The Watchtower does not believe in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

That’s not surprising, given that it doesn’t believe in the deity of Christ.

Here is what the Watchtower said on the subject in 1984:

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus was “God Incarnate,” a “God-man,” according to the philosophical incarnation theory of the “two natures,” human and divine. In line with the Bible, they believe “the Word became flesh.” (John 1:14) So doing, he “emptied himself” of his previous spiritual existence and became a man, “lower than the angels,” so as to offer himself as “a corresponding ransom for all.” (citations omitted) The Trinitarian idea that “the redemption of man from sin and death is only then guaranteed if Christ is total God and total man” is unscriptural philosophy. To redeem what Adam lost for mankind, Jesus needed to sacrifice a perfect human life, no more, no less. (citations omitted) This alone gives the lie to the Incarnation and Trinity dogmas.” (The Watchtower, “We Worship What We Know,” 9/1/84 pp. 28-29)

“Jesus was not half God, half man. He was not God in the flesh.” (Good News to Make You Happy (1976), p. 118)

Not an incarnate archangel

So do they believe he was Michael the archangel incarnate?

I would have to conclude no.

To use the reasoning the Watchtower used above, did Jesus have two natures—angelic and human?

That is, was he an Archangel-man—total archangel and total man?

Was he perhaps half archangel, half man?

No. If any of that were true, then by their own logic, he wouldn’t have been able to provide “a corresponding ransom.”

The sacrifice had to be provided by “a perfect man—nothing more, nothing less—and the exact counterpart of the once perfect Adam.” Only this way could Jesus give “‘himself a corresponding ransom for all,’ that is, for all of sinner Adam’s imperfect offspring. (1 Tim. 2:5, 6).” (The Watchtower, “Appreciating the Salvation of Our God,” 8/1/73, p. 465)

“The Son of Man” Jesus used this expression more than any other to refer to himself. (Matthew 8:20) He thus showed that he was neither a materialized angel nor an incarnation. Rather, he was fully human. By his holy spirit, God transferred his Son’s life from heaven to earth, causing conception in the womb of the virgin girl Mary. As a result, Jesus was born as a perfect, sinless human…” (The Watchtower, “What Jesus Taught About Himself, “ 4/1/2010, p. 5)

What do they mean when they say God transferred Michael’s life into Mary’s womb?

Did he transfer Michael’s soul into Mary’s womb?

No, because in Watchtower teaching, the soul isn’t an immaterial part of a person. It is the person himself. So when the person goes out of existence, the soul has died. (Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 375)

Did he transfer Michael’s spirit into Mary’s womb?

No, because the Watchtower says the spirit is only an impersonal force analogous to electricity:

“Spirit” thus refers to an invisible force (the spark of life) that animates all living creatures. The soul and the spirit are not the same. The body needs the spirit in much the same way as a radio needs electricity—in order to function. To illustrate this further, think of a portable radio. When you put batteries in a portable radio and turn it on, the electricity stored in the batteries brings the radio to life, so to speak. Without batteries, however, the radio is dead. So is another kind of radio when it is unplugged from an electric outlet. Similarly, the spirit is the force that brings our body to life. Also, like electricity, the spirit has no feeling and cannot think. It is an impersonal force.” (What Does the Bible Really Teach?, pp. 210-211)

So, according to the Watchtower, what did happen when Jesus was conceived?

Michael “emptied himself” of his previous spiritual existence. (The Watchtower, “We Worship What We Know,” 9/1/84 pp. 28-29)

In other words, Michael went out of existence as an archangel in heaven.

I would say they are teaching that Michael died.

A “personality pattern” transfer?

“Marvelously, Jehovah transferred the life-force and the personality pattern of his firstborn heavenly Son to the womb of Mary.” (Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 255)

So Jehovah transferred the impersonal force that had previously animated Michael into the womb of Mary, along with Michael’s “personality pattern.”

Where did Jehovah get Michael’s “personality pattern”?

From Jehovah’s own, perfect memory.

According to the Watchtower, the reverse occurred when Jesus died and later was resurrected.

He went out of existence at death.

At his resurrection, Jehovah then transferred his memories and personality pattern into a spirit body, and Jesus once again became Michael the archangel.

Resurrection involves a reactivating of the life pattern of the individual, which life pattern God has retained in his memory. According to God’s will for the individual, the person is restored in either a human or a spirit body and yet retains his personal identity, having the same personality and memories as when he died. (Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 333)

I confess that I don’t understand their conclusion.

If this is the way all this happened, how are Jesus and Michael truly the same person?

Presumably, when you were conceived, Jehovah could have used his perfect memory to put into your body the memories and personality pattern of Abraham Lincoln.

Would that have made you the same person as Abraham Lincoln?

I think not.

And remember what we learned last week.

“In what way were ‘the heavens opened up’ at the time of Jesus’ baptism? This seems to indicate that Jesus’ memory of his prehuman existence in heaven returned to him.” (The Watchtower, “Highlights from the Book of Matthew,” 1/15/2008, p. 29)

If Jesus didn’t obtain Michael’s memories or personality until age 30, could they truly be said to be the same person?

Ask Jehovah’s Witnesses to explain this to you.

I don’t think they can.

Perhaps that will help you get through to them that there is something seriously wrong with Watchtower Bible interpretations and Christology.