The objection
Jehovah's Witnesses understand Jesus as God's first creature and identify him with Michael. Colossians 1,15 calls him the firstborn of all creation; 1. Thessalonians 4,16 connects his coming with an archangel's voice.
1. “Firstborn” is not the same word as “first-created”
The expression prōtotokos can designate preeminence in rank and inheritance rights. In Psalm 89,28 the Davidic king is made firstborn and immediately explained as highest among the kings of the earth. The title is therefore not invariably a statement about birth order.
In Colossians 1, the following explanatory clause therefore decides: Christ is firstborn of all creation because everything was created in him (verse 16). Paul grounds the preeminence in the universal position as Creator, not in the claim that Christ was made first.
2. “All other things” imports the desired conclusion into the text
The New World Translation adds “andere” or “other” in Colossians 1,16–17. The corresponding Greek word does not appear there.[1] Such an addition would need justification from the context. It cannot simultaneously serve as proof that Christ himself belongs to the created totality.
Paul expressly unfolds this totality: heaven and earth, visible and invisible things, thrones, dominions, powers and authorities. Everything was created through him and for him; he is before all things and sustains everything in existence. Heavenly powers in particular are included. The reading “a creature creates all the rest” presupposes the disputed exception rather than deriving it from the sentence.
3. Hebrews 1 distinguishes the Son from the angelic world
The question “To which of the angels did he ever say …?” in Hebrews 1,5 separates the Son from the entire group. The angels are to worship him; the Son is then spoken of as enduring Lord and Creator (1,6–12). The contrast is not: one particularly high-ranking angel against lower angels.[2]
Identifying Jesus as a created archangel therefore stands against an explicitly developed argument. Jehovah's Witnesses do indeed advocate this identification; it is, however, a conclusion of their interpretation, not a literal biblical statement “Jesus is Michael.”[3]
4. The circumstances accompanying the return do not determine Jesus' nature
1. Thessalonians 4,16 describes the Lord's coming with a commanding shout, an archangel's voice and God's trumpet. Even relating the voice to Jesus' own calling does not entail that by nature he is a created angel. The description of his royal arrival is no definition of his being.
The clear statements about creation must therefore determine the interpretation of the accompanying images. The Son stands above all created powers because they exist through him and for him. Scripture honors him not as creation's highest part but as its divine Lord.
5. The whole model must explain the texts
John 14,28 and Revelation 3,14 also belong to the objection. “The Father is greater” stands within the context of the incarnate Son's departure to the Father; the sentence defines no inferior divine nature. The same evangelist demands the same honor for the Son as for the Father (5,23). “Beginning of creation” likewise does not already mean “first creature”: The word can designate the source, and Revelation even calls God himself beginning and end (21,6). See the further answers for detailed reasoning.
The question of the Spirit must be answered separately. Jehovah's Witnesses understand him as God's active force.[4] Yet in Acts 13,2.4 the Spirit claims a work as his own, calls people and sends them; in 1. Corinthians 12,11 he distributes gifts according to his will. Language of pouring out describes his gift and effect. It does not abolish this personal presentation. The texts therefore cannot already be explained by classifying the Son among creatures and the Spirit among impersonal effects. Precisely these two classifications require exegetical justification and fail against the contexts named.
Biblical texts in context
Sources and further study
- New World Translation: Colossians 1Primary source: translation with “all other things” in verses 16–17.
- John M. Frame, The Doctrine of GodCh. 28, pp. 684–685: Colossians 1,15–18, firstborn title and mediation of creation.
- Jehovah's Witnesses: Who Is Michael the Archangel?Primary account of identifying Jesus with Michael and the reasons offered.
- Jehovah's Witnesses: What Is the Holy Spirit?Their own account of the Holy Spirit as God's active force; rejection of personhood.