What To Do When a Jehovah’s Witness Knocks On Your Door
It’s a beautiful Saturday morning. All of the household chores have been completed, you’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, coffee in hand, the birds are singing, your kids are actually being quiet for once, and suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. You get up from the recliner you had just gotten perfectly comfortable in and peek through your blinds to discover two sharply dressed people with a couple of magazines in their hands waiting for your door to open. Jehovah’s Witnesses are on your front porch. What do you do? Do you pretend not to be home? Do you go get your spouse to deal with it? Sic the dog on ‘em? Activate the trap door you installed on the front porch?
What if I told you there was a better way to interact with these people? After all, they need the gospel, do they not? And here they are, at your house looking to have a spiritual conversation! Granted, they are seeking to convert you to their false religion, but you can take the steering wheel of the dialogue and use it to your advantage (or rather, to God’s advantage as you attempt to point them to salvation). I am indebted to Dr. Clay Jones for this tactic I am going to share with you.
Now, you must not forget that these people are firm in their beliefs, so you likely will not be able to convert them during the short visit they make to your residence. However, you can, as Greg Koukl puts it, leave a stone in their shoe. Give them something to chew on as they’re returning home from their rounds. And in this article, I’m going to teach you something that you can use to do just that. Let’s begin.
First, this tactic will only be effective if you use their scriptures. The JW organization has their own “version”, so-to-speak, of the Bible. They call it the New World Translation; I know, it already sounds sketchy. The writers of this “translation” have labored to change the Bible to fit their false teachings. They did their best, I’m sure, but they created more problems for themselves than they tried to get rid of, and one of the most damning is what they did to John 1:1. In the NWT, it reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” As you probably caught, they added an “a” at the end. The Greek actually reads, “...and the Word was God,” and that is what you will find in any actual translation of John 1:1. Now, if you know Greek extremely well and can argue for the traditional reading, go for it! However, most of us, myself included, are not well versed in Koine Greek, so for us we are, for the sake of argument, not going to contend with this mistranslation in our interaction with the JW’s. Rather, we will show them using their own scriptures that this rendering creates a devastating problem for them.
It will please you to know that you only really need to remember four short passages of scripture for this dialogue! I will be quoting them in this article using the NWT as Jehovah’s Witnesses will only take you seriously if you use their “translation”. With all that said, let’s look at how this tactic works.
First, you need to set the playing field; Tell the JW’s that you will take their magazines or listen to what they want to tell you, but only if they will first answer one specific question. If they agree, ask them to borrow their copy of the NWT and tell them you want to ask a few questions for clarification before you ask the one specific question. Say to them, “Now, just to make sure I have this right, Jehovah is Almighty God, correct?” And of course they will tell you that is exactly right. Then ask them, “Is Jehovah a True God or a false god?” , to which they will say, “Jehovah is a True God, of course!” Now probe them further saying, “Now you guys don’t believe that Jesus is Jehovah, right?” and they will answer, “No! Jesus is not Jehovah.”
Next, take them to their scriptures. “Now I know in your bible, John 1:1 says that the Word was with God and the Word was a god. And in Isaiah 9:6 it calls Jesus a “mighty God,” right?” Take them to the passage if you need to. They’ll agree with what their scriptures say. Now ask them the last clarification question: “Is Jesus a True God, or a false god?” Here they may pause for a bit. However they’ll always say Jesus is a True God.
Now ask them your main question: “You have two True Gods. But in your scriptures in Isaiah 43:10, it says “Before me no God was formed, And after me there has been none.” And in John 17:3 it says, “This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God.” So then, why do you have two if your scripture says there is only one True God?”
Now they have a problem! They may say, “Well we only worship one God.” But you can point out to them that if you had two spouses, but you only loved one of them, you would still be a polygamist. Likewise, even if they only worship one God, they are still polytheists.
They may also say to you, “Well, in scripture, satan is called a god!” To which you need only reply, “Well, is satan a true god or a false god? To which I sincerely hope they answer “false.”
It is vitally important to stay on this question! They may try to change the subject, or ask you some questions about the Trinity, but remember, you never brought up the Trinity! You are merely asking how they can have two True Gods when their scripture says there is only one. And also remember, they agreed to answer your question first before talking about anything else.
Eventually, they will say their goodbyes and leave, but not without a souvenir! You will have put a pebble in their shoe; something for them to wrestle with and hopefully open them up to other problems in the NWT and the fact that their religion is a distortion of true Christianity. Unfortunately, relatively few JW’s become Christians after leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses. You should not neglect to pray for the JW’s you encounter, asking God to guide them to the truth. May the numbers of Jehovah’s Witnesses dwindle to nothing, and may they all find the true gospel of the one True God!
Recommended Resources:
Reasoning From the Scriptures with the Jehovah’s Witnesses by Ron Rhodes
A Question Jehovah's Witnesses Can't Answer (Clay Jones) - YouTube
Clay Jones: Reaching Out to Jehovah's Witnesses - Biola University Chapel - YouTube