You Rarely Win The Arguement, But Pray You May Plant The Seed Of Doubt!
Saturday, August 20th, 2005The Jehovah’s Witnesses are currently out and about visiting homes throughout the Dapto area.
Their pitch usually begins with some comment about the mess that the world is in. The follow up line is an offer of a magazine offering hope and peace. Rarely will they identify themselves as emissaries of the Watchtower Magazine until after you have shown some positive interest.
Please beware, as their strategy thrives on the confusion and doubt they attempt to create in your own faith, They appear well grounded in the scriptures and for many Christians there is a struggle to recognise the ‘half-thrughs’ in their version of Christianity.
They are trained to expect hostility from Christians and quickly assume a martyr or persecution complex the moment you challenge or question their beliefs, founders, theology or magazine. Also they have developed reflex responses to many of the problems we legitimately raise. Usually, the experienced door knocker (the other one is typically a new recruit or trainee) will not listen to any point made against their position. The lady I spoke to on Wednesday replied; “We’ve looked into that.” I pressed her and asked had she personally looked into it, as I suggested that she couldn’t trust the leaders who had allegedly looked into it. I knew that my comment would terminate the conversation but we had already spent 30 minutes going around in circles.
Apparently the best approach to end the conversation is to offer to pray with them.
Particular issues they will raise include:
- Why can’t all you Christians get along? – I draw attention to the Rise Up Service at Win Stadium in October last year and ask why they weren’t there.
- Around Christmas time they will point out that the Bible doesn’t mention birthdays and particularly that Christmas started as a pagan ceremony – I reply that whatever its origin, that our church has Christianised the celebration in a similar way to St Paul, who Christianises Hellenic practices of his time.
- Theologically, the Jehovah’s Witnesses want to repudiate the trinity and do not believe Jesus is God (equal with the Father), they rather believe He is a god, or the son of god, who is inferior – I have found that the best verse to challenge this view is John 20:28 and Thomas’ declaration that Jesus is Lord and God. Their “bibles” mistranslate John 1:1 and it is best to avoid this argument
Generally it is best to try and love the Jehovah’s Witnesses and pray for them, but they will interpret positive reactions as you becoming potential converts.
Avoid them returning with “someone” as the new person will be a trained antagonist who will not be open to your point of view and will try to undermine every tenet of biblical Christianity wile appearing to be a lover of the Bible.
One challenge they do present to each one of us is to become more conversant with the scriptures ourselves. They prey on Christians who are not well worked out in their faith. We need to become better and better at defending our faith. The Jehovah’s Witnesses follow in a long line of heretical cults with shady founder and origins. They translate the Bible to support their view rather than employing proven translation techniques. You have to be sharp to take them on and winning the argument often only means they will go next door.
Stephen Semenchuk