--- title: John 20:28 url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-20-28/ markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-20-28.md type: verse perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching reference: John 20:28 testament: NT section: Gospels index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt --- # John 20:28 ## Text (Berean Standard Bible) > Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” ## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase - NWT (1984 edition): "In answer Thomas said to him: 'My Lord and my God!'" - NWT (2013 revision): "In answer Thomas said to him: 'My Lord and my God!'" ## JW Usage The Watchtower acknowledges Thomas spoke these words but interprets them as either an emotional outburst (akin to "Oh my God!") or as a split address: "my Lord" to Jesus and "my God" to Jehovah in heaven. Either reading allows JWs to retain their position that no creature should be called God and that Thomas was simply expressing astonishment, not identifying Jesus with Jehovah. ## Protestant Usage Even the NWT preserves the decisive grammar: "In answer Thomas said to him: 'My Lord and my God!'" Three words in their own translation close every JW exit. "In answer" — Thomas is responding to Jesus' invitation to touch his wounds, not exclaiming randomly into the air. "Said to him" — eipen autō, dative singular, addressed directly to Jesus. The Greek construction ho kurios mou kai ho theos mou places both nouns under one address, governed by one autō. Jesus then commends Thomas's faith ("blessed are those who believe") rather than correcting blasphemy — and an angel in the same book (Rev 22:8-9) does correct the very same act. John 20:31 is the climactic purpose statement of the entire Gospel: Thomas's confession is the apex of John's Christology, not a misunderstanding to be quietly walked back. ## NWT Issue The NWT preserves John 20:28 accurately and the KIT interlinear is faithful: "the Lord of me and the God of me." There is no translation problem — the divergence is purely interpretive, redirected through Watchtower commentary rather than the text. The verse is therefore one of the most powerful doorstep texts available because no NWT defence is possible at the level of the Greek; the JW must redirect to emotional outburst or split-address theories that the grammar will not bear. ## 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] - [Jesus Receives Worship](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/worship-of-jesus.md) — Hebrews 1:6 / Revelation 5:13–14 / Daniel 7:13–14 [Deity of Christ] - [The Bible Has Not Been Corrupted](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/bible-reliability.md) — 5,800 Manuscripts Can't All Be Wrong [Authority] - [The Elohim Category Trap](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/elohim-category.md) — Psalm 82 — If Jesus Is 'a God,' Which Kind? [Deity of Christ] - [The Law of Agency Doesn't Work](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/law-of-agency.md) — Agents Are Never Called God [Deity of Christ] - [Thomas' Confession: My Lord and My God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john20-28-thomas.md) — John 20:28 [Deity of Christ] - [Peter's Confession — 'The Son of the Living God'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/peter-confession-son-of-god.md) — Matthew 16:16-17 / John 5:18 / John 10:33-36 [Deity of Christ] - [The Lamb Receives Identical Worship to God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/revelation5-lamb-worship.md) — Revelation 5:12-14 / Revelation 22:8-9 / Isaiah 42:8 [Deity of Christ] - ["My God and Your God" — John 20:17](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john20-17-my-god.md) — Jesus distinguishes his relationship, not his nature [Deity of Christ] - [King of Kings and Lord of Lords](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/king-of-kings.md) — Revelation 19:16 — A title shared with Jehovah [Deity of Christ] - [9 Million Publishers — What the Number Does and Does Not Prove](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jw-8-million-membership.md) — Growth is evidence only if growth is the criterion [Epistemology] - [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] - [Tempted in Every Way — Yet Could Not Fail](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jesus-tempted-yet-impeccable.md) — Hebrews 4:15 / James 1:13 [Deity of Christ] - [You Can't Cite a Bible You Say Is Corrupted](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/consistency-corrupt-bible-self-defeat.md) — The Selective-Appeal Inconsistency [Authority] - [Divine but Not God — The JW Half-Step](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/divine-but-not-god-jw-position.md) — Colossians 2:9 — fullness of the Godhead bodily forecloses the distinction [Deity of Christ] - [The Grammar Doesn't Support 'A God'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/colwells-rule-john-1-1.md) — John 1:1c — Colwell, Harner, and the construction the NWT mishandles [Deity of Christ] - [Three "I"s in One Divine Mind — Why the Trinity Isn't a Body-Count Problem](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-three-centres-of-consciousness.md) — Person and being are different categories — and God is spirit [Deity of Christ] - [You're Not God — Why Your Model Isn't the Standard](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/epistemic-humility-trinity-objection.md) — An incomprehensible Creator and the limits of created reason [Deity of Christ] - [We Didn't Invent the Trinity — We Summarised What God Revealed](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/trinity-from-revelation-not-deduction.md) — A summary of three biblical revelations, not a philosophical speculation [Deity of Christ] - [The Prologue Has Two Bookends — Read John 1:18 Before You Argue About John 1:1](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john1-1-and-1-18-inclusio.md) — John 1:1 and 1:18 — the opening and closing of John's prologue say the same three things [Deity of Christ] - [An Attribute Can't Become Flesh](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/logos-attribute-vs-person.md) — John 1:14 — the Word who became flesh has a son's glory, a past and a place at the Father's side [Deity of Christ]