[aruanan]

How can one ignore that He used the same terms "I am" as God in the OT did?

By mistranslating that passage as, "Before Abraham was, I have been" and claiming for it a Greek grammatical construction that was simply pulled out of the NW translators' asses in order to evade what the passage clearly states. Those hearing it knew, because they picked up stones to kill him for saying it. We used to laugh in koine Greek class at the violence done to the text by JWs intent on making it mean what they want it to mean rather than what it actually says. One has to look no farther than this abuse of language to know all one needs to know about the validity of JW doctrines.

You'll notice that even the Jewish hierarchy of his day realized that for him to claim he was God's son was to claim equality with God. He didn't say, "No, you don't understand. I am but a created being, a demiurge created by God that then created the rest of the universe."

[Cronos]

"He didn't say, "No, you don't understand. I am but a created being, a demiurge created by God that then created the rest of the universe." "

Exactly -- and if He was just the Archangel Michael who is one of the dutiful angels who KNEW how his brother angel Lucifer fell, well Mikey would have been aghast to have anyone think he was claiming anything LIKE equality with God.