So, you're sitting on the couch with your wife after dinner, relaxing and enjoying your evening when suddenly there's a knock on the door.
When you open the door you are greeted by two nicely dressed people with big smiles, offering you material on their beliefs and wanting to talk about them with you!
They identify themselves as "Jehovah's Witnesses", which are Members of The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, and you freeze because you are at a loss for words in knowing how to respond to their claims.
Or perhaps you have a talkative co-worker who is a Jehovah's Witness, and is vocal about his beliefs, so the two of you engage in an ongoing friendly debate, and you need to know how to respond to his claims.
When you open the door you are greeted by two nicely dressed people with big smiles, offering you material on their beliefs and wanting to talk about them with you!
They identify themselves as "Jehovah's Witnesses", which are Members of The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, and you freeze because you are at a loss for words in knowing how to respond to their claims.
Or perhaps you have a talkative co-worker who is a Jehovah's Witness, and is vocal about his beliefs, so the two of you engage in an ongoing friendly debate, and you need to know how to respond to his claims.
Nothing beats knowing your Bible! The Word of God is our sword and in order to wield it well, we have to know it well.
The Watchtower has interpreted The Bible, come up with unique doctrines, and re-translated The Bible all with the emphasis on denying the deity of Jesus Christ, the existence of the 2nd person of the trinity, the existence of heaven and the existence of hell.
But when witnessing to a Jehovah's Witness you have to know their Bible too, the New World Translation. The Watchtowers translators re-worded the majority of the verses that Christians have used for centuries to support such doctrines as The Trinity, Deity of Christ, and the existence of heaven and hell.
So it's important to know which verses they have changed, and which ones they have left alone. You will have more impact if you can show them that their beliefs run contrary to what their own Bible says!
As an example of how they re-word a verse to the point where it no longer supports the doctrine it's famous for, the best place to look is John 1:1:
The Watchtower has interpreted The Bible, come up with unique doctrines, and re-translated The Bible all with the emphasis on denying the deity of Jesus Christ, the existence of the 2nd person of the trinity, the existence of heaven and the existence of hell.
But when witnessing to a Jehovah's Witness you have to know their Bible too, the New World Translation. The Watchtowers translators re-worded the majority of the verses that Christians have used for centuries to support such doctrines as The Trinity, Deity of Christ, and the existence of heaven and hell.
So it's important to know which verses they have changed, and which ones they have left alone. You will have more impact if you can show them that their beliefs run contrary to what their own Bible says!
As an example of how they re-word a verse to the point where it no longer supports the doctrine it's famous for, the best place to look is John 1:1:
(John 1:1 King James Version)The New World Translation renders this verse as:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(John 1:1 New World Translation)One of the most important verses in The New Testament is changed to support the Watchtowers doctrine! We then have to find different Bible verses to use, ones that they have left-unchanged in their version.
In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.
A good example of a very useful passage they didn't alter too much is John 20:27-29:
Always remember the most important thing you can do in witnessing to a Witness, and that is to pray. Study is important, but being right with God and diligent in prayer are much more important. And many of those prayers should be for the hearts of those you are witnessing to.
More examples of reaching out to Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons, will follow in the weeks and months to come, just check the proper blog category in the upper-left hand menu.
(John 20:27-29 King James Version)The New World Translation is only slightly different than the King James Version and therefore very useful and effective in sharing the Deity of Christ with a Jehovah's Witness.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
(John 20:27-29 New World Translation)When showing this passage to a Jehovah's Witness, make sure you point out what Jesus does NOT say in verse 29. Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for calling him his God, instead Jesus authorized what Thomas said by calling it "belief". Jesus was clearly saying, "yes Thomas, I am your God, and happy are those who also believe".
27 Next he said to Thomas: “Put your finger here, and see my hands, and take your hand and stick it into my side, and stop being unbelieving but become believing.”
28 In answer Thomas said to him: “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him: “Because you have seen me have you believed? Happy are those who do not see and yet believe.”
Always remember the most important thing you can do in witnessing to a Witness, and that is to pray. Study is important, but being right with God and diligent in prayer are much more important. And many of those prayers should be for the hearts of those you are witnessing to.
More examples of reaching out to Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons, will follow in the weeks and months to come, just check the proper blog category in the upper-left hand menu.
Yours is a well done post!
ReplyDeleteA big difference between Jehovah's Witnesses and Christians is that the Watchtower Society's central core creed proclaims Jesus second coming in October 1914.
They sometimes try to obscure this today and say that he came *invisibly*.Yes,all other Christains are awaiting Jesus return,the JW say he ALREADY came in 1914.
Watchtower society membership data is compiled by them,there is no way to verify.Interesting that they have recently admitted to losses in almost all industrialized countries.
Reports from TIME Magazine-*An even more extreme example of what might be called *masked churn* is the relatively tiny Jehovah's Witnesses, with a turnover rate of about two-thirds*.
That means that two-thirds of the people who were raised Jehovah's Witnesses no longer are.
Jehovah's Witnesses are the highest loss of any religion.
--
*tell the truth don't be afraid*--Danny Haszard
I have a problem with man made religions - especially ones that declare Christ has already come again. If that were true, then the rapture is over, and we are all left behind. Where does that leave the believer in Christ? Are we all going to go through the tribulation? Or do they not believe in that either? It's obvious to me that they are sadly mislead and confused.
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