I used to think that having Jehovah’s Witnesses read aloud a passage of Scripture would be enough to get through to them. I’d wait for them to concede the point the Scripture was making. Instead, they would often give me a blank stare.
They read the words, but the words didn’t sink in. They didn’t get the point.
What do you do if that happens?
Ask follow-up questions to bring out the meaning of the passage.
Let me give you an example. Continue reading
When you are about to discuss a passage of Scripture with Jehovah’s Witnesses, I recommend that you first ask them to read the verse or verses aloud from their Bibles.
If the passage is a long one, review it with them in smaller, more manageable segments rather than getting lost trying to analyze a lengthy passage all at once.
I’m not saying you should never do some of the reading yourself, but it’s best to have them do it as often as possible—especially with passages that are critical to the topic you are discussing.
Why do I recommend that you have them do the reading?
Let’s look at the alternatives. Continue reading
Good investigators know that before you confront a witness with an inconsistency, you first have to pin them down to their basic story.
Otherwise, they just wriggle off the hook.
A similar principle applies in getting through to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Continue reading
Remember Lieutenant Columbo, the TV homicide detective played by Peter Falk?
Because his questions were presented as efforts to clear up various points rather than as accusations, he never came across as threatening.
In fact, at times he was self-deprecating. He would say things like, “I’m sorry, but little things like this bother me. I can’t get them out of my mind.”
Because of his soft non-threating manner, suspects tried hard to give him answers, hoping he would finally be satisfied with their explanations.
He would back off for a while, but inevitably some new inconsistency puzzled him and he asked for further help resolving that problem as well.
In order to avoid triggering the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ persecution mindset when you challenge Watchtower dogma by voicing questions they would never dare or even think to ask, I recommend that you emulate Columbo’s non-threatening manner.
Here are some examples of how this can be done (I’ll highlight the “Columbo” language). Continue reading
Many times you can use a combination of witnessing techniques.
Here’s an example of how you can combine taking the wind out of their sails with Student Role Teaching to turn the tables when discussing the biblical relationship of faith and works. Continue reading
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