---
title: 2 Corinthians 4:4
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-4-4/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-4-4.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 2 Corinthians 4:4
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 2 Corinthians 4:4

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

## JW Usage

JWs use 2 Corinthians 4:4 — where Satan is called "the god of this system of things" — to argue that the word "god" (theos) can be used of beings other than Jehovah without implying full deity. This supports the NWT's rendering of John 1:1c as "the Word was a god" — Jesus holds a divine title without being Almighty God, just as Satan holds one here. The NWT also renders aion as "system of things" rather than "age" or "world."

## Protestant Usage

Second Corinthians 4:4 calls Satan "the god of this age" — but this is a title of usurpation, not nature. Satan is called "god" because he is worshipped by those he has blinded, not because he possesses divine nature. John 1:1, by contrast, makes a positive ontological claim: "the Word was God" — a statement about what the Word is by nature, not what he has usurped. The NWT's "a god" rendering creates an inescapable trilemma: either Jesus is a true god (polytheism, violating Exodus 20:3 and Isaiah 43:10), a false god (Christians should reject him), or the one true God (the trinitarian position). The NWT also renders aion as "system of things" — a phrase found in no Greek lexicon as a meaning of aion. The Kingdom Interlinear's own literal column renders it "age." In Hebrews 1:2, the same word means "the ages" — Jesus created the cosmos, not merely a replaceable social arrangement.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- ['A God' = Polytheism](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john1-polytheism.md) — John 1:1 + Exodus 20:3 + Isaiah 43:10 [Deity of Christ]
- ["System of Things" — NWT's Theologically Motivated Rendering of Aion](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/nwt-system-of-things.md) — Hebrews 1:2 and the invisible Christological downgrade [NWT Translation]
- ['Satan Also Blesses' — Common Grace vs Demonic Conspiracy](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/satan-blesses-worldly-success.md) — Matthew 5:45 — He sends rain on the just and the unjust [Epistemology]
- [Satan Is Not Omnipresent — Locomotion, Not Ubiquity](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/satan-functional-omnipresence.md) — Job 1:7 — Going to and fro on the earth [Holy Spirit]