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Acting under the assumption that by this point in your study you believe only Jehovah’s Witnesses practice the true religion, paragraph 15 (p. 151) of Chapter 15 urges you to take immediate action: “To be approved by God, not only must we believe in his existence but we must also do his will. We must also break free from false religion and embrace true worship.”

Paragraphs 16-17 (p. 152) urge you to get out of false religion and says that all false religion is a part of “Babylon the Great.” It refers you to an appendix entitled, “Identifying ‘Babylon the Great’” (p. 219)

That appendix explains why the Watchtower believes “Babylon the Great” is neither a political empire nor a commercial empire but rather a religious one (p. 220). It states that Babylon the Great “misleads all the nations by means of her ‘spiritistic practices.’” (p. 220

Did you cover the Watchtower’s knowing citation of a spiritualist, Johannes Greber, in support of its John 1:1 “a god” rendering in your discussions of Chapter 10 and/or Chapter 12? If so, you can remind them of that connection.

If you didn’t cover it earlier, follow the links and reread what I said about it. Decide if you want to bring that up now.

Page 220 of the appendix states, “Babylon the Great has such deep hatred for true religion that she violently persecutes and even murders ‘the witnesses of Jesus.’ (Revelation 17:6) Hence, this woman named Babylon the Great clearly represents the world empire of false religion, which includes all religions that stand in opposition to Jehovah God.”

You might ask the Witnesses why the quotation refers to “witnesses of Jesus” rather than “witnesses of Jehovah.”

Once again, though, you can see why the Witnesses so often display an us-versus-them, persecution mindset.

Three important teachings

Coming back to Chapter 15 itself, paragraph 17 (p. 152) identifies three teaching which is claims are all falsehoods promulgated by Babylon the Great—the Trinity, the immortality of the soul, and torment in hellfire.

This paragraph also provides you with one of your last opportunities to use “Bible Teach” as a springboard to discuss the Trinity, using the following chapters from my book, Getting Through to Jehovah’s Witnesses: Approaching Bible Discussions in Unexpected Ways—The Jesus Isn’t Michael Approach, The Jesus Is the God-Man Approach, and The Holy Spirit is God Approach.

If you decide to discuss the Trinity at this point, you may well get into Bible Teach’s Anti-Trinity Appendix. Please refer back to my post, “Dealing with the Anti-Trinity Appendix” for suggestions.

If you haven’t adequately covered the topics of the immortality of the soul and hell in earlier discussions, this paragraph provides you with an opening to use The Justice for the Wicked Approach from my book.

Paragraphs 18 and 20 (pp. 152-153) urge you to get out of Babylon the Great and become a worshipper of Jehovah while there is still time.

These warnings could be the springboard for you to use or remind them of what you have already covered from The False Prophecies Approach.

Warnings of possible rejection

Paragraph 19 (p. 153) says, “As a result of your decision to quit practicing false religion, some may choose to stop associating with you.”

Ask each of the Witnesses if this has happened to them personally.

Also ask them if they think people should stop associating with other people just because they disagree over matters of religion.

You don’t need to mention the Watchtower’s practice of shunning “apostates” who leave “the truth.”

Just pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of the evils of this practice.

Conclusion

Do you see from this chapter how Jehovah’s Witnesses convince people that the Watchtower religion is the only true religion?

Do you see how the Watchtower creates a sense of urgency?

Do you see how the Watchtower makes opposition a recruiting tool?

Do you see how being an active, questioning “student” can be an effective way of getting Jehovah’s Witnesses to re-examine their beliefs and practices?

Next week, we will move on to “Bible Teach,” Chapter 16—“Take Your Stand for True Worship.”