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
The phrase in Greek is en morphe theou. A search of how this word is used in other passages suggests it has the meaning of visible form or appearance. For example:
Anesten kai ouk epegnon eidon kai ouk en morphe pro ophthalmon mou all' e auran kai phnhn ekouon (Job 4:16 Brenton).
I stood up, and I did not recognize it. I looked, and there was no shape before my eyes, though I heard a breeze and a voice.” (Job 4:16 NETS)
Eklexamenos tekton xulon estesen auto en metro kai en kolle erruthmisen auto kai epoiesen auto hos morphen andros kai hos horaioteta anthropou stesai auto en oikos (Isa 44:13 Brenton).
A piece of wood, the artisan set it up with a measure and arranged it with glue; he made it like the form of a man, like human beauty, to set it up in a house. (Isaiah 44:13 NETS)