--- title: Divine but Not God — The JW Half-Step url: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/divine-but-not-god-jw-position/ markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/divine-but-not-god-jw-position.md type: argument perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching topics: [Deity of Christ] challenges: [Jesus Is a Created Being, The Trinity Is a False Pagan Doctrine] verses: [Colossians 2:9, Romans 1:20, Isaiah 45:5, John 20:28, Hebrews 1:5, Philippians 2:6] strength: Moderate tone: Good attribution: GodLogic 2.0 — JW Denies Isaiah 9:6 added: '2026-05-24' last_reviewed: '2026-05-24' index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt --- # Divine but Not God — The JW Half-Step *Colossians 2:9 — fullness of the Godhead bodily forecloses the distinction* ## Doorstep Question > "When you say Jesus is "divine but not God" — what's the difference? In Biblical language, *divine* and *God* are not two grades of being. *Theotēs* (Colossians 2:9) means deity itself, the very Godhead. If the *fullness* of the Godhead dwells in Jesus bodily, what is the remainder you're reserving for "God"?" ## JW Claim Jesus is divine — he has a divine origin, a divine character, a divine nature in some lesser sense. But he is not God. He is below the Almighty in essence. ## Strategy This is a relatively new JW concession-move — granting "divine" language while withholding "God" language — and it doesn't survive the New Testament's own vocabulary. The Greek word *theotēs* in Colossians 2:9 is the abstract noun of *theos* — "the quality of being God." Paul says *all the fullness* of theotēs dwells in Jesus *bodily*. There is no remainder. Compare Romans 1:20 — *theiotēs* ("divinity," general divine attributes evident in creation) — which Paul uses for what creation reveals, not what Christ embodies. Paul deliberately uses the stronger word for Jesus. Step two — show the category "divine but not God" doesn't exist in either Testament. The Hebrew elohim category includes Jehovah, judges, angels, and false gods — but the Bible never carves out a class of "real-divine-but- not-Jehovah." It says "I am Jehovah, and there is no other; besides me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5). Either Jesus is Jehovah or He is a created creature dressed in borrowed adjectives. Step three — John 20:28 forecloses the "divine but not God" reading by vocabulary. Thomas didn't say "my Lord and my divine one." He said "my Lord and my God" — ho kyrios mou kai ho theos mou — using the same articular ho theos the Watchtower restricts to the Father. ## Key Insight "Divine but not God" is a category the Bible doesn't have. *Theotēs* in Colossians 2:9 names the whole Godhead — Paul says all of it dwells in Jesus bodily. ## JW Responses & Counters ### Response 1 **JW says:** "Jesus is divine in the sense angels are — spirit, heavenly, of God's order, but not Jehovah." **Counter:** That collapses two different Greek words. Theotēs (Colossians 2:9) names the abstract essence of being God — and Paul attaches *all the fullness* of it to Jesus. The Bible does not apply theotēs to angels anywhere. Hebrews 1:5-14 spends a whole chapter contrasting the Son with the angels: the Son is addressed as God (verse 8); angels are made winds (verse 7). The vocabulary the New Testament uses for Jesus' deity is categorically different from the language for angelic existence. ### Response 2 **JW says:** "The NWT translates Colossians 2:9 as 'divine quality' — a quality, not deity itself." **Counter:** The Greek word *theotēs* is the noun-form of *theos*. Every Greek lexicon — Bauer, Thayer, Liddell-Scott — defines it as "deity, divine nature in its essence." The contrasting word *theiotēs* (Romans 1:20) means "divinity, divine characteristics." Paul knew both. He used the *stronger* word for Jesus and the *weaker* word for what creation reveals about God. The NWT's "divine quality" softens theotēs toward theiotēs, but that's a translation choice — not what the Greek word actually means. Even the NWT's Kingdom Interlinear shows theotēs at Colossians 2:9. ### Response 3 **JW says:** "Even if Jesus has full divine nature, he's still subordinate to the Father in essence." **Counter:** Subordinate-in-role and subordinate-in-essence are two different things. Jesus voluntarily submits to the Father in His incarnate mission (Philippians 2:6-8 — "though he existed in the form of God, he emptied himself" — voluntary self- emptying). But the same Philippians passage says he existed *in the form of God* (morphē theou). Form-of-God is not a subordinate essence; it is the very essence of God. Subordination of role in mission ≠ subordination of essence in being. ## What to Avoid Don't accept the half-concession. The JW grants "divine" hoping you won't push to "God." Push gently — what's the remainder? What's reserved for "God" that the Son doesn't have, given Colossians 2:9? ## Homework Read Colossians 2:9 in your own NWT. Notice the phrase "all the fullness." Ask: if the *all* of the divine essence dwells in Jesus bodily, what's left over to make a "divine but not God" category possible? ## Next Moves - [The Fullness of Deity in Bodily Form](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/colossians2-9.md) - [El Gibbor — The Mighty God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/el-gibbor.md) - [Jesus' Eternality](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/psalm102-hebrews1.md)