1 John 2:22
1 John 2:2222Who 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.
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.
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 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.