According to Jehovah’s Witnesses what does the name Immanuel mean in light of their belief that Jesus is a created being and not God?
Upvote:3
Although "Insight on the Scriptures" was published in 1988, and Jehovah's Witnesses [JWs] are encouraged to use Watchtower Society literature produced after 2000, it's good to see that a JW here uses that 1988 volume. Yes, it replaced the 1971 "Aid to Bible Understanding" but I have both volumes and there is not even a word of difference between the two (under the heading 'Immanuel'). Most of the 11 paragraphs deal with identifying characters in the Hebrew scriptures who might have been named Immanuel.
The Insight book says:
"Immanuel is a name-title applied to Christ the Messiah." https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002152?q=immanuel&p=par p.1187
A very subtle result of the Insight article is that the meaning "God is with us" allows the JW mind-set to keep away from the idea of God in Christ. This is just a title (is the inference) that indicates a second-person abstraction, an association of the idea of God being with his people through Christ representing him. Whereas, if the name means that the person bearing that name is God, then Matthew 1:23 is effectively calling Christ 'God'.
That is why the Insight book is careful to state:
"The identity of Jesus Christ as Immanuel did not mean he was the incarnation of God, 'God in the flesh,' which proponents of the Trinity teaching claim is implied by the meaning of Immanuel..." (ibid p.1188)
Ah, but here a subtle detail is slipped in. Instead of saying trinitarians take the meaning of Immanuel to be 'God with us', (as they do), the JW meaning is inserted instead - 'With us is God' - which is not how trinitarians put it.
Upvote:4
The name Im·manʹu·el means "With Us Is God", and Jehovahs Witneses (JWs) believe that is the translation of that name it-1 pp. 1187-1189.
Not necessarily everyone with that name is a god, but we also consider the meaning of the name to be true in the case of Jesus. Jesus is a God, but we do not consider him to be equal or the same as Jehovah or Yahweh. (To avoid any confusion about where Lord refers to Jesus and where it refers to Jehovah i will use the ASV here.)
Isaiah 43:10-11 10 Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour. (ASV)
We believe that the titles mentioned in Isaiah 9:6: “His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace" all apply to Jesus. Note that it was not written almighty God, and note that a prince is typically defined as a son of the king. The "mighty" god in Isaiah 9:6 is a translation of 'El Gib·bohr' not of 'El Shad·dai' (Almighty). We there fore do not consider the word mighty, or the combination 'mighty god' to have the necessity to be uniquely used for Jehovah God, although it can also be used for Jehovah God. More information about what JW's believe about the difference between mighty and Almighty can be read in it-1 pp. 77-79
More post
- 📝 How do Christians who emphasize the "religion vs. relationship" dichotomy respond to claims of "relationship with God" in other religions?
- 📝 How does LDS theology suffer when Book of Mormon historical claims are unsupported?
- 📝 Is there a name for the belief that God is not omniscient, but rather is "learning" how to deal with humanity?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church officially recognize Protestants as Christians?
- 📝 What prophets did Messiah mean in Luke 16:16 when we see yet more prophets thereafter?
- 📝 What is the official Catholic view of a feminine element within the Trinity?
- 📝 How many authors wrote the Old and New Testament?
- 📝 What is the translation methodology for the Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI)?
- 📝 Which temple is being referred to in Acts 2:46?
- 📝 How do Biblical Unitarians understand "the glory of the Father's own self" that Jesus claims he had before the world was?
- 📝 Are there any churches that claim to be Sola Sciptura that also are pro gay-marriage?
- 📝 Did Jesus act out His parables?
- 📝 Did the Devil pre-exist human beings?
- 📝 Where in the Bible does it say we have a sin nature?
- 📝 Why does Catholicism impose restrictions on receiving the Eucharist?
- 📝 How do Christians exercise self-control in the abstinence of food during fasting?
- 📝 Is a Roman Catholic ever permitted to take the Anglican Eucharist?
- 📝 Which places in the Bible have been suggested in Christianity as a basis for the possibility that some of humans before Christ could be saved?
- 📝 What is the purpose if the feast of visitation and on what day of the year is it celebrated?
- 📝 How did Pope Urban II justify the first Crusade?
- 📝 Should we forgive everything?
- 📝 What are the core beliefs of Presbyterianism? How does it differ and compare to other denominations of reformed Protestantism?
- 📝 Under what circumstances, if any, can audio assistive technology be used in confession?
- 📝 When to repeat antiphons during the Liturgy of the Hours?
- 📝 What Christian traditions fully embrace the concept of a "local parish church"?
- 📝 Were humans worshipped as gods in Biblical times?
- 📝 What is the test that determines doctrine from discipline?
- 📝 Extent to which Thomas à Kempis is venerated in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 What is the official Roman Catholic Bible?
- 📝 From the perspective of Roman Catholicism, what do Orthodox churches have to do to become "Eastern Catholic Churches"?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 According to Jehovah’s Witnesses what does the name Immanuel mean in light of their belief that Jesus is a created being and not God?
- 📝 According to the Young Earth Creationism, why there is still the darkness after God created the light and what does it mean Gen 1:4?
- 📝 According to Roman Catholicism, what does "proceeds' mean in the Nicene Creed?
- 📝 According to Biblical Unitarians, what does it mean for Jesus to be the Son of God?
- 📝 According to Jehovah's Witnesses what does the Bible say about Easter?
- 📝 What does it mean to shed blood in the name of Christ?
- 📝 According to the Young Earth Creationism, what does it mean Genesis 1:14 and 18?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law but did not abolish it?
- 📝 What exactly does it mean that Jesus Christ is the son of God?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus was the "second Adam"?
- 📝 What does it mean to "Bless the LORD"?
- 📝 What does it mean to interpret the Bible literally?
- 📝 What does being lukewarm mean in contrast with being hot or cold for the church of Laodicea?
- 📝 What does the abbreviation "RNIO" mean in a painting of the Virgin and Child?
- 📝 What does the Catholic Church mean when it calls humans co-creators with God?
- 📝 According to Protestants following the Reformation, what did Jesus mean when he said "do this and you will live"?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus, Father, and Holy Spirit are of the same nature but different personas?
- 📝 What does it mean that John's Gospel does not have an account of the institution of the Eucharist?
- 📝 What does John Calvin mean to imply by the "suffrage" of the church?
- 📝 What does "communion of saints" mean in the Apostle's Creed?
- 📝 What does it mean for the Spirit to only speak of what he hears? (trinitarian perspective)
- 📝 According to Mormonism, is the Black race cursed and if so what does that imply?
- 📝 From a Fundamentalist viewpoint, what does it mean to "take the Bible literally"?
- 📝 What does "Christ was born across the sea" mean in Julia Ward Howe's The Battle Hymn of the Republic?
- 📝 What does TS Eliot mean by "old dispensation" in The Journey of the Magi?
- 📝 According to Catholic doctrine, what effect does the Last Judgment have on those who are already in heaven?
- 📝 What does it mean to magnify or glorify the Lord?
- 📝 What does inherit the earth mean in Matthew 5:5
- 📝 What does R. C. Sproul mean by the 'essence' of God?
- 📝 According to Calvinists, does God command the non-elect to do what is for them impossible?
