---
title: John 14:26
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-14-26/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-14-26.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 14:26
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 14:26

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.

## JW Usage

JWs use this verse to argue that Jehovah sends his active force to help believers remember Jesus' teachings. The Watchtower applies the "teaching" and "reminding" functions to the organisation itself — the Governing Body is the instrument through which the spirit teaches, making individual Spirit-led understanding unnecessary. The NWT's lowercase "holy spirit" and impersonal pronoun choices reinforce the claim that the Spirit is a force, not a person.

## Protestant Usage

Jesus promises that the Father will send the Helper (paraklētos) in his name, and that "he will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you." Teaching and reminding are personal cognitive actions — an impersonal force cannot teach or bring things to mind. The Greek masculine demonstrative ekeinos is rendered "he" by all major translations, recognising that the Spirit is spoken of as a person. This verse, combined with John 16:13 (guiding into truth) and John 15:26 (testifying), presents a sustained portrait of the Spirit as a personal agent who continues Jesus' own teaching ministry. The promise is made to the disciples directly — not mediated through an organisation. Acts 5:3–4 confirms the Spirit's personal and divine nature: lying to the Spirit is lying to God.

## NWT Issue

The NWT renders the Greek masculine demonstrative ekeinos as "that one" rather than "he," technically following Greek grammar but deliberately avoiding the personal English pronoun. For neuter auto (agreeing with the grammatically neuter pneuma), the NWT uses "it" where all major translations override grammatical gender to use "him," recognising that the Spirit is spoken of as a person who teaches, testifies, convicts, guides, and speaks. The combined effect depersonalises the Spirit across the Upper Room Discourse.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Holy Spirit Is a Person, Not a Force](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/holy-spirit-personhood.md) — "He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13) [Holy Spirit]
- [Name the Channel — Necessity Without a Referent](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/name-the-channel.md) — If the Bible requires a unified channel, the Bible must identify it [Authority]
- [Acts 15 — A One-Time Council, Not a Standing Body](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/acts15-one-time-not-template.md) — The Jerusalem meeting never reconvened, never legislated again, never appointed successors [Authority]
- [Foundation Laid Once — Apostles Are Not a Perpetual Office](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/apostles-foundation-eph220.md) — Ephesians 2:20 — A foundation is poured once, and the building stands on it forever [Authority]
- [Visible, Bodily, Every Eye — The Return Acts 1:11 Promised](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/visible-bodily-return-acts1.md) — Acts 1:11 / Revelation 1:7 / 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 [Eschatology]
- [The Spirit Says 'I'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/paraclete-personal-pneumatology.md) — Acts 13:2 — First-Person Verbs in Narrative Prose [Holy Spirit]
- [Sin Doesn't Block the Spirit from the Household — The Seal That Stays](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/sin-blocks-holy-spirit-household.md) — Ephesians 1:13-14 — Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise [Holy Spirit]
- [You're Already a Trinitarian — The Watchtower's Eternal Logos Problem](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/watchtower-eternal-logos-tu-quoque.md) — If two persons existed before creation, where's the "one"? [Deity of Christ]