Regarding Jehovah, the Watchtower says, “His is the greatest name in all the universe.” (The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah—How?,  p. 7)

In 2001, it published a tract entitled “The Greatest Name” in which it exclaimed: “What a wonderful privilege to know the greatest name, to testify to it, and to cleave to it!” (p. 6)

It claims that “to Christians it is the name of the Father of Jesus Christ and is the greatest name in the universe.” (The Watchtower, “Take Care Not to Belittle the Name of Jehovah!”, 9/15/64, p. 566)

It places Jesus in second place: “The name of Jesus Christ ranks second to that of the Most High God, Jehovah.” (The Watchtower, “Like Dew from God and like a Lion Among Nations”, 1/15/62, p. 49)

You can address this issue by building a positive case for the fact that the name the New Testament exalts most highly is “Jesus.”

Ask one of the Witnesses to read aloud Philippians 2:9-11 from the Watchtower translation: “For this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend—of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground—and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (emphasis added)

 Follow up by asking, “According to this passage, what name does God want us to exalt above every other name?”

They will probably tell you that Jehovah obviously didn’t mean that we should exalt the name of Jesus above his own. The Son’s name can’t be greater than the Father’s.

At this point, you can take advantage of the Watchtower’s strange rendering of Acts 11:26. Ask one of the Witnesses to read that verse aloud: “After he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year they assembled with them in the congregation and taught quite a crowd, and it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence called Christians.”

 Ask, “If God wanted the name ‘Jehovah’ exalted most highly, why did he, in his divine providence, have the early believers called ‘Christians’ instead of ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’?”

No matter how they reply, I recommend that you point out that Jesus personally emphasized his own name far more often than his Father’s.

They are unlikely to believe you without proof, so have the Witnesses read aloud as many of the following passages as are necessary to make your point (all quotations below are from the Watchtower’s own translation).

• Matthew 10:22: “And you will be hated by all people on account of my name, but the one who has endured to the end will be saved.”

• Matthew 19:29: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit everlasting life.”

• Matthew 24:9: “Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name.”

• Mark 9:36-37: “Then he took a young child and stood him in their midst; and putting his arms around him, he said to them: ‘Whoever receives one of such young children on the basis of my name receives me also; and whoever receives me receives not me only but also Him who sent me.”

• Mark 9:38-39: “John said to him: ‘Teacher, we saw someone expelling demons by using your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said: ‘Do not try to prevent him, for there is no one who will do a powerful work on the basis of my name who will quickly be able to say anything bad about me.’”

• Luke 21:12, 17: “But before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name… 17 and you will be hated by all people because of my name.”

• Acts 9:15-16: “But the Lord said to him: ‘Go! because this man is a chosen vessel to me to bear my name to the nations as well as to kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show him plainly how many things he must suffer for my name.’”

• Revelation 2:3: “You are also showing endurance, and you have persevered for the sake of my name and have not grown weary.”

• Revelation 2:13: “I know where you are dwelling, that is, where the throne of Satan is; and yet you keep holding fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed by your side, where Satan is dwelling.”

Ask, “Why didn’t Jesus say, ‘on account of Jehovah’s name’ or ‘for the sake of Jehovah’s name’? Why did he persist in saying, ‘my name’?”

After giving the Witnesses time to consider these questions, I would probably finish the conversation by coming full circle, saying something like this: “I certainly don’t mean to denigrate the name of Jehovah in any way, but given that Philippians 2 explicitly tells us that God has given Jesus the name that is above every other name, I think that we should just by faith acknowledge and accept that.”