Jehovah Witnesses' confused understanding of the Trinity

As you read the various publications of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, (i.e.. Watchtower, Awake, et al) you will notice a variety of descriptions of the Trinity. Some of the "explanations" of the Trinity taught by the society include:

The Trinity is 1 god who takes different roles at different times.
The Trinity is really composed of 3 god's.
The Trinity denies the oneness of God.
The Trinity is composed of three parts.

Serious errors in these views include Modalism and Tritheism. Statements are made that the Trinity is 1 god, at other times that it is 3 gods. This contradictory flip flopping of understandings is very confusing. It is disturbing that the Witnesses would criticize a doctrine that they obviously do not understand. It is essential to have a correct understanding of such an important doctrine, and it is so sad that they have not taken the time to get a firm understanding of what they argue against. Of course if the objective is to mislead, or if you do not have a strong argument, then you may use a tactic called, argument against a "Straw Man". This involves creating your own imaginary definition for the sole purpose of easily discrediting it. Many good definitions of the Trinity are available, yet the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society chooses to misrepresent the Christian understanding of the Trinity.

The following lists some of the various ways the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has attempted to define what the Trinity is.
 

JW belief that the trinity denies the oneness of God:

"Thus the Father alone is THE God, the Supreme One, to whom all owe worship and to whom all, including the Son, are rightly subject."
WatchTower 3/15/1975,  pg. 174

"God alone is the Almighty, the Creator, separate and distinct from anyone else"
Should you believe in the Trinity?,  pg. 12

"...all should notice that the entire context shows a distinction between the Father and the Son"  Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 5 1906 edition, pg. 76

"Moreover, the very words "Father" and "Son" imply a difference, and contradict the thoughts of the Trinity and oneness of person"
Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 5 1906 edition, pg. 60

"Thus the Almighty God and Jesus are clearly two separate persons."
You can live forever in paradise on earth, pg. 39
(The bible teaches unity of the Godhead, with 3 distinct coequal; not separate, eternal Persons )

Commenting on John 1:1...
"This is unreasonable; for how can the Word be with the God and at the same time be that God?"
New World Translation 1950 ed. appendix pg. 774
(The society  implies that it is obviously false and besides, it is confusing and unreasonable)

 

JW belief that the trinity is 3 parts, divisions or components of God: 

Holy Spirit is "no part of a trinity" Should you believe in the Trinity?, pg. 22

Jesus is "part of a trinity" Should you believe in the Trinity? pg. 23

"If Jesus was one part of the trinity, then it would be impossible for the trinity or any part of it to have furnished..." Reconciliation pg. 101

"...according to Trinity teachers, ... Mary became the mother of merely a third of God" "The Word" - who is he? according to John pg. 13

"Since Jesus is the Bridegroom, ...They cannot imagine being married to a Trinity or even to a third part of this Trinity. The inspired Holy Scriptures do not teach such a thing, like someone marrying a Siamese twin!"
"The Word" - who is he? according to John pg. 21

"So is the Word only one-third of God? So 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." "The Word" - who is he? according to John pg. 7
(The bible teaches that there are no parts of God, he is indivisible.)

 

JW's modalistic understanding of the trinity: 

"One of the most mysterious things is the question, Who ran the universe during the three days that Jesus was dead and in the grave...If Jesus was God, then during Jesus' death God was dead and in the grave. What a wonderful opportunity for Satan to take complete control!...If Jesus was the immortal God, he could not have died."
Let God be True 1946,  pg. 109

"Since Jesus prayed to God, asking that God's will, not his, be done, the two could not be the same person" You can live forever in paradise on earth,  pg. 39

"how could it be said that the Word, who they say is "God the Son," is "God the Father"? "The Word" - who is he? according to John,  pg. 6

"... the common thought of trinitarians, that the Son is the Father."
Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 7, pg. 11
(Christians do not believe that the Son is the Father)
 
 

JW's tritheistic understanding of the trinity: 

"Three Gods in one..." Riches,  pg. 185
(Christians believe in one God, not three)

"if he is one Jehovah, then could he be three gods, ... as the trinitarians teach?" WatchTower April 1 1970,  pg. 210
( trinitarians do not teach 3 gods)

"the unreasonable and unscriptural doctrine of a trinity, - three Gods in one person" Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 5 1906 ed.  pg. 76

"the unreasonable and unscriptural doctrine of the trinity-three Gods in one person"
Let God be True 1946,  pg. 76
(Christians do not believe in 3 Gods in one person; but 3 co-equal persons in one Godhead)

"this doctrine of three Gods in one God...is one of the dark mysteries by which Satan, through the Papacy, has beclouded the Word and character of of the plan of God."
Let God be True 1946,  pg. 60 - 61
(Christians don't believe in 3 Gods in one; but in only one God , with  3 co-equal Persons in the Godhead.)

"The holy Spirit conceived of as a person, one of a trinity of Gods, equal with the Highest, could not be supposed to get into the small compass of an imperfect man, and then not even fill that little heart."
Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 5 1906 edition,  pg. 244

"When the clergy are asked by their followers as to how such a combination of three in one can possibly exist, they are obliged to answer, "That is a mystery." Some will try to illustrate it by using triangles, trefoils, or images with three heads on one neck. Nevertheless, sincere persons who want to know the true God and serve him find it a bit difficult to love and worship a complicated, freakish-looking, three-headed God. The clergy who inject such ideas will contradict themselves in the very next breath by stating that God made man in his own image; for certainly no one has ever seen a three-headed human creature." Let God be True 1946,  pg. 102
(It is absurd to imply Christians believe in a 3 headed god)

"God being an individual, a person with a spirit body, has a place where he resides, and so he could not be at any other place at the same time."
WatchTower 2/15/1981 pg. 6
(Christians believe in an Omnipresent, Omniscient, Almighty God)
(What exactly is a SPIRIT - BODY ?)

(NOTE: according to Watchtower theology, God resides on the star Alcyone in the constellation Pleiades.) Reconciliation page 14 & Studies Vol. 3, pg. 327


The Watchtower Society is fond of pointing out that the word "Trinity" is not found in the bible. Reasoning from the Scriptures pg. 406. The  word is used by christians, to express the biblical doctrine and teaching of the tri-unity of God. Although this word is not found in the bible the doctrine it expresses is. The bible word "Godhead" that expresses this doctrine can be found in Acts 17:29 Romans 1:20 and Colossians 2:9. It is also in the American Standard Version, published and distributed by the Watchtower Society. (see Acts 17:29, and Colossians 2:9.) It can also be found in the "literal word-for-word translation into English under the Greek text" (pg. 3) in the The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, 1969 ed. "produced by the New World Translation Committee." Mysteriously in the 1985 edition, the Watchtower Society decided to change the literal translation to "divinity", with no comment about the change!


DEFINITIONS:
Trinity:
"There is only 1 God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are 3 eternal, and coequal Persons, the same in substance, but distinct in subsistence."  C. C. Ryrie
Wilmingtons guide to the Bible,  pg. 595

Straw Man:
An imaginary opponent or opposing argument, put up in order to be defeated or refuted; Man of Straw.
Imaginary person whose arguments can easily be proved wrong.
World Book dictionary