Jehovah's Witnesses and The Holy Spirit

 May the Force be with You

The Watchtower Society defines the Holy Spirit in the following way:

The invisible energizing force that God puts into action to accomplish his will. It is holy because it comes from Jehovah, who is clean and righteous to the highest degree, and because it is God’s means to accomplish what is holy.​—Lu 1:35; Ac 1:8.[1]

With this definition in mind, it is easy to see why, in all their literature, the Watchtower Society always write holy spirit in the lower case. They believe and teach that the Holy Spirit is an ‘it’, rather than a ‘who’.

Active Force

Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to the Holy Spirit as God’s ‘active force’ and, as can be seen from the quote above, they believe that ‘it’ is an energizing force which flows from Jehovah to accomplish his will.

Their understanding of the Holy Spirit is a far cry from that believed upon and taught by historic Christianity. Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is not just a force, but rather a personal being. He is divine and the third person of the Holy Trinity. These beliefs come from, amongst many others, the following biblical verses:

John 14:26

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 15:26

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

Ephesians 4:30

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Romans 8:26

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

1 Corinthians 12:11

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Matthew 3:16-17

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

2 Corinthians 13:14

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

1 Corinthians 6:11

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Hebrews 9:14

…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Acts 5:3-4

But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

1 Corinthians 2:10-11

…these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

In support of their belief that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but rather an impersonal force, the Watchtower Society leans heavily on two verses, Luke 1:35 and Acts 1:8. Here is their reasoning:

The Scriptures make clear that the holy spirit is a force that God uses to accomplish his will. When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would have a son even though she was a virgin, the angel told her: “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God’s Son.” (Luke 1:35)

According to Gabriel’s words, there is a link between the holy spirit and the “power of the Most High.”

A similar idea appears elsewhere in the Bible. The prophet Micah said: “I myself have become full of power, with the spirit of Jehovah.” (Micah 3:8) Jesus promised his disciples: “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you.” (Acts 1:8).[2]

Notice how they begin by saying ‘The Scriptures make clear…’ which Scriptures? The ones they chose. They use the Scriptures which all link the Holy Spirit with power. They continue:

So, what may we conclude from the foregoing? There is a close connection between the holy spirit and the power of God. The holy spirit is the means by which Jehovah exerts his power. Put simply, the holy spirit is God’s applied power, or his active force. And what a force that is!

What they do here is indefensible and deceptive. They quote a couple of verses, ignoring many others, and from the few they build their doctrine of the Holy Spirit. They do this to support their pre-conceived theology.

At first glance, these isolated verses may appear to support the Watchtower teaching that the Holy Spirit is only God’s ‘active force’, but when we add to them the scriptures quoted above, there is no way the conclusion can be reached that the Holy Spirit is merely an impersonal power.

Sadly, in denying the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, the Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to show that they do not know the only true God, who alone can offer eternal life.[3]


[1] Holy spirit — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (jw.org)


[2] What Is the Holy Spirit? — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (jw.org)


[3] John 17:3