What they do is present Jesus sans-Michael evangelically on the front end and later they introduce the heresy of Michael. Cults are disingenuous that way and also cults engage in a great deal of wordsmithing which allows them to use the same language of orthodox Christianity but assign their own fabricated heretical interpretations.
You're wrong: Jehovah's Witness teach that Jesus Christ
is Michael the Archangel. That they are the same being. Here read it for yourself:
Who Is Michael the Archangel? | Bible Teach
I use scholarly materials which include their materials, of course, but it's easier to link to online content than old books in my library:
"Being the only begotten Son of God... the Word would be a prince among all other creatures. In this office he [Christ] bore another name in heaven, which name is 'Michael' [the Archangel]... Other names were given to the Son in course of time" (The Truth Shall Make You Free, Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1943, 49).
"The true Scriptures speak of God's Son, the Word, as 'a god.' He is a 'mighty god,' but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah" (The Truth Shall Make You Free, Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1943, 47).
"In other words, he was the first and direct creation of Jehovah God" (The Kingdom Is at Hand, Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1944,46-47, 49).
"The Bible shows that there is only one God... greater than His Son... and that the Son, as the Firstborn, Only-begotten, and 'the creation by God,' had a beginning. That the Father is greater and older than the Son is reasonable, easy to understand, and is what the Bible teaches" (From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1958, 164).
"The very fact that he was sent proves he was not equal with God but was less than God his Father" ( MH, 41).
"Certainly the apostle John was not so unreasonable as to say that someone (the Word) was with some other individual ('God') and at the same time was that other individual ('God') " (MH, 53).
"Thus, Jesus had an existence in heaven before coming to the earth. But was it as one of the persons in an almighty, eternal triune Godhead? No, for the plainly states that in his pre-human existence, Jesus was a created spirit just as angels were spirit beings created by God. Neither the angels nor Jesus had existed before their creation" (Should You Believe in the Trinity?).
Etc... etc... etc... JV is loaded with heresy that Charles Taze Russell began fabricating after 1870.
Now here's an example of an old bible:
Codex Sinaiticus - Home
And your
false charge of polytheism reveals that you do not understand the most fundamental doctrine of Christianity: Who God is.
God is not both three and only one in the same sense. He is only one in nature (essence) but three in a different sense-in Persons. Three persons in one essence is no more a contradiction than are three corners on one triangle or three ones in one to the third power (1 X 1 X 1=1).
God has one what (nature) with three whos (persons). This is a mystery (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16) but not a contradiction.
To be contradictory God would have to be both three and only one at the same time and in the same sense; that is, He would have to be three Persons and yet only one Person at the same time and in the same sense. Or, He would have to be three Natures and yet only one Nature at the same time and in the same Sense. But this is not what the bible teaches and orthodox theologians claim which is:
(1) There is only one God.
(2) There are three distinct persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who are God.
(3) There are three persons in this one God.
It's incorrect to call the Christian view of God polytheistic and its disingenuous to insist that orthodox Christian epistemology teaches that when it does not and never did.
I have very old sources on hand but they aren't in English so it's much easier reading for non-scholarly people, like yourself, to view modern scholars that do not stray from early orthodox Christian epistemology. Here's one example:
Further reading:
"Beisner provides a clear and concise review of the biblical and historical data regarding the development of the doctrine of the Trinity. He reviews key New Testament passages to show that the Trinity was presupposed or incidentally expressed by the apostles and the early church. He also shows that the concept of Trinity in unity, three distinct persons who are one God, was firmly entrenched in Christian thought by the late second century.
Finally, he discusses the origin and resolution of the Arian controversy in the fourth century. While a knowledge of Greek and Latin would be helpful to understand the significance of the controversial terms of that period, it is not essential. He shows that the Nicene Creed developed as a reaction against Arianism, which was a clear departure from earlier teaching, and contrary to many popular misconceptions, he also shows that the Nicene Creed prevailed in spite of Arian subterfuge and imperial opposition. Far from being imposed on the church by a small cadre of emperors and bishops, the Nicene-Constantinople Creed represented the organized and thoughtful consensus of the church regarding the nature of God."
No, they teach he is not God because that, in their view, is what most of the evidence of the New Testament points toward, and I would agree with them. You are getting your information on the Jehovah's Witnesses from Christian apologetic sources, that oppose the Witnesses. Why don't you read what the Witnesses themselves are saying?
They do not say that Jesus is actually the archangel Michael, they say references to Michael are actually references to Jesus. Michael is like a code word for Jesus. They, like many Christian members here interpret Jesus as the Primal Adam, but as a creation of God he cannot be God; however, they attempt to live their lives as purely as Jesus lived his, while on Earth, and they see him as the only route to salvation. They also believe that it is Jesus who must intercede for us before God.
I believe your Bible has also alters some things from the original Greek to better fit Christian belief. The Witnesses are no more polytheistic than you are. You believe in angels, demons, and a leader of the demons called Satan. You must also be polytheistic.
Yes, they do have Jesus.
