Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Today, we’ll discuss the final two topics of Chapter 10 of “Bible Teach”:
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Paragraph 12 of Chapter 4 (p. 42) of “Bible Teach” refers you to the Appendix entitled “The Truth About the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (pp. 218-219). I will call this “The Anti-Trinity Appendix.”
If you have decided to discuss the full doctrine of the Trinity at this point in your study with the Witnesses, you will want to discuss this appendix in some depth. If you prefer to leave that discussion for later (Chapter 10 or Chapter 15), you can come back to this discussion at that point.
The appendix begins with this statement (p. 201): “PEOPLE who believe the Trinity teaching say that God consists of three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each of these three persons is said to be equal to the others, almighty, and without beginning. According to the Trinity doctrine, therefore, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God.”
That is actually a good statement of the Trinity doctrine!
But p. 202 follows that up by saying, “Many who believe the Trinity admit that they are not able to explain this teaching. Still, they may feel that it is taught in the Bible.”
That statement provides a springboard for you to discuss anything I covered in The Jesus Is the God-Man Approach and The Holy Spirit Is God Approach from my book, Getting Through to Jehovah’s Witnesses: Approaching Bible Discussions in Unexpected Ways, including presenting a positive biblical case for the Trinity rather than just a response to Watchtower proof texts. Continue reading
Although Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t object to you using your favorite version of the Bible, the only one they really trust is the Watchtower’s New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT).
Despite the fact that Witnesses consider the Watchtower version to be the most accurate translation of the Hebrew and Greek texts, many times the verses have been rewritten to support Watchtower doctrines.
As Christians who are trying to get through to Jehovah’s Witnesses, we need to know how to deal with this reality.
In my opinion, there are four strategies you can use to do this successfully. 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
Why should you do the unexpected when discussing Bible doctrine with Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Because if you don’t, they will just recite their Watchtower talking points and you won’t get through to them.
The Watchtower trains them in how to present Watchtower doctrines. It also tells them what you and I are likely to say and informs them how to respond.
I found this out the hard way many years ago. I was particularly frustrated when my conversation with some Jehovah’s Witnesses was going nowhere. I felt as if I were talking to a Watchtower magazine instead of to human beings. Continue reading
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