---
title: 1 John 2:22
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-john-2-22/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-john-2-22.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 John 2:22
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 John 2:22

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.

## JW Usage

Reasoning From the Scriptures uses 2:22 as the Bible's own definition of antichrist — "the one that denies the Father and the Son" — and applies it to mainline Christianity on the ground that Trinitarianism "denies" the distinction between Father and Son (rs pp. 32-33). The verse is therefore enlisted to say that anyone who teaches Jesus is God is exactly who John is warning against.

## Protestant Usage

This is the boomerang verse. Grant the definition — antichrist is the one who denies the Father and the Son. Then apply it honestly. The Trinity does not deny the distinction; it confesses one God in three distinct Persons, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. What the verse flags is denial of the Son's actual identity — and the Watchtower's own Christology refuses to call Jesus "the true God" even where the NWT's own 1 John 5:20 sentence ends with those exact words. The rs definition lands on whoever will not confess the Son as the true God, not on whoever teaches that he is. Ask plainly: does the rs book affirm that Jesus is the true God, or deny it? The answer determines which side of 2:22 the rs argument is on. Keep the tone pastoral — the point is not to label the JW at your door; the point is that John's test is narrower than the Watchtower thinks, and honesty about who it catches matters.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Antichrist Is Whoever Denies the Son — And Your NWT Knows](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/antichrist-christendom-boomerang.md) — 1 John 2:22 / 1 John 4:2 / 1 John 5:20 [Deity of Christ]
- [Whoever Denies the Son Does Not Have the Father](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/1john2-23-deny-son-deny-father.md) — 1 John 2:22-23 [Deity of Christ]