Bible resource
Do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe in the Trinity?
The Trinity is usually the first objection a Jehovah's Witness raises. Witnesses reject the Trinity as pagan and unbiblical, teaching that God is one person (Jehovah), that Jesus is a created being, and that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal “active force.” The Bible teaches something different.
What Jehovah's Witnesses teach
Witnesses call the Trinity a pagan, unbiblical doctrine invented in the 4th century. They stress that the word “Trinity” never appears in Scripture, that God is one person (the Father, Jehovah), that Jesus is a separate lesser being, and that the Holy Spirit is not a person but God's impersonal “active force.”
What the Bible says
Matthew 3:16-17 “The Son in the water, the Spirit of God descending, and the Father speaking from heaven — all at once.”
Matthew 28:19 “Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 5:3-4 “Peter: lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God.”
2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”
Deuteronomy 6:4 “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”
The Bible teaches three truths at once, and the Trinity is the only way they all fit: there is only one God (Isaiah 44:6); the Father, Son, and Spirit are each fully God; and they are distinct persons — the Father sends the Son, the Son prays to the Father, the Spirit is sent by both. The Hebrew word for “one” (echad) allows a compound unity (Genesis 2:24, “one flesh”).
A question to ask at the door
“In Acts 5:3-4, Peter says lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God. How can an impersonal ‘force’ be lied to — and be called God?”
Follow up with Matthew 3:16-17: at Jesus' baptism the Son, Spirit, and Father are all present at the same moment.
Go deeper
For the full interactive guide, see The Trinity.