Sun, Nov 22nd - 1:16PM
Avoid Arguments & Bible Ping Pong With Jehovah’s Witnesses
Many Christians think the
key to leading Jehovah’s Witnesses out of darkness and into the truth is to
merely show them Bible passages and win arguments. This idea is far removed
from reality.
First, it is important to
be extremely patient with a Jehovah’s Witness. Disappointment is inevitable if
you expect to convert someone overnight. It is likely to take a long time
(weeks, months, even years) for him to recognize that his faith is misplaced or
see that at least a few Watchtower teachings are wrong.
When you try to relate
and witness to a JW remember that a personal testimony is a powerful
evangelistic tool, and you should look for opportunity to share your testimony
ASAP. Tell him what the Lord Jesus Christ means to you and tell him about your
salvation experience, and then ask him to tell you about his personal
experience with Jesus Christ. This will throw him off his track. If he should
try to give some sort of testimony this is a good sign that you may be able to
eventually reach him with the gospel. If he should get angry or upset or decide
to leave you alone the Lord can use your testimony to make him see his need for
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Besides, how does one argue with a
testimony?
You should try to steer
the conversation beyond minor issues and debatable points and toward matters of
the heart and spirit, and try to carefully undermine the authority of the
Watchtower Society for them to be more open to the true Gospel.
When trying to respond or witness to JWs that
come to their door many Christians like to use what could be called the
Invasion or Blitzkrieg method of evangelism: They want to attack and destroy
every heresy in the JWs belief system quick, fast, and in a hurry. While a
Christian may feel that he scored a victory by winning an argument this rarely
yields good results as far as leading anyone to Christ. It would be better to
focus on one or two issues each time you meet with a JW and not force him to
digest more than he can take in one sitting. If you would do this, and if you
are friendly and respectful to him, he is more likely to ponder the information
you give him instead of shrugging it off (as you might do if someone attacked
every point of your belief system all at once), and he is more likely to make
an appointment to return and discuss other issues with you and possibly keep
returning (which is what you should want him to do).
It is important to be
kind and respectful to JWs and find a common ground, such as their commitment
to God (even though they have an obviously heretical view of God) and respect
for Bible standards (even though they have a twisted view of Scripture and
believe in salvation by works). Note Paul's approach to the Athenians in Acts
17:22-23. Was he hostile or argumentative with the Athenians, and did he expect
them to meet him where he was at in knowledge and spirituality? No, he found a
common ground and approached them from there.
It is a good idea to be
prepared to use the New World Translation in discussions with JWs. For personal
Bible reading and Bible study I recommend the KJV and not the NWT. But JWs
believe the NWT is the most accurate translation and, ironically, the NWT often
counters Watchtower teachings more effectively than the KJV. (More on this
below.)
Let's look at a typical
scenario: During a discussion with a JW you and the JW agree that the Holy
Bible is the final authority and his attitude and behaviour clearly indicate
that he is sincere in his claim to believe the Bible and respect the Bible as
the final authority. So, it appears that helping him see through Watchtower
errors is just a matter of showing him passages of Scripture. You or the JW
bring up a Bible teaching with which he disagrees, or he brings up a Watchtower
teaching, and you happen to know a Bible passage that makes the truth
crystal-clear. But when you show him a Bible passage he gives you an extremely
flawed (yet sincere) explanation or dismisses your point entirely. Then he
counters this by showing you a passage of Scripture and giving you a flawed
interpretation. Then you show him another Bible passage and he either gives you
a flawed interpretation or dismisses your point entirely, and he shows you
another Bible passage and gives a flawed interpretation, and the discussion
becomes a game of Bible ping pong. What happened? The JW sincerely believes
that the Bible is the final authority and he sincerely believes that Watchtower
teachings are Bible teachings and that the Watchtower Society is God's channel
of truth. In his indoctrination a subtle switch was made from reliance on the
word of God to reliance on the words of men (Watchtower publications). He is
severely discouraged from studying the Bible independently of the Watchtower Organization
and Watchtower publications, and for JWs Bible study means studying Watchtower
publications. The JW is continually taught at meetings and in Watchtower
publications how to respond to most arguments (even Scriptural reasons from
Christians), he is continually taught Watchtower explanations of Scriptures and
reasons to trust Watchtower insights as superior, and he has been taught
(programmed) to look at the Watchtower organization through rose coloured
glasses. When you show a Bible passage to the JW his conditioned and
preprogrammed mind automatically replaces what the passage says with what the
Watchtower Society says it means.
Remember that the
objective is to win hearts and minds, not win arguments or be right, and the
goal is the eventual salvation of lost souls. A Christian who is argumentative
with JWs should only expect to convince them that they are right.
JWs believe Watchtower
heresies because they have been taught (programmed) to not critically analyze
Watchtower teachings, to trust Watchtower leadership and Watchtower
publications to think for them, and to avoid or ignore criticisms of the
Watchtower organization and Watchtower teachings. On the other hand, JWs feel
compelled and obliged to answer sincere questions and help non-JWs understand
and accept "the truth," Watchtower teachings, which is why good
questions are an effective means of persuading them to think and start seeing
the fallacies of Watchtower teachings and the truths of Scripture. For example,
asking a JW to show you where the Bible says that Jesus Christ is Michael the
Archangel instead of dogmatically asserting that Jesus Christ is not an angel
could make him start wondering about this himself.
Here are questions every
Jehovah’s Witnesses should be asked when opportunities arise:
Is there anything about
the Watchtower Organization that you do not like or that you find difficult?
Do you ever have
difficulty getting along with other Jehovah’s Witnesses, and do you ever find
yourself able to get along with non-JWs easier or better than you can get along
with Jehovah’s Witnesses? (Watchtower publications say that true Christians
have love among themselves, and that this love is one of the identifying marks
of the only true Christian religion, God’s organization.)
Why are Jehovah’s
Witnesses instructed to ask people if they were on the wrong road would they
let pride or stubbornness keep them from admitting it while they are told they
must never ask this of themselves?
Does it ever bother you
that if you do not change your beliefs to line up with Watchtower teachings
each time the Watchtower Society changes their teachings you could be
considered an apostate and disfellowshipped?
Since the truth never
changes do you ever wonder if a change in Watchtower teachings or policies
means they had the truth and lost or rejected it or were previously teaching a
falsehood with which you were forbidden to disagree?
Has anyone ever become
convinced of Watchtower teachings and become a Jehovah’s Witness by just
reading the Bible?
Why is it important for
everyone else to question their religion but forbidden for Jehovah’s Witnesses
to question theirs?
Do you ever find it
difficult to understand how the Watchtower leadership concluded that any
Watchtower teaching is based on the clear teachings of Scripture?
Does the “New Light”
always expound or add to the “Old Light,” or does the “New Light” ever
completely replace or disprove the “Old Light?” (Psalm 33:11; 119:89; Proverbs
19:21; James 1:17)
Does the Watchtower
Society encourage personal study, discernment, and growth, or do they require a
child-like dependence? What would happen if a JW followed the example of the
Bereans and critically examined Watchtower teachings to personally discern if
those teachings really are taught in Scripture? (Acts 17:10-11)
While the Bible certainly
does not condemn all use of Christian literature and Bible study helps, and
Christian books and magazines (and other materials) can be helpful, where does
the Bible indicate that Christians must submit to the infallible views and
interpretations of an organization or its publications?
While Acts 8:30-31 does
indicate that people occasionally need help understanding Scripture, where in
this passage is there any indication of an organization? Since the Ethiopian eunuch
never saw Philip again, where is there any indication that the Ethiopian eunuch
had to join or submit to an organization or anyone? Did Philip use the Bible
alone to expound upon the meaning of Scripture or did he use additional
literature? If the Bible alone was sufficient for Philip and the Ethiopian
eunuch, doesn't this indicate that the Bible itself is sufficient for us also?
Where in these passages is there any support for the teaching that people must
join a particular organization, and submit to the interpretations of that
organization? (Watchtower publications use Acts 8:30-31 to say that the
Watchtower Society is God's only Bible-interpreting organization and that
people cannot understand Scripture without the Watchtower Society.)
If the Watchtower
Governing Body is supposed to be God's "Faithful and Discreet Slave"
that guides people in their understanding of Scripture and is God's only
channel of truth, then does the Watchtower interpretation of Matthew 24:45-47
mean that for eighteen or nineteen centuries God did not have any true
representatives on earth? (Consider Ephesians 4:11-16)
Do you ever feel that
Watchtower leadership (Governing Body or local Elders) is intrusive in matters
of personal preference or opinion where no genuine Bible truth, principle, or
command is at stake? (I Peter 5:1-3; 4:15; Romans 14:1-13)
Are Jehovah's Witnesses
loved and hated because of their loyalty to Jesus Christ and the word of God or
because of teachings and practices peculiar to the Watchtower organization? (I
Timothy 1:3-7)
Is the Gospel being
proclaimed by Jehovah’s Witnesses the same Gospel that was preached by Christ
and the Apostles? (The Gospel preached by Christ, the Apostles, and
Bible-believing Christians throughout Christian history is the death, burial,
and literal resurrection of Christ through which sinners are justified through
faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ when they repent, and the Gospel
being proclaimed by Jehovah's Witnesses is the re-establishment of God’s
kingdom commencing with the invisible return of Christ in 1914. -John 3:13-15;
Acts 4:15-19; I Corinthians 15:1-4; II Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-8)
Why does the Watchtower
Society avoid the possibility that Acts 20:20 refers to house-churches, since
the early Christians usually met for worship in private homes? (Romans 16:5; I
Corinthians 6:19; Colossians 4:15; II Timothy 3:6; Philemon 2)
Where is there any
reference to an organization in I Corinthians 1:10, and where in I Corinthians
1:10 (or the context thereof) are we told that unity is to be achieved by
submitting to an organization? Did the lack of unity among believers at Corinth
mean that they were not Christians? (I Corinthians 1:2, 11-13; Watchtower
publications use I Corinthians 1:10 to teach the importance of complete
conformity to the teachings of the Watchtower Organization and insist that such
unity proves that JWs are the only true Christians and that those who do not
have such unity are false Christians.)
Are you aware that the
Trinity Doctrine means that God is triune (1x1x1) and not triplex (1+1+1)?
Watchtower publications often point out that one plus one plus one is three and
not one and insist that the Trinity is a pagan doctrine. Ancient pagans did not
worship any trinity, they worshipped triads. A triad is three distinct gods,
while the Trinity is one God existing in three persons. The word Trinity is a
combination of the word "trine," which means threefold or three
times, and the suffix "-ity," which means state, character, or
condition. One God eternally existing in three persons is one God and not three
Gods. God is characterized by interior personal relationships. (Genesis
1:26-27; 11:6-8) The terms Father, Son, and Holy Ghost each refer to an aspect
of God's nature and activity in relation to man. (II Corinthians 13:14;
Ephesians 2:18, 22; I Peter 1:2) Salvation is an example of this: As the
Father, God originates salvation and made provision for salvation; as the Son,
God paid the penalty for sin; as the Holy Ghost, God applies salvation. (Whether
any of us completely understand or even accept a Bible teaching does not
determine if it is the truth. As the Spirit of God reveals truths to us through
the word of God, He becomes more majestic to us, not simple. -Psalm 97:2)
Where in the Bible did Jesus
Christ ever deny His deity?
If John 20:17 means that
the Father is God, then why doesn't John 20:28 mean that Jesus is God?
If only the Father is God
and Jesus is "a god," then just how many "gods" do JWs
have? (John 1:1 NWT; Isaiah 43:10; 44:8)
Why isn't the same rule
that is applied to John 1:1 in the New World Translation, so that it says the
word was “a god,” also applied to the other New Testament passages where Theos
is used without the definite article? In the 282 New Testament references to God
without using the definite article with the word Theos the New World
Translation usually renders Theos as "God," such as in Luke 20:38 and
John 1:18. Should John 1:8 be changed to say that no man has seen “a god?”
(Incidentally, JWs also point to John 1:18 which says, "No man hath seen
God at any time," and people did see Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God as
He is, only visions or materializations of God, but there have been those who
have seen God manifest in the flesh. -John 4:24; 6:46; 14:9; Philippians 2:6-7;
I Timothy 3:16)
Do you believe Jesus is
“a god?” Do you believe Jesus is a true god? If Jesus is a true god how do you
reconcile this with John 17:3? If Jesus is a false god how do you reconcile
this with John 1:1? (Watchtower publications say that only the Father is the
one true God (Jehovah) based on John 17:3 and they say that Jesus Christ is “a
god” based on the New World Translation’s rendering of John 1:1.)
If Jesus is not God, how
do you reconcile this with Colossians 1:16 and Isaiah 44:24?
How do you reconcile the
New World Translations’ rendering of Colossians 1:16 with Isaiah 44:24, which
says Jehovah was alone when Jehovah created everything? “Because by means of
him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things
visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or
lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created
through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16 NWT) “This is what Jehovah has said,
your Repurchaser and the Former of you from the belly: ‘I, Jehovah, am doing
everything, stretching out the heavens by myself, laying out the earth. Who was
with me?’” (Isaiah 44:24 NWT)
Since there is no Bible
verse that says explicitly that the Father is Jehovah should we assume that the
Father is not Jehovah? (Watchtower publications deny the deity of Jesus Christ
by saying that there is no Bible verse that says explicitly that Jesus is
Jehovah.)
How do you reconcile
Isaiah 9:6, where Jesus is called Mighty God, with Isaiah 43:10 & Isaiah
44:6? (Also, compare Isaiah 10:20-21 NWT)
Whose manifestation and
whose kingdom is referred to in II Timothy 4:1?
Who is the First and the
Last? (Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 1:8, 17-18; 2:8; 22:13, 16 NWT) There is
contradiction in Scripture unless Jesus is Jehovah.
Who did Stephen pray to?
(Acts 7:59-60)
For whom did John the
Baptist prepare the way? (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:1-3; Luke 1:76; also, compare
Malachi 3:1 and Matthew 11:10 NWT) There is a contradiction in Scripture unless
Jesus is Jehovah.
Who is Jehovah of Hosts?
(compare Isaiah 8:13,14 with I Peter 2:7-8 and Isaiah 6:3, 8-10 with Acts
28:25-27 NWT) There is contradiction in Scripture unless Jesus is Jehovah.
Who promised the New
Covenant? (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 10:15-17 NWT) There is a contradiction in
Scripture unless the Holy Spirit is Jehovah.
Where does the Bible say
that the Holy Spirit is God's active force? Why did Peter say that Ananias had
lied to the Holy Spirit when he had lied to God unless the Holy Spirit is God?
(Acts 5:3-4) How is it even possible to lie to an impersonal force? (Acts 5:3)
How do you reconcile the
almost exclusive emphasis of JWs on the name Jehovah with Acts 1:8?
Where in the New
Testament did Jesus tell His followers to declare the name Jehovah?
Where does the New
Testament say that declaring the name Jehovah is a mark of true Christians?
Which name is
consistently uplifted in the New Testament (Jesus or Jehovah)?
Why do you assume that
the submission or subjection of Christ to the Father means inferiority? (I
Corinthians 15:28; John 14:28) Does the Bible ever indicate that the husband's
headship over the wife means that a woman is naturally inferior to men? Do you
believe that compatibility between functional subordination and equality of being
is possible? How do you reconcile the subjection of Christ to Joseph and Mary
with the claim that Jesus Christ is inferior to the Father by His being
subject? (Luke 2:51; John 1:3; I Corinthians 15:28)
Where does the Bible say
that Jesus is Michael the Archangel or that Michael the Archangel is Jesus
Christ? (Hebrews 1:5-6)
Why do you insist that
being called “Son” means that Jesus was created? (Hebrews 1:5) The term
"son" is used in the Bible to denote or imply almost any kind of
descent or succession (consider Exodus 2:10 and Hebrews 1:5, 8), and “Son of
God” was a messianic title which signified the function of Deliverer. (E.g.
Matthew 16:16; Note that the Devil tempted Christ by bringing against Him the
popular Jewish conceptions of the Messiah. -Matthew 4:1-11)
How does being called
“firstborn” mean that Jesus was created, since firstborn means pre-eminent or
the legal heir? (Colossians 1:15; the nation of Israel was called firstborn
even though there were other nations in existence before the nation of Israel
was formed, and note that King David was called firstborn even though he was
the youngest son in his family, and Joseph's son Ephraim is called the
firstborn even though Ephraim was born after Manasseh. –Psalm 89:27; Jeremiah
31:9)
Does the use of the word
Arche with Almighty God mean that Almighty God was created? (Revelation 21:6;
Watchtower publications use Revelation 3:14 to say that Jesus is a created
angel. But the word "beginning" in Revelation 3:14 is the rendering
of the Greek word Arche, which means first cause, origin, or source, and is
where we get the English word "architect.”)
Where does the Bible say
that Jesus Christ was not bodily resurrected? (Luke 24:36-43; Acts 10:39-41)
Where does the Bible say
that in heaven today Jesus Christ does not have a glorified human body?
(Colossians 2:9; I Timothy 2:5)
Where does the Bible say
that the return of Christ will not be in visible human form? (Acts 1:9-11) Did
Christ ascend into a literal or figurative cloud? (Acts 1:9)
Can you verify that
Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian army in 607 BC and not 586 BC? Does
it concern you that the Watchtower calculations making 1914 the year Christ
returned are based on a date they cannot verify and a prophecy about
Nebuchadnezzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s recovery from lycanthropy) that was fulfilled
in Nebuchadnezzar's lifetime? (Daniel 4:16, 30-36)
How do you reconcile the
promise of Matthew 28:20 with the Watchtower teaching that the return of Christ
would be invisible and that He returned invisibly in 1914 AD?
If the Second Coming is
past and Christ returned in 1914 AD, why do Jehovah's Witnesses still observe
the Memorial service, since this was to be observed "... until he
arrives?" Doesn't this contradict the purpose of the Memorial? (I
Corinthians 11:26 NWT)
If Jesus was hung on a
single upright pole, a torture stake, and not on a cross then why was more than
one nail used to fasten His hands, and why does the Bible say that the written
charge was placed over His head and not over His hands? (John 20:25; Matthew
27:37)
While Ecclesiastes 9:5
& 10 may not prove there is conscious life after death, do these passages
prove that there is no conscious life after death or could these passages and
their context be dealing with the inevitability of physical death? (Hell is a place of unconsciousness and
inactivity when it comes to bodily senses and the affairs of this world.
-Isaiah 63:16; John 9:4; Revelation 14:13) Do you believe that all will receive
the same eternal fate or destiny, whether they are faithful or wicked? “All are
the same in what all have. One eventuality there is to the righteous one and
the wicked one, the good one and the clean one and the unclean one, and the one
sacrificing and the one that is not sacrificing. The good one is the same as
the sinner; the one swearing is the same as whoever has been afraid of a sworn
oath.” (Ecclesiastes 9:2 NWT) Does the phrase “the remembrance of them has been
forgotten” in Ecclesiastes 9:5 mean there will be no resurrection after this
life for anyone?
Have you considered the
possibility that Ezekiel 18:4 refers to death in the same sense that Adam and
Eve died the very day they ate the forbidden fruit? (Genesis 2:17; 5:3-5)
“Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the
soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul that is sinning—it itself will
die.” (Ezekiel 18:4 NWT; JWs use Ezekiel 18:4 to deny the immortality of the
human soul.) Death means separation: Physical death is the separation of the
soul and body. (Genesis 35:18) Spiritual death is separation of man from God.
(Romans 5:12, 17; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13; I Peter 4:6)
How do you explain
Matthew 10:28 and other passages that make a distinction between the body and
the soul?
If by
"destroy," in Matthew 10:28, Christ meant a termination of existence,
then why did He use the Greek word "apollumi?" Christ used the same
word apollumi in Luke 5:37 concerning the destruction of wineskins ("be
ruined." NWT) If God had wanted the Bible to say or indicate that the soul
and the body are distinct and that the soul is immortal how would He have
changed such passages? (Also, note that while the Bible does say that animals
have souls, the Bible does not say or indicate that animals have immortal
souls.)
In Acts 7:59 was Stephen
asking Jesus to take away his bad breath? (Watchtower literature says that the
spirit is merely one's breath.)
If the account of Luke
16:27-31 is a parable and the Rich Man represents false religious leaders and
Lazarus represents true Christians, as is taught in Watchtower publications,
then who were the Rich Man's five brothers and why did he want Lazarus to
witness to them, and why did Jesus portray Abraham as speaking to a man who no
longer existed?
If Luke 16:19-31 is a
parable (even though the context gives no indication of this), have you
considered that a parable is an example or picture which verifies something,
and a symbol is a small representation of a greater reality?
How can a copy, no matter
how exact, be the original? Is a copy of a CD the original CD? Is a copy of a
document the original document? If God created an exact duplicate of you today
and gave it your exact thoughts, emotions, and memories, would you and your
duplicate always have the same thoughts, emotions, and memories, or would you
be separate people living separate lives? Would you be willing to die so that
your duplicate could continue living your life without you around, since he
would really be you and you would still be living and conscious because he
would have your thoughts, emotions, and memories, your life pattern?
(Watchtower publications deny that physical death is separation of the soul and
body, and that resurrection is a reuniting of the soul and body, by teaching
that resurrection means that God recreates a body with the same life pattern
and memories, an exact copy.)
Where does the Bible
forbid service in the armed forces and where in the Bible is any soldier told
to resign from the military?
Where does the Bible
forbid a medical blood transfusion to save a human life? (Romans 4:15)
Where does the Bible
forbid celebrating religious holidays, such as Christmas and Easter? (Romans
14:1, 4-6. Watchtower publications point out that there were pagan holidays on
those days. If we are going to nit-pick on details, we should forbid weddings
rings and wedding cakes as they have pagan origins, and we should forbid
calendars, clocks, and watches because the names of the months and the days of
the week have pagan origins and the use of timepieces and the division of the
day into the hours comes from astrology. If you happen to know someone who uses
Christmas or Easter as opportunity to worship Baal or Tammuz, I will agree that
they are wrong. The Bible condemns idolatry but not everything pagans happened
to do, and it does not condemn setting aside a day unto the Lord.)
Where does the Bible
forbid celebrating birthdays? (Watchtower literature points to two accounts of
kings, Herod & Pharaoh, celebrating their birthdays and having someone
killed. It must be noted that these ancient kings, dictators, had people killed
every day and not just on their birthdays. But note that according to chapter
one of The Book of Job, Job and his family celebrated birthdays and had such a
good time at this that Job felt compelled to offer sacrifices just in case they
might have gone too far in their merrymaking.)
While the Bible teaches
much about the Old Covenant for Jews and the New Covenant for Christians, where
does the Bible teach a third arrangement of a "great crowd" of
"other sheep" who do not have a heavenly hope? (John 17:20, 24; I
Peter 1:3, 4) Where is the "great crowd" according to Revelation 19:1
in the New World Translation? “After these things I heard what was as a loud
voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: ‘Praise Jah, YOU people! The
salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God.’” (Revelation 19:1
NWT) If God had wanted Revelation 19:1 to say that the "great crowd"
has a heavenly hope, how would He have changed this passage to indicate that?
If Christ had wanted to
mean that the "other sheep" are gentile converts, how would He have
changed the wording of John 10:16 and the context thereof?
The New World Translation
is consistent in the punctuation in the dozens of other New Testament passages
where Jesus uses the expression "Truly I tell you" or "Truly I
say to you" ("tell" and "say" are the same word in the
Greek text); so why does the New World Translation make an exception in Luke
23:43 and put a comma after the word “today.” “And he said to him: ‘Truly I
tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23:43 NWT) “And Jesus
said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in
paradise.” (Luke 23:43 KJV) If I were to vocally and personally say something
to you right now it would be obvious that I would be speaking
"today;" where does the context of Luke 23:43 indicate any logical
reason that Jesus would feel the need to verbalize the obvious fact that He was
speaking those words on that very day?
Did you know that the
Watchtower Society originally taught that Charles Taze Russell was God’s
“faithful and discreet slave” of Matthew 24:45-46, and how do you explain the
Watchtower Society’s change of position on this fundamental issue?
If the Jehovah’s
Witnesses are the only true witnesses for God does this mean that God did not
have a witness for over eighteen centuries, since the Jehovah’s Witnesses did
not exist as an organization until the nineteenth century?
According to Acts 2:32,
Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and Acts 13:30-31, were the early Christians witnesses of
Jehovah or of Jesus Christ?
If the “faithful and
discreet slave” of Matthew 24:45-46 that guides people in their understanding
of Scripture did not exist until modern times does this mean that God did not
care if anyone understood the Bible for all the previous centuries?
How did anyone understand
the Bible during the centuries prior to the existence of the Watchtower
Society? What kind of God gives His people a Bible without any means of
understanding it?
If Christ deliberately
bypassed the religious elite and highly educated to reveal truths to ordinary
people, and the Apostles commended and encouraged personal study and
discernment, why should we assume that God intended for people of our
generation to receive (without question or doubt) the interpretations of people
claiming to have some special key to understanding Scripture that ordinary
people don't have? If the Bible is the complete Word of God and the final
authority why should we assume that God expects people of our generation to
interpret Bible passages in relation to Christian literature or a theologian
instead of interpreting Bible passages in relation to context and the whole
Bible? Scripture itself is the key to the interpretation of Scripture. While
there definitely is need for ministers and Christian literature, and there are
difficulties in the Bible, for the most part the Bible is self-interpreting and
self-explanatory when one is familiar with its contents. (Psalm
119:104,105,130; Proverbs 2:3-6; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11-12; II Timothy
2:15; 3:16-17)
Have you ever taken time
to personally look up all the Bible passages cited or referred to in a
Watchtower publication to examine the relationship of each Bible passage to its
context and see for yourself if they are rightly dividing God’s Word or
misapplying and misusing Scripture texts?
Does Romans 14:1-12
indicate that it is acceptable for Christians to differ on some religious
issues, especially conscientious differences of opinion?
According to John 5:39-40
is Bible knowledge sufficient for salvation, and what is required for salvation
according to this passage?
Where in the Bible did
anyone record their time in witnessing on paper or have record cards of
activity assigned as gauges or measurements of spirituality? "Jehovah's
Witnesses believe that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, and
instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold to the Bible
as the standard for all their beliefs." (Reasoning From The Scriptures,
p.199) "Because Jehovah's Witnesses base all of their beliefs, their
standards for conduct, and organizational procedures on the Bible, their faith
in the Bible itself as God's Word gives them the conviction that what they have
is indeed the truth. So their position is not egotistical but demonstrates
their confidence that the Bible is the right standard against which to measure
one's religion." (Reasoning From The Scriptures, p.203-204)
Where does the Bible say
that a prophet is no longer a false prophet if he admits he made a mistake
after a prophecy fails? (Consider Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Watchtower publications
say the Watchtower Society is Jehovah’s prophet.)
Do the many failed
predictions of the Watchtower Society ever make you question if they really are
God’s channel of truth?
Where does the Bible say
that a person must belong to an organization that did not exist until the 19th
century to survive Armageddon?
How do you reconcile the
Watchtower teaching that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will not reside with Christ
in His heavenly kingdom with Matthew 8:11?
How could Christ preach
to the “spirits in prison” who were alive during the days of Noah, and how was
the gospel preached to “them that are dead,” if there is no consciousness after
death? (I Peter 3:18-20; 4:5-6)
If “the spirits in
prison” in I Peter 3:19 refers to demons and not people who died before the
resurrection of Christ, then why did Jesus preach to demons?
Why did the Holy Spirit
speak directly and refer to Himself as “me” and “I” in Acts 13:2?
If Christ is not God, how
do you reconcile John 17:5 with Isaiah 42:8 and Isaiah 48:11?
If the NWT is the most
accurate word for word translation of the Bible, why is the word “son” added to
Acts 20:28 even though the word “son” is not in the Greek text of Acts 20:28?
If Christ was created by
God and is the wisdom of God, as taught in Watchtower publications, how is it
possible that God was ever without wisdom? (Proverbs 8:1-4, 12, 22-31)
If the Watchtower
Organization can trace its roots all the way back to Christ, can you name one
Jehovah’s Witness who lived before the 19th century?
Why does the Watchtower
Society withhold the names of the men on the New World Translation Committee
who translated the Hebrew and Greek texts into English for the New World
Translation so that nobody can see if they had any credentials that qualified
them to produce a Bible translation?
Why did Paul make a
distinction between a person’s body and their soul in Acts 20:10?
Why did Christ tell the
early Christians they would be persecuted for the sake of His (Jesus’) name
instead of Jehovah’s name? (Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:13; Luke 21:12, 17; Acts
9:16)
If the human soul is the
body, then how can the soul come out of the body? (Genesis 35:18)
Why does the New World
Translation put the name Jehovah in the New Testament even though it does not
occur in the Greek text of the New Testament?
While chapter five of I
Corinthians outlines limiting association with Christians that persist in the
specified sins, where is there an indication of strict shunning or application
to family members?
Why do Jehovah’s
Witnesses avoid the possibility that “house” in II John 10 refers to a
congregation, and that this passage is dealing with a qualification for church
membership and occasion for church discipline and not who you can accept into
your own private home, since the word “house” often refers to a church congregation
in the New Testament? (Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 6:19; Colossians 4:15; II
Timothy 3:6; Philemon 2) Why is the Watchtower interpretation of II John 10
only applied to ex-JWs? Do ever receive non-JW relatives or friends into your
home?
Where does the New
Testament tell Christians to shun heathens and tax collectors? (Watchtower
publications use Matthew 18:17 to support Watchtower shunning)
Where does the Bible tell
you to shun a friend or relative who conscientiously chooses to leave the
Watchtower Organization?
Where does the Bible tell
you to shun a relative or friend who conscientiously chooses to join another
denomination?
Watchtower publications
say that each creative day of chapters one and two of Genesis is 7,000 years
long. How do you reconcile this teaching with Exodus 20:11?
If the Watchtower Society
began teaching that a medical blood transfusion is acceptable for a JW because
this does not violate any Bible standard would you change your beliefs on this
issue? If yes, then how can you be certain they are teaching the truth now? If
no, then does it ever bother you that if you do not change your beliefs every
time the Watchtower Society changes their teachings you could be considered an
apostate and be disfellowshipped?
If the Watchtower Society
began teaching that any incident of rape or child molestation should be
reported to the police as soon as possible even if the victim is the only
eyewitness to the crime would you agree with that policy? How are you certain
that their current teachings and policies on this are right?
Remember to pray for
Jehovah's Witnesses and other cults and pray for the potential convert who will
eventually come to your door.
New World Translation Online www.jw.org/en/library/bible
Helpful Christian Resources & Information:
Witnesses For Jesus, Inc. www.4witness.org
AnswerJW.com www.answerjw.com
MM Outreach Inc. www.mmoutreachinc.com
TowerWatch Ministries www.towerwatch.com
Six Screens of the Watchtower
www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com
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