In the mind of Jehovah’s Witnesses, because Jesus died, Jesus can’t be God.

The substance of the Watchtower’s argument can be expressed in a simple syllogism:

1. When Jesus died, he went out of existence.
2. If Jesus was God, then God went out of existence.

Where have they gone wrong? 

The Watchtower misunderstanding

In addition to denying Jesus’ dual (divine and human) nature, the Watchtower misunderstands the nature of death.

Specifically the Watchtower concludes that the dead are conscious of nothing because they have completely ceased to exist.

It states:

What happens at death is no mystery to Jehovah, the Creator of the brain. He knows the truth, and in his Word, the Bible, he explains the condition of the dead. Its clear teaching is this: When a person dies, he ceases to exist. Death is the opposite of life. The dead do not see or hear or think. Not even one part of us survives the death of the body. (What Does the Bible Really Teach?, p. 58)

A little later, it summarizes: “We are mortal and do not survive the death of our body. The life we enjoy is like the flame of a candle. When the flame is put out, it does not go anywhere. It is simply gone.” (What Does the Bible Really Teach?, p. 59)

The Watchtower applies this teaching to Jesus and concludes that he went out of existence for three days between his physical death and his resurrection.

And, of course, the idea that God went out of existence for three days is absurd.

Dealing with Watchtower proof texts

The Watchtower cites four main proof texts to show that death is nonexistence.

I will set them out here along with my suggestions from answering them.

Ecclesiastes 9:5

At some point the Witnesses will refer you to Ecclesiastes 9:5: “the dead know nothing at all…” (current Watchtower translation). Some Witnesses have memorized an earlier Watchtower rendering: “the dead… are conscious of nothing at all…”

The Watchtower considers this verse to be the definitive declaration of the state of the dead—all other Bible passages are required to be interpreted to conform to it.

Focus on the context by asking one of the Witnesses to read Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 aloud: “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten. Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.”

Point out that these verses assert that:

1. The dead will never have any further reward.
2. All memory of the dead is forgotten.
3. The dead will no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.

Say, “Just because a statement is made in the Bible doesn’t mean that it expresses God’s viewpoint. Does no one have any further reward beyond the grave? Is all memory of them forgotten? Is there no further hope of life on earth? Wouldn’t that contradict the Watchtower’s teaching that we can live forever in paradise on earth?”

Let them struggle with the contradiction and try to explain it to you.

Keep them focused on these verses and avoid letting them jump to other scriptures.

Then ask them to look at the larger context of passage. Much of the book of Ecclesiastes is expressed—not from God’s eternal perspective—but from the perspective of a man who sees this present life as all there is, the only possible source of satisfaction. Have one of the Witnesses read aloud Ecclesiastes 1:2, where the preacher laments that everything is meaningless. Is this God’s view of life? If so, there would be no point reading on to the next verse, let alone all the way to Ecclesiastes 9!

So the context of Ecclesiastes 9:5—the entire verse, the verses around it, and the book as a whole—refutes the idea that this is God’s revelation concerning the state of the dead to which our interpretation of all other Bible passages must conform.

Ezekiel 18:4

Jehovah’s Witnesses usually only quote the last part of Ezekiel 18:4: “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Watchtower translation).  Often they will use an earlier rendering, which reads, “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.”

Encourage them to read the rest of Ezekiel 18. Point out that the topic under discussion is not the condition of the dead. It is whether God judges a person for his own sins or for the sins of others. Here, the word “soul” is simply being used as a synonym for “person,” which is one of that word’s meanings.

Psalm 146:4

In the Watchtower translation, Psalm 146:4 reads: “His spirit goes out, he returns to the ground; on that very day his thoughts perish.”

The Watchtower quotes this verse in isolation as if it were speaking about the condition of the dead. However, the context is verse 3: “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, who cannot bring salvation.”

The passage isn’t talking about whether people have souls or spirits which are still conscious after death. It is simply explaining why we shouldn’t place our trust in powerful men. They die and are buried, and all their plans and promises die with them.

 Genesis 3:4

 After asserting that the dead are conscious of nothing, the Watchtower asks:

Who wants humans to believe otherwise? After Jehovah warned our first parents that disobedience would bring death, who contradicted that? “The serpent [used by Satan; see Revelation 12:9] said to the woman: ‘You positively will not die.’” (Gen. 3:4) Later, of course, Adam and Eve did die. Reasonably, then, who invented the idea that a spirit part of man survives the death of the body? (Reasoning From the Scriptures, p. 101)

In response, ask them to read aloud John 11:25-26, where Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Watchtower translation)

Point out that Jesus didn’t say, “If you believe in me, you will die and go out of existence for thousands of years, but one day you will be resurrected and after that, if you are faithful, you will never die again.”

Ask, “Because Jesus says that whoever lives and believes in him will never die, do you see why I believe that there is a part of us that never ceases to exist?”

Focus on Jesus

In last week’s post, I recommended you use Hebrews 1:3 to prove Christ’s deity: “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact representation of his very being, and he sustains all things by the word of his power.” (emphasis added)

You can make use of the same passage to show that death is not nonexistence by saying something like this:

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand the Watchtower’s position. How could Jesus sustain all things by the word of his power for the three days after he died if he ceased to exist during that time?”