I welcome the opportunity to reply to a letter written by a member of the Jehovah’s Witness religious denomination wherein the Christadelphians are criticized for rejecting the belief of the pre-human existence of Christ. The writer of the letter has kindly consented to permit me to put in print an answer to his letter. It is with respect for the sincerity and fervor of the Jehovah’s Witnesses for their beliefs, that I endeavor to do this. For those who would like to compare the two respective views on this subject, this should be interesting, and perhaps even profitable. One can calmly consider the two conflicting views and decide which one is best sustained by scripture.
“Let us make Man”
The writer of the letter starts with the Scripture, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness,” Gen. 1:26. He then asks the question, “Whom was God referring to when He said let US make man in our image?” His answer is, “It was God’s Word or spokesman, Jesus Christ in His pre-human existence.” One would reasonably suppose that the writer would give some kind of proof for an assertion of this kind, but none is given. It is just a plain simple assertion.
The answer given by the writer is about the same as that which is given by Trinitarians. Although the writer is not a Trinitarian, like them he affirms that the “US” has reference to God speaking with Christ in a pre-human state of existence. This is to be expected of course, seeing that the doctrine of a pre-human existent Christ is a chip off the old block of the Trinity. One cannot believe in the doctrine of the Trinity without believing in the pre-existence of Christ. So here we see the influence, at least, of the doctrine of the Trinity as we watch the writer approach the verse in question with the same thought in the background as the Trinitarians have: the pre-human existence of Christ.
To affirm that the “us” of Gen. 1:26 is God speaking to Christ, is to assume that Christ personally existed at the time. That God had Christ in mind as the center of His purpose and plan of redemption, prior to His birth, there can be no doubt. Old Testament prophecies confirm this. But these prophecies referred to someone whom God would raise up, or bring into existence, not someone who existed personally at the time. This is true, whether we consider the Memorial Name of Yahweh (called Jehovah by some) which expresses a future purpose and intention of manifestation, or the wording of the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah.
Someone Promised
In the Old Testament someone’s coming is prophesied. In the New Testament that someone has arrived. “I will be His Father and He shall be my son.” 2 Sam. 7:14. And again, “There Shall Come Forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch Shall Grow out of his roots.” Isa. 11:1. Again, “Until He Come whose right it is.” Eze. 21: 27. And, “The Lord thy God Will raise up unto thee a Prophet.” Deut. 18:15. Also, “I Will Raise them up a Prophet.” Verse 18. We do not read of the personal existence of the Messiah in the Old Testament. He was always someone who was to come.
“One of Us”
Who then are the “US” of Gen. 1:26? The same as those referred to in Gen. 3:22, “Behold, the man is become as ONE OF US to know good and evil.” The “US” in this verse would be the same as those mentioned by the serpent in Gen. 3:5, “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be AS GODS (Heb. Elohim—Angels) knowing good and evil.” So in verse 7, “And the eyes of them both were opened.” The “US” then of Gen. 1:26 would be the gods (Heb. Elohim) of Gen. 3:5, and the “one of us” who knew or had experienced “good and evil”; an expression that could hardly be applied to either the Father or a pre-existent Christ, but could understandably be used by the Angels.
Elohim as the Angels
In Psa. 8:5, Elohim (same word translated God in Gen. 1:26), is translated “angels” where the wording of verses 6-8 is similar to that of Gen. 1:26. The angels, we are told in Psa. 103:20, 21, “Excel in strength, that DO HIS Commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye His Hosts; ye Ministers of His, that Do His Pleasure.” So God commanded His ministers or messengers (Elohim—the angels) and they performed the work of creation. They would be the sons of God (but not begotten sons) who shouted for joy when the foundations of the earth were laid, and the morning stars sang together on this occasion. Job. 38:4-8. This was their joy of accomplishment of God’s command to them. This is so logical, and simple, and reasonable, that it is difficult to imagine anyone overlooking it.
A Look at Phil. 2:4-8
The writer of the letter then proceeds to cite Phil. 2:4-8. The writer feels that those verses prove beyond dispute the pre-existence of Christ. His words are, “This Scripture proves irrevocably and unequivocally that Jesus had a pre-human existence. For it plainly states that Jesus existed in God’s form and then took on the form of a man. The Scripture says that He emptied Himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in the likeness of men. That cannot be contested.”
Let us take a close look at the verses through the Revised Standard Version, which translation is acceptable to most Bible readers. We read, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him the name which is above every name.”
Looking these words over closely, we do not find a declaration of the preexistence of Christ, or that He had a pre-human state of existence. These expressions never occur in Scripture. They are only fabricated expressions that are designed to express, or define a theoretical existence that is not recognized in the Scriptures. These verses have reference to the life that Christ lived as recorded in the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Paul is not treating of a pre-human existence of Christ. We can analyze the different phrases and expressions in these verses and show this to be true.
“Let this Mind be in You”
When Paul admonishes to “have this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ”, is it to be supposed that Paul is telling us to have the kind of mind that Christ possessed in a pre-human existence? How could we have that kind of mind? Of what value would Paul’s words be to us if they have reference to a mind possessed by Christ in a pre-human state of existence of which nothing is revealed and of which we know nothing about?
But Paul is not writing of a Christ in a pre-human state of existence, but a Christ as He is revealed to us in the gospel writings. Furthermore, Paul is writing of the Mind of Christ in these verses, not different states of existence. And he goes on to describe the Mind of Christ as exhibited to us by the gospel writers.
Christ in the form of God
Christ was “in the form of God”, during the time of his life on earth. How? To start with, He was begotten of the Holy Spirit. He was the Word made flesh. He was “that holy thing” that was born: the Son of God. Luke 1:35. He was Emmanuel: God with us. Matt. 1:23. He was anointed of the Spirit without measure at His baptism. John 3:34. From this point on He stood as the full manifestation of God His Father. God put His words in the mouth of Christ. Deut. 18:18. Christ reflected, or mirrored, the moral excellency of God. God was in Christ. 2 Cor. 5:19. Christ was the revealed expression or complete manifestation of God from His baptism on. While He dwelt among men He manifested “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, Full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. He declared or revealed God. John 1:18. He could declare, “I and my Father are one.” John 10:30. He could say, “he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” John 14:9. He exhibited the character of God. Thus, He was in “the form of God”.
Son of Man
Though Christ was in “the form of God”, there was also a human aspect of Christ. He was Son of man, as well as Son of God. Physically, He was mortal. He needed redemption, or salvation. He needed to be saved from, or out of, death. Heb. 5:7. And though He was the begotten Son of God, and therefore “in the form of God”, He did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, or seized. He could have been made a king by the people. John 6:15. He could have used the power of the Spirit to turn stones into bread. Matt. 4:3. He could have used the power to His material advantage, but He did not. Instead of grasping for equality with God, or trying to seize it as Adam and Eve by doing what was forbidden, He humbled Himself in obedience to God. Though Christ was rich in the sense that He was destined to own all things on earth, (Heb. 2:7,8), yet He did not seek a life of riches, comfort, or ease; but for us He became poor, or impoverished Himself. 2 Cor. 8:9.
“Emptied Himself”
Christ “emptied Himself”, not of a former existence but during His life on earth He “Poured Out (emptied Himself) His soul unto death.” Isa. 53: 12. One has only to read the Psalms which depicted beforehand the sufferings of Christ, to understand how Christ “emptied Himself”. In Psalm 22:14, “I am Poured Out like water”, etc. Psalm 109:22, “I am Poor and Needy, and my heart is Wounded within Me.” As for material possessions, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head”. Matt. 8:20.
Form of a Servant
He took on Himself the “form of a servant”. Christ is the “servant” of Isa. 42:1 and Isa. 49:3,6. Christ said of Himself, “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many”. Matt. 20:28. See also Matt. 12:18. Though Christ possessed the dignity and demeanor of a nobleman, yet He lived the life of a slave. Being the servant of God, He humbled Himself before God and was obedient unto the kind of death that God had appointed for Him to die: the death on the cross. How He humbled Himself in the garden of Gethsemane! “Not my will, but thine be done.” Yes, let the mind be in us that was in Christ!
Where, then, do we find in these verses the pre-human existence of Christ? It is not there. It is only in the preconceived ideas, or notions of those who want to see it there.
Consider what would have had to happen if Christ personally existed in pre-human form. He would have had to consent to being reduced, or de-structured, or changed to a single cell and put into the womb of Mary. What would have been done with the part of Christ that existed before Mary conceived the single cell of flesh in her womb? Would it have become non-existent? Or, was this pre-existent part of Christ kept separate from the flesh of Christ that was born from Mary? Is the pre-existent part of Christ that which now lives forever as Christ? Or is the flesh of Christ that which was once dead but now lives forevermore? How could a pre-existent Christ be reduced to a single cell of flesh without destroying the pre-existent
part of Christ? If the pre-existent part was not destroyed, then wouldn’t there be two distinct and separate Christs? How could a single cell of flesh be pre-existent anyway?
“Made of a Woman”
We are told in Gal. 4:4 that “God sent forth His Son, “Made of a Woman“. Now was Christ made of the flesh substance of a woman, or was a pre-human existent Christ reduced to a single cell and put into the the womb? If the latter is true then Christ was not “made of a woman”, because that which was reduced would not be a part of the woman but would be a pre-existent part. This placed in a womb could not be said to be “made of a woman” because this is supposed to be existent prior to being placed there! But if according to Paul, Christ was “made of a woman”, how could He have pre-existed unless the substance from which He was made preexisted? Did flesh pre-exist?
Formed from the Womb
Christ was Formed From The Womb. So it is recorded in Isa. 49:5,1. The words were put on record long before Christ was born. They are put as prophetical utterances of Christ. Would not the pre-existent theory require a different wording from that used, such as Reforming, or Remaking, or Remodeling? Christ was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh”. Rom. 1:3. Did Christ retain any of His former consciousness if He pre-existed?
Christ the First Born
The writer asserts that Christ was “the very first creature that God produced”. And then later he goes on to say, “The first man (Adam) is out of the earth and made of dust: the second man (Jesus) is out of heaven. Need I comment on this Scripture?” 1 Cor. 15:47. Yes, there is a need for comment here. If Christ was the very first creature produced, then how was Adam the first man and Christ the second Adam? A first always precedes a second. If Christ was the first then how is He the second? And if Christ is the second Adam, then how could He have been the First born of all the creatures as the writer has alleged? There is evident confusion and contradiction here.
If Christ was the First born in the sense in which the writer declares Him to be, from whom was He born? Was He Born before Adam and Eve were created ? It seems the writer is trying to affirm this. Being a firstborn presupposes a mother to give birth. A mother must precede that which she gives birth to. Ask any Sunday school scholar and he will tell you that the mother of Christ was Mary. Now Mary had to be born before Christ. And many more were, too. Was Christ born before His mother? He was born about six months after John the Baptist. Or was Christ born in some remote period of the past prior to His birth from Mary ? If Christ was born before David, how could he be David’s son ? No, the writer’s understanding and interpretation of Paul’s statement of Christ as the “firstborn of every creature” will not do. Col. 1:15.
The Natural First, Spiritual Afterward
What did Paul mean when he referred to Christ as “the first-BORN of every creature” ? Certainly not what we have been told by the writer of the letter under consideration. It is a principle, as stated by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:46, “That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.” Paul in the next verse speaks of Adam as the first (or natural) man and Christ as the second (or spiritual) man. But of course the writer has this reversed. He has Christ first, and afterward Adam. This is the proverbial putting the cart before the horse.
Paul goes on to say that those that are earthy are patterned or modeled after the earthy (Adam). This is in a physical sense. We are all of us mortal and corruptible by nature. But in verse 49 we are told that some will bear the image of the heavenly (Christ). This is first in the spiritual and moral sense after baptism and at the resurrection the physical sense. 1 Cor. 15:52-54.
“The Lord from Heaven”
Christ is said to be, in 1 Cor. 15:47, “The Lord from Heaven”. What does this mean? Christ told the Pharisees and scribes, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above, ye are of this world; I am not of this world”. John 8:23. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” Verse 44. Christ was telling them they were the natural products of the flesh but that He originated as the result of the plan and purpose of God.
Foreordained
Peter states it exactly, “Who verily was Foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”. 1 Pet. 1:20. So while Christ was in the mind and purpose and plan of God as the pivot upon which salvation rests, He was not raised up, or manifested, or brought into being until He was begotten, or conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary.
Begotten
The word “begotten” precludes a previous personal existence because a thing cannot personally exist before it’s begotten. The begetting is his beginning. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob, etc. Matt. 1:2. If Christ had a pre-human existence, He could not be said to be “begotten”, or “conceived” in the womb of Mary. If it be contended that the language used of Christ proves His pre-existence, then consider what God said to Jeremiah, ”Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I Ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jer. 1:5. Do these words prove a pre-existence for Jeremiah ? If these words were used of Christ, would they be cited as proof of His pre-existence? And Christ, like Jeremiah, was formed from the womb. Isa. 49:5. Christ of course had no human father.
“The Beginning of the Creation of God”
As Adam was the beginning of the natural order of creation, so Christ was to become the beginning of a special, or spiritual creation. 1 Cor. 15:49. “He came unto His own (possessions) and His own (people) received Him not. But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God (by adoption—Rom. 8:15), even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.” John 1:11-13.
Christ told Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. Peter writes, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” 1 Pet. 1:23. Christ was raised up to be a pattern, model, or example for others, as “the Firstborn among many Brethren.” Rom. 8:29. In bringing these many sons (or brethren) unto glory, Christ is made the captain of their salvation. Heb. 2:10. We become “the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.” Gal. 3:26. We enter Christ, or put Him on, by being baptized into Him. Gal. 3:27. So we read, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (or creation —Rev. Std. Ver.) : old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW.” (2 Cor. 5:17. Jesus is “the author (leader, beginner) and finisher of our faith.” Heb. 12:2.
It is this new or special creation (called the sons of God-1 John 3:1,2 and Rom. 8:14) of which Christ is said to be the “beginning”. Rev. 3:14. If it be thought that Christ was the beginning of the natural creation of Gen. 1, then why is Christ not mentioned there as part of the creation? If Christ was the firstborn of the natural creation, then why did His birth occur many centuries after Gen. 1? Did Christ have a previous birth? Was He born before Adam was created and then later reborn. Was He born twice? Was he re-formed, re-made, or re-created?
“Firstborn among many Brethren”
But Paul is speaking (or writing) of Christ as the “firstborn Among Many Brethren.” Rom. 8:29. Of these many believers in Him, He is chief. God has said, “I will Make Him My Firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.” Psa. 89:27. God has Made Him His firstborn by using Him as the
moral and spiritual pattern, or image, for believers, and by raising Him up from the dead. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the First-Fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Cor. 15:20 (Rev. Std. Ver.). “Every man in his own order: Christ the First-Fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.” Verse 23. It is in relation to the church that Paul is writing of Christ in Col. 1:15-18. Verse 18 reads, “And He is the HEAD of the BODY, the CHURCH: who is the beginning (of the church), the firstborn From The Dead (Christ the Firstfruits-1 Cor. 15:23) that in all things He might have the Preeminence.”
Christ is the chief born. God has given Him the preeminence by making Him so. Adam lost his position of preeminence through default of transgression. Christ by reason of His perfect obedience has been given the position of “Firstborn among many brethren.” Rom. 8:29. Christ has been made the Elder brother while the believers in Him are as the Younger brothers and sisters. The position of first, or chief born was transferred from Reuben to Joseph because of Reuben’s default. Two sons of Joseph was reckoned in the genealogy. Joseph received a double portion and was elevated to the position of first, or chief born over his brethren. See 1 Chron. 5:1. So it has been in the case of Adam and Christ. Christ receives the double portion. Adam was a son of God by direct creation. Luke 3:38. Christ was a Son of God by begettal of the Holy Spirit Mat. 1:20. Col. 1:16,17 is to be explained in the light of 1 Pet. 3:22.
In answer to the question about Christ as the firstborn, “Does not that demand a mother?” the writer counters with the statement, “Well, Christ is referred to as the firstborn from the dead. Does that demand a mother also?” Since it cannot be denied that Christ was born and that He had a mother, we reverse the question and ask, “Could Christ be referred to as a first BORN from the dead, if He had never been Born? And could He have been said to be born, without a mother? If so, explain how!
Consideration of John 3:13
The writer cites John 3:13, “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” The verse is a statement by the gospel writer, John, and the only difficulty in the verse is in the words, “He that came down from heaven.” The question is in which sense He is said to come down from heaven. The fact of the case is that His origin was the result of the direct action of God through the Holy Spirit. Matt. 1 and Luke 1. His begettal was a miracle. The laws of nature could never have produced Christ. He was begotten of God. So in this sense He could say, “I came out from God. I came forth from the Father.” John 16:27,28.
God looked forward to the appearance of Christ with prospective joy. John 17:5. Christ was to manifest His glory. “I have glorified thee on the earth”, He said. John 17:4. Isa. 49:3. But the writer insists on giving it a literal interpretation. In his mind Christ existed personally in heaven before He was born. He believes that Christ literally as a person came down from heaven and entered the womb of Mary; then developed into a man, and then died, and somehow getting free from His body, He resumed the existence that He lived before His begettal. How then can He be referred to as a man, if He exists apart from His body, seeing that it is because of His body that He called Himself the Son of man ? He calls Himself the Son of man when referring to His return. Matt. 25:31. Paul calls Him in His present state A MAN: “The MAN Christ Jesus.” 1 Tim. 2:5.
But if the words used of Christ prove His personal pre-existence, then the words used of others would prove their pre-existence also. Christ was sent by God, so was John the Baptist. John 1:6. Christ was foreordained and sanctified. So was Jeremiah. Jer. 1:5. Christ was formed and called from the womb. Jer. 1:5. Isa. 49:4. The believers in Him were chosen before the foundation of the world, and were predestination unto adoption of children. Eph. 1:4,5. But did they personally pre-exist before the foundation of the world ? Explain, why not.
“Up where he was Before”
When Christ spoke of Himself as ascending “up where He was before”, (John 6:62,38) the writer insists that such words must be taken literally, that is, that Christ personally existed in heaven before His begettal in the womb of Mary. Suppose we take the other statements of Jesus in this chapter in an absolute literal sense, what would we have? “He that cometh to me shall never hunger, never thirst. Verse 35. Literally true? “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” Verse 53. Literally true? If so, this would give rise to the theory of transubstantiation. (The changing of the chemical elements of the memorial bread and wine into the real body and blood of Christ). “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood.” Verse 56. Literally true? Of course not. “The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and life.” Verse 63. And so it is the misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the words of Christ and others, that causes one to suppose that Christ personally pre-existed.
Summing It Up
Why do Christadelphians reject the theory of the personal pre-existence of Christ?
- He is said to be begotten. The word “begotten” precludes His personal preexistence. One cannot personally exist before he is begotten. Webster defines the word “beget” to mean: “to bring into being”.
- We never read of Christ in a preexistent state. In the Old Testament His coming is referred to in the future tense.
- His being begotten of the Holy Spirit was what made Him the Son of God. He is never said to be the Son of God in a pre-existent state.
- He is said to be formed from the womb, (Isa. 49:5), made of a woman, (Gal. 4:4), made of the seed of David, (Through Mary—Rom. 1:33). He is never said to be reduced from a former state of personal existence. It is never said that He was remade, reformed, or restructured.
- He was Son of God and Son of man coetaneously. He was not Son of God for a remote period, and then afterward by reason of His conception by Mary, Son of man as the theory would require.
- How could He be said to increase in wisdom, and in favor with God (Luke 2:52) if He pre-existed as God’s Son?
- How could God declare, “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no savior? (Isa. (Isa. 43:11); I am God and there is none else; I am God and there is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9). In New Testament times there is someone else with Him. 1 Tim. 2:5, 1 Cor. 8:6. There is now someone like Him. Christ is the express image of God’s Person. 1:3. In Christ dwells the fullness of God bodily. Col. 2:9 and Col. 1 : 19. Account for the difference in language.
- Christ was made (not remade) lower than the angels. Heb. 2:7,9. How could this be if He were a pre-existent Son of God who was created before the angels? The writer has affirmed that Christ was “the very first creature that God produced.”
- If Christ pre-existed, how could it be said of Him, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee, a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me.” (Moses). Deut. 18:15. If Christ already existed why was God going to have to raise Him up into existence? Acts 3:22.
- There would be neither logic nor sense in a pre-existent Son of God having to work out His salvation, and crying to God to save Him out of death. 5:7, 8. Why would a pre-existent Son of God need to learn obedience anyway? Absurd.
Knowing the zeal and loyalty of the Jehovah’s Witnesses toward their views, it is to be hoped, that the writer (or someone) will accept the challenge to write on the subject of the “Corresponding Ransom”. Tell us what it is, and why it is believed by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Can the “Corresponding Ransom” view be sustained by the Scripture? Christadelphians I am sure would be very interested in a comparison of their views on the sacrificial aspect of the death of Christ with those of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I want to thank the writer for his interest on behalf of these things, and I look forward with interest to his reply to this.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One