if this passage isn’t speaking about Jesus, what is the point being made?

The point of this passage is summarized at the end, in verses 32-36, which state:

³²“And so, my children, listen to me, for happy are all who follow my ways. ³³Listen to my counsel and be wise. Don’t ignore it.

³⁴“Happy are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home! ³⁵For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the LORD. ³⁶But those who miss me have injured themselves. All who hate me love death.”

In short, the reader is encouraged to “listen to my counsel and be wise.”

In the end, the Jehovah’s Witnesses commit an error we call eisegesis, which occurs when one imports their own viewpoint or bias into the interpretation of the text. Good Bible interpretation will instead interpret the passage based on the plain meaning and the context while resisting the urge to make the passage say what the reader wants or hopes that it will say.

Reflection

The error of eisegesis, where one interprets a text in such a way that it fits with their pre-conceived views, is not just a problem with Jehovah’s Witnesses. People everywhere commit this error. What are some views you have that you are more apt to try to find the text to support? In other words, what are some ways you have, or are tempted to commit this error of eisegesis?

Why do you think the Jehovah’s Witnesses are so committed to their view that Jesus is a created being?

What are some of the benefits of wisdom according to this passage?

What do you think are some good Bible study habits and techniques that will help you to interpret passages correctly, without importing your personal views into the interpretation of the passage?

Photo by James Wheeler: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-pathway-surrounded-by-fir-trees-1578750/