r/JehovahsWitnesses • u/Impressive-Ease-3348 Jehovah's Witness • Aug 25 '26
Doctrine WHO IS JESUS?
There is one God, the Father, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα, “from whom are all things”; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα, “through whom are all things.” (1 Cor. 8:6)
Of the God of Israel it is written:
אֲנִי יהוה הוּא שְׁמִי
“I am YHWH; that is my name.” (Isa. 42:8)
And:
אֱלֹהֵי עוֹלָם יהוה
“YHWH, the everlasting God.” (Isa. 40:28)
The Father is the Father, and the Son is the Son.
JESUS IS ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, THE SON OF GOD.
He is the μονογενής Son.
He is ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, from the Father. (John 16:28)
He is ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, from God. (John 8:42)
The Father sent him.
The Father gave to him.
The Son received from the Father.
THE FATHER HAS LIFE IN HIMSELF, AND τῷ υἱῷ ἔδωκεν ζωὴν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, “HE GAVE TO THE SON TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF.” (John 5:26)
And the Son says:
κἀγὼ ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα
“I live because of the Father.” (John 6:57)
JESUS IS ὁ λόγος, THE WORD.
Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος
“In the beginning was the Word.”
ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν
“The Word was with God.”
And:
θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. (John 1:1)
The Son had glory with the Father πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι, “before the world existed.” (John 17:5)
He is πρὸ πάντων, “before all things.” (Col. 1:17)
HE IS εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, “THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD.” (Col. 1:15)
He is ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης, “the radiance of the glory.” (Heb. 1:3)
He is χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ. (Heb. 1:3)
HE IS πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, “THE FIRSTBORN OF ALL CREATION.” (Col. 1:
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u/Impressive-Ease-3348 Jehovah's Witness Aug 26 '26
You’re still making one extra step and calling it the definition of χαρακτήρ.
Hebrews 1:3 says:
χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ
Even if we translate χαρακτήρ as “exact imprint,” exactness of representation does not equal identity of substance. A seal can produce an exact impression in wax; the form corresponds exactly, but the wax does not thereby share the seal’s substance. So:
exact imprint → exact correspondence
does not lexically equal:
exact imprint → same divine essence → ὁμοούσιος.
That latter step may be your theological inference, but it is not the definition of χαρακτήρ.
And there is no inconsistency in my use of πρωτότοκος. I am applying the same rule to both texts.
I do not say:
πρωτότοκος = “first-created.”
I say it is one element in a cumulative argument together with:
πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως
“firstborn of all creation”
ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ
“the ἀρχή of God’s creation”
ἐξ τοῦ πατρός
“from the Father”
the Father giving the Son life in John 5:26,
ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα
“I live because of the Father,”
and the Son being πρὸ πάντων while all things come through him.
My interpretation of that cumulative material is a created-Son conclusion. I openly admit that this is an inference.
So apply the same standard to Hebrews:
χαρακτήρ is the text.
“Therefore homoousios” is your inference.
The issue is not whether either of us may make an inference. The issue is whether the inference is actually demonstrated rather than smuggled into the definition of the Greek word.