The following is the jist of an exchange I had on another blog with a Jehovah’s Witness about the roles of the Father and the Son in the work of creation.
Suppose a fellow named William Taylor is telling me how a house got built.
William Taylor: Yep, I know the fellow that built that house. Did it all by himself. Every step of the way. And not a soul to help him.
Me: Wow! That’s amazing! You mean he did everything?
WT: Yep, everything. Drew up the plans, mixed the concrete, milled the lumber. Framed it, built the roof tresses, nailed every shingle on the roof. Wired it, plumbed it. Yep, he did everything!
Well, then the man’s son comes along, and says,
Son: So, how do you like the house I built?
Me: What do you mean YOU built it? William, I thought you said his father built it.
WT: His father DID build it!
Me: But the son here did all the work!
WT: Yep!
Me: Then how can you say the father did all the work?
WT: Because he did it through his son.
Me: Huh? You said the father did it all by himself, and that no one helped him.
WT: That’s right!
Me: But the son did the work. The father was NOT by Himslef.
WT: Yes he was. He told his son what to do.
Me: So the father didn’t do the work of building?
WT: Sure he did. He did every single thing by himself–through his son.
I think you get the picture. This is how the Jehovah’s Witnesses see the relationship of the Father and the Son in creation. They claim that when John said “not one thing was made that was not made by [Christ]” (John 1:3), that the apostle meant, “Other than Himself, nothing was made that was not made by Him,” even though the apostle John NEVER makes that distinction. However, when we view creation through the lens of the orthodox view of the Trinity, then it makes sense.
YHVH tells us in Isaiah 44:24--Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself…" In fact, the New World (mis)Translation adds these words of YHVH–”Who was with Me?” Indicating that NO ONE did ANYTHING in creating ANYTHING besides YHVH. He did not “work through” an angel. In fact, this is ludicrous to even think it. This would mean that an angel created everything for himself! (Colossians 1:16).
YHVH created all things. But when we remember that YHVH is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we understand that each one had a role in creation (Genesis 1:1-2; Neh. 9:6; Psalm 33:6, 102:25-27; Isa. 44:24, 45:18; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17) then this Tri-unity lends sense and credibiilty to our understanding of creation. We may not understand "how" but we will understand "who."
