Has the Witness Committed Perjury?

The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the "consubstantial Trinity." The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves, but each of them is God whole and entire: "The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e., by nature one God." In the words of the fourth Lateran Council (1215): "Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence, or nature. (CCC 253)Ironically, I was approached by two Jehovah's Witnesses yesterday just as I was returning from the Mass for the feast day of Mary, Mother of God. I admit I had a smug face as they approached, with my decidedly Catholic bible held conspicuously in my left hand. How the pair must have thought they were coming to do battle with Satan the moment they inquired where I had come from only to find I had been "worshiping Mary" (their belief; not mine).

Contrary to how my wife probably thought I would respond, as she dashed the boys into the house, I think I spoke with charity. I have learned, in part as a defender, that attacking another's beliefs does not work to convert them. Instead, I merely tried to find common ground and suggest issues that made them question their own beliefs.

We discussed faith and works as well as the concept of suffering. I admitted that their idea of evangelization had its merits, and we spoke about how a message of joy and peace would always attract followers quicker than a message of abstinence, obedience and redemptive suffering. We also touched on the fact that Truth cannot contradict Truth to which we agreed that it was likely that one faith (I didn't SAY it was mine) had it right and all others were wrong in areas where they disagreed. Unfortunately, there was never an opportunity to charitably discuss the flaws in their theology. Among many is their non-belief in the Trinity. How can one even consider themselves Christian if they do not believe that Jesus Himself is God?

"Jesus clearly was a man, but he was unlike other men in that previously he had been a spirit person, known in heaven as the Word." This is the closest their website ever comes to suggesting Jesus was not just another prophet to Christians. "Note that prayer is directed through Jesus, not to him. Prayer is offered in Jesus' name because his shed blood opened the way of approach to God." This footnote to an article on angels would suggest that Jehovah's do not believe in the triune nature of God with Jesus as the Son. "'Michael the archangel' is Jesus Christ in his heavenly position." This statement is the proverbial nail in the coffin testifying as to what Jehovah's truly believe about the Son of God.

When I look up a definition for 'Christian' I begin to see how Jehovah's (and other unlikely faiths) claim Christianity on a technicality. The term Christian is defined generically as 'a person who is a follower of Jesus and his teachings,' and Christ is defined merely as 'the anointed one or messiah.' I'm certain a Jehovah would admit that Jesus is a key figure in their beliefs, being that he is the "new Adam" now residing in Heaven as God's right hand man.

However, traditionally speaking, a Christian is one who professes a belief in the Trinity. No matter how nice my neighbor and his evangelizing friends are when they occasionally show up at my door, I believe it is time to call a spade a spade. The beliefs of a Jehovah's Witness more accurately puts them in line with a cult: A religious group which denies the essential doctrines of Christianity.