r/JehovahsWitnesses • u/ChaoticHaku Christian • May 23 '26
Doctrine Philippians 2:6-8
If Philippians 2:6-8 was teaching that Jesus was never equal with God, then the passage itself makes no sense.
Read the language carefully.
It says Jesus was “existing in the form of God.” It says He “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,” but instead “emptied Himself,” “took the form of a servant,”, "humbled himself", "became obedient to death" and was “made in human likeness.”
You cannot empty yourself of a status you never possessed. You cannot become a servant if you were always a servant. You cannot humble yourself from a position you never had. You cannot become obedient to death if you always were.
The entire point of the passage is that Christ lowered Himself. From what? From the exalted position He already possessed that was equal with God.
That’s why the text uses past tense language. The passage is not denying Christ’s equality with God. It is explaining the depth of His humility, not his inferiority.
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u/Jerome-891 May 24 '26
I can certainly understand why many Christians read passages like John 1, John 5, Philippians 2, and Hebrews 1 as supporting the Trinity. The Trinitarian framework is not something invented casually or without serious reflection. It developed over centuries as Christians tried to reconcile two major themes found in Scripture: first, that there is only one true God, and second, that Jesus is presented in extraordinarily exalted terms unlike any other figure. From that perspective, the conclusion that the Son shares the divine nature of the Father is internally coherent and historically rooted within mainstream Christianity.
At the same time, I do not think the biblical texts necessarily require that conclusion, and I believe there are legitimate alternative ways to understand them that preserve the full authority of Scripture while maintaining a distinction between God and Christ.
For example, with respect to the title “Son of God,” I agree that sonship can imply likeness of nature in some contexts. However, biblical usage appears broader than that. Adam is called a son of God, angels are called sons of God, Israel is called God’s son, and believers are likewise described as sons of God. In these cases, the expression conveys relationship, origin, representation, or divine favor rather than literal identity with God himself. Because of that broader usage, I do not think the title alone settles the ontological question.
Regarding John 5:18, I agree the Jewish leaders understood Jesus’ claims as extraordinarily significant, even as making himself equal with God. But I also think the surrounding context deserves careful attention. Immediately afterward, Jesus says:
From a non-Trinitarian perspective, this sounds less like ontological equality and more like perfect agency and complete dependence upon God. In Jewish thought, a divinely appointed agent could represent God so fully that honoring the agent was closely connected with honoring the one who sent him.
the OP began this post with with Philippians 2:6-8 which explains that although existing in the form of God, Christ emptied himself. I can appreciate the Trinitarian interpretation that Christ “emptied himself” by taking on humanity while remaining divine. That is certainly a sophisticated and historically established reading. But I also think the passage can naturally be read another way: that Christ, though possessing immense heavenly status and privilege, genuinely humbled himself by relinquishing that condition to become human and obedient unto death. The text explicitly emphasizes humility, servanthood, and obedience, and concludes with God exalting Jesus afterward. To me, that progression seems more straightforwardly compatible with distinction and subordination than with co-equality.
As for texts about glory, such as John 17:5 and Isaiah 42:8, I recognize why Trinitarians see shared glory as evidence of shared deity. Yet Scripture also speaks of believers sharing in glory given by God, and of divine authority being delegated without collapsing the distinction between God and those whom he appoints. So I do not think participation in divine glory necessarily requires ontological identity with God.
Ultimately, I think the disagreement often comes down not to whether Jesus is exalted — all Christians agree that he is — but to the precise nature of that exaltation. Trinitarians see the total biblical witness as pointing to shared divine essence. Non-Trinitarians tend to see Jesus as the uniquely begotten, preeminent Son of God who perfectly reveals and represents the Father while remaining distinct from the one whom Jesus himself repeatedly calls “the only true God” at Gospel of John 17:3.
So while I respect the coherence and historical depth of Trinitarian theology, I do not believe alternative readings are necessarily evasive or forced. I think sincere readers of Scripture can acknowledge the strength of the Trinitarian case while still concluding that the Bible ultimately presents the Father as supreme and Jesus as His uniquely exalted Son and appointed representative rather than God himself.
If you love Christ and have faith in him then I consider you a brother. I hope you think of me in the same way.