Topic-by-topic Defense of the Trinity
Refuting the Watchtower

The Trinity and Experience

"Thus, the Trinity is considered to be "one God in three Persons." Each is said to be without beginning, having existed for eternity. Each is said to be almighty, with each neither greater nor lesser than the others.
"Is such reasoning hard to follow? Many sincere believers have found it to be confusing, contrary to normal reason, unlike anything in their experience. How, they ask, could the Father be God, Jesus be God, and the holy spirit be God, yet there be not three Gods but only one God? " --Should You Believe In The Trinity, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society

Here the Watchtower reveals what may be the presupposition through which they approach the doctrine of the Trinity. This presupposition is the primary criteria which the Watchtower uses to evaluate the likelihood or the impossibility of the Trinity. The standard that they use, the philosophical presupposition, is their "experience". As they stated, the Trinity doctrine is "confusing, contrary to normal reason, unlike anything in their experience." Since the doctrine of the Trinity describes God in a way that is completely unique, such that He is unlike any other thing that people are conscious of, this removes the possibility that the doctrine could be true in the eyes of the Watchtower. In other words, the Watchtower is saying that people should evaluate what they believe about God based on the realm of created things, the things which people know by common experience.

Should we evaluate what God can or cannot be based on our “normal reason”, our experiential knowledge? Is it appropriate to approach the Bible with this kind of philosophical viewpoint?

In raising this objection to the Trinity, the Watchtower jumps headfirst into a raging river of philosophical speculation and debate. While many Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the Watchtower is immune from philosophical speculation and that it is Christendom which has been corrupted by the influence of philosophy on its beliefs, we see here that the Watchtower is not void of the influence of philosophy. Their philosophical view intrudes into their exploration of the Trinity and blocks their ability to evaluate the biblical evidence as it stands. It is as if the Watchtower reads the Bible with experience-colored glasses and says, “This verse might appear to teach something about the Trinity at first glance, but we know that is impossible since the Trinity is unlike anything in our experience. Therefore it must mean something other than what it first appears to say.” It may surprise a Jehovah’s Witness to hear that the Watchtower's theology is influenced by philosophy. Some may even deny that it is true. They may refuse to acknowledge that there is any philosophy in their worldview that influences their interpretation of the Bible. But the facts, as documented from their own publication, speak louder than their objections.

To make the declaration that the Trinity cannot be true because it is unlike anything in our experience is to give experience priority over the Scriptures. To approach God’s Word this way is both unwise and unsafe. It is ironic that an organization which says that it defends the truths of God’s Word actually rejects some of the things in God’s Word as “unlike anything in their experience”. To approach God’s Word in such a fashion and to demote Him to the level of His creation is dishonoring to God.

Consider the position this puts the rank-and-file Jehovah’s Witness in. They are one small being in a very large universe. There are more things that they do NOT know than they do know. They are conscious of only a sliver of knowledge when compared to the entire mass of humanity over its entire history, and even that knowledge is infinitely less than all that can be known. Yet they are told to believe that their tiny little cache of human experience is adequate to decide whether the Trinity is a possibility BEFORE THEY EVEN LOOK IN THE BIBLE.

The Watchtower is inconsistent in its use of this kind of objection. After all, it COULD be raised against such concepts as God’s “eternal” existence. How many people in the Watchtower understand what “eternal” really means? None of them. They are created beings. They had a beginning. Can they understand how God exists in eternity based on their experience? Absolutely not. It is unlike anything in their experience. Yet they do believe that God is eternal, even though they can’t understand or explain it. If you are a Jehovah’s Witness reading this, I would encourage you to reevaluate the philosophical preconceptions taught to you by the Watchtower. Their inability to consistently apply their philosophy to all beliefs raises many doubts about their objections to the Trinity.

Finally, I would ask you, why can't God exist above the realm of creation? Scripture presents Him as entirely unique, unlike anything He has made, superior to it in ways we will never understand. While we rely on Him for everything since we are His creation, He needs NOTHING from us. He is self-sufficient, self-existent, and infintely holy. As the Watchtower said, we need to know God and his nature, but we must pursue that knowledge through His Word and not through our own experience.

Topic-by-topic Defense of the Trinity Refuting the Watchtower

The Trinity and Experience

Topic-by-topic Defense of the Trinity
Refuting the Watchtower