7 Reflections On Dialoging With Jehovah Witnesses

Over the past 6 months I have had several scheduled conversations with Jehovah Witnesses who have come to my house. I don’t know if my house will be blackballed, but it is possible and therefore I have been thinking about these interactions. I have learned several things about their approaches and hopefully this will help you.

1. Each Jehovah Witness will be different – This shouldn’t be a big surprise, but people really are different. I had interaction with 4 different JWs and each responded differently. One was excited but grew hardened as I pressed questions she couldn’t answer. Another became quiet and deferred to the other JW. One was combative and accusatory about my motive and reason for dialoging. The one I had most dialog with was very polite and kind at all times. Love for neighbor means we deal with whatever is before us in the wisest possible manner.

2. They are trained that debate is not biblical – This is probably the most frustrating feature. It is also the most cult-like feature. While the Bible calls us to be “rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15), and to be like the Bereans who were “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11), the Jehovah Witnesses do not want any kind of questioning or challenge about their beliefs. They believe that debate is unbiblical. This means they will not be around long if you press them on their translation of the Bible and the doctrines they hold. What a deceptive tactic of Satan. The truth is eternal and will prevail over every falsehood. There should be no fear of having a doctrine examined and questioned. But Satan has insulated them from truth by not allowing challenging dialog.

3. They don’t understand the Trinity – This is a problem because you can’t really reject something you don’t understand. I tell my kids that they can’t say they don’t like some food until they actually taste it. Jehovah Witnesses haven’t really tasted Trinitarian teaching. Here are a few examples of this. First, one of the men said that Jesus’ praying would have been insane because he would have been talking with Himself. But Trinitarian doctrine asserts that Jesus is not the Father. They are distinct persons who have fellowship with one another. Second, they say that since Jesus is the Son He cannot be equal to the Father. But this confuses role with essence. They even give an example of a CEO of a business being greater than an employee or a husband being greater as the head of a wife. All of this misses the equality of inherent nature and essence. The CEO or the husband does not have more rights, more dignity, more worth because he is a CEO or husband. All people are created equal, despite what roles they have. Scripture asserts the same thing concerning the Father and the Son. Thirdly, they aren’t good at harmonization. They basically rule out Scriptures of Christ’s equal divinity by Scriptures that speak of Sonship. These don’t cancel each other, they harmonize with each other. All of this means that they are denying something they don’t really understand. Sadly, their refusal to “debate” means this can’t be dealt with.

4. The Gospel is a back burner issue for them – My initial conversations with Jehovah witnesses, and the publications they gave me, were all felt-need issues. What they talk about is hope, peace, being in God’s kingdom, and getting a handle on life. As I went through their stuff, I had to really hunt for something about the cross, faith, and sin. Since this is a cult, we should not be surprised that the gospel is perverted. But I was surprised that it was so buried under mounds of general spirituality.

5. Their rejection of Hell empties the cross of necessity – JWs speak of the cross but what was happening on it is not what the Scripture teaches. JWs believe in annihilation. This teaching says that all unbelievers will be destroyed and cease to exist. There are two major problems with this. First, annihilation means that God does not have infinite worth, because if He did, justice would demand infinite punishment. Second, annihilation means that if sin was actually justly punished to a point of completion, everyone should be received into heaven because their sin is fully dealt with. JWs deny God has less than infinite worth, and that everyone will go to heaven. But annihilation demands them both whether they realize it or not. Most importantly, if there is not an eternal hell, then Jesus’ death is not that important. Why? Because unbelievers will simply cease to exist. The unbeliever might have caused untold pain and suffering and drug God’s name through the mud, but the only consequence is nothingness. This is not justice. Someone can just say, “I didn’t mind non-existence before I was conceived, and I won’t mind it after I am judged. Therefore, let the sin flow.” For the JW, the cross is just a way to something good, not anything I actually need. Instead, the Bible says that there is an eternal Hell, and I need rescue from it.

6. JWs do not have actual love and evangelistic fervor for their neighbor – You might find this hard to believe, since they are out knocking on doors more than most people. However, I was surprised to hear multiple times that they were not going to oppose what I believe, and if I really believed it then I should be out knocking on doors also. This is amazing to me. It is a total refutation of authentic love. Why? If I believe that someone is walking into destruction or promoting destruction of others, and I just let that continue then I certainly do not love them. Love compels me to call them away from error and death. I understand we are all free to do what we choose, but I if I just let them do that without warnings and pleadings to turn from their error, I am a calloused person. This is a mark that they do not have Spirit-created love within them. They are working for their salvation, and whatever anyone else does, that is on them.

7. We need to be ready with several powerful challenges – My final reflection is what I plan to do next time a JW knocks on my door. First, I want to be upfront with them. I need to tell them that I believe the Bible and that I think they are denying it on several levels. I then plan on asking them if they would like to see a few of those places. My hope is that they will engage just enough for me to put several massive challenges in their mind that they won’t be able to shake off. I will have to have these printed out, tucked in my Bible, and readily accessible at all times. The three points I think I will use are:

a. The New World Translation translates the Greek phrase “I AM” correctly in the gospel of John, except in 8:58, where it is translated “I have been.” This is a mistranslation that skews Jesus’ claim of the divine title of Jehovah.

b. John 1:3 says “Apart from Him (Jesus) nothing has come into being that has come into being.” Since JWs teach that Jesus came into being, this verse doesn’t make sense. Jesus can’t bring himself into being.

c. Hebrew 1:10-12 applies Psalm 102 to Jesus. Psalm 102 is about Jehovah God and the writer of Hebrews applies it to Jesus.

I would finally tell them that their Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. I would tell them that I need an infinite Savior who can bear my infinite guilt and theirs as well. I would finally say that they should repent of their man-made religion and turn to the saving God who is Jesus.