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The source for my question is found at the Jehovah Witnesses own web site: The Watchtower :

His Origin Was From Early Times: "Since all created things had a beginning, there was a time when God was alone."

It then asks a rhetorical question:

Who was his first creation?

They say:

The last book of the Bible identifies Jesus as "the beginning of the creation by God." (Revelation 3:14) Jesus is "the firstborn of all creation." Source: Watchtower 2005 9/15 pp. 4-7: Who Is Jesus Christ?

From the NASB it says at John 1:1,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

According to the context the "Word/Logos" is identified as Jesus Christ. John 1:1-14.

He was in the beginning with God and He was God.

If you're with somebody your a distinct person from that somebody.

Moreover, there is only one beginning. John's "beginning" is referring to the Genesis 1:1 beginning. At the Genesis 1:1 beginning it states, "In the beginning God created. So the Genesis "beginning" is telling us WHAT HAPPENED "in the beginning."

At John 1:1, "in the beginning" the emphasis in on WHO EXISTED "in the beginning." And verses like John 1:3, "All things came into being by Him, and apart (or without Him) nothing came into being that has come into being. Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:10 and even Revelation 3:14 backs up John 1:1. At Revelation 3:14 Jesus is the "arche/beginning" or the source and origin of the beginning of time and space. We get our English word "architect" from the Greek word, "arche."

The following confirms what was stated and if more information is needed, that can be suppied as well: John 1.

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  • 1
    The beginning of the creation of God, in Revelation 3:14, is a matter of the manifest Christ rising from the dead. It is a New Creation. It is a matter of humanity - a second man and a last Adam. It is a different expression from the identification of Spirit as Logos.That is another revelation altogether, although it is the same Person. The creation of all things by that Word is the first creation.
    – Nigel J
    Jan 29, 2020 at 22:36
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    @kris. John's beginning is referring to the Genesis 1:1 beginning. There's not two beginnings.
    – Mr. Bond
    Jan 29, 2020 at 22:41
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    @Mr.Bond Yes indeed. Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 are the first creation. Revelation 3:14 is the New Creation, that is to say the foundation (arche) of an entirely different creation which will, ultimately, result in new heavens and a new earth. But first, judgment and death and bloodshed were necessary (through the Testator of the New Testament) to bring it in, righteously.
    – Nigel J
    Jan 29, 2020 at 22:45
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    Unfortunately, @Mr.Bond, you are asking questions of people whose point of view you do not share. And those who do share your point of view, thus, cannot answer. You leave yourself sort of stranded, if you don't mind me saying so. There is a different technique to all of this, but you are choosing not to use it. (But you got my up-vote anyways +1.)
    – Nigel J
    Jan 29, 2020 at 23:13
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    @NigelJ. I seemed to have noticed that lately and I'm not sure how to figure it out. I ask a question using the words of the opposing side, i.e proof. Then I give biblical proof to counteract what they said, so what's the "technique" that I'm missing? Can you edit what I posted? I had a good question asked yesterday and it was edited, I then deleted it and it's all fallen by the wayside. No one has addressed the question? What am I missing?
    – Mr. Bond
    Jan 29, 2020 at 23:20

1 Answer 1

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The answer is in the article that you cite in your question.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that long before any angels were created, certainly long before and physical matter that makes up the universe was formed, Jehovah created Jesus. If you need to say this happened outside of space and time to understand it that is fine. It was if space and time began with the creation of the universe.

We can better understand John’s words here if we analyze exactly what he said. Notice again that he wrote:

In the beginning was the Word.”

This, of course, was not talking about God’s beginning, for God had no beginning. (Psalm 90:1, 2)

It was the beginning of the things John was here discussing, including the creation of all other things by “the Word.”

Then John said: “The Word was with God.” A person who is with someone obviously is not the same as the one he is with.

So at John 1:1 when Jehovah began creating the heavens and the earth the Word (Jesus) was with Him.

John 1:1 tells us that when the heavens and earth were created the Word was there with God.

Genesis 1:1 tells us that the heavens and earth were created before the earth was transformed into a place filled with flora and fauna, eventually culminating with God creating man in His image. Physical creation is what began at the beginning, The beginning is not the moment that Jehovah first brought forth His son.

Nor is the beginning of John and Genesis referring to the time when Jehovah through His son created the angelic hosts who were also on hand to applaud the creation of the heavens and the earth. Instead the beginning in John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 is the creative act that brought the material universe into existence.

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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    – Peter Turner
    Feb 9, 2020 at 4:19
  • In Proverbs wisdom is personified as a woman. How do JWs explain the gender change from female (wisdom) to son (male). Apr 15, 2020 at 3:42
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    @RevelationLad Grammatical gender is not natural gender. hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/a/46764/11555
    – User 14
    Apr 15, 2020 at 21:42
  • @RevelationLad Does Matthew 23:37 teach us that God is a woman?
    – User 14
    Apr 15, 2020 at 21:47
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    "It was if space and time began with the creation of the universe." — That is in fact the secular view of creation. There was a "time" when time didn't exist, 13.7 billion years ago (or perhaps 26.7 billion). Jul 31 at 13:16

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