Showing the Deity of Christ to JW's - Their Visit this A.M

[smhbbag]

Just got done spending an hour or so with a few Jehova's Witnesses that came by the house. I do believe the Lord spoke very clearly to them through me and, while they did not repent and believe, they seem like they'll both be bothered or wrestling at least a little bit.

I finally had the chance to use an argument/line-of-thought for JW's that I had spent a lot of time on a few years ago. Here's the gist:

My first rule for myself:

DO NOT entertain any discussion on John 1:1, John 10:29-30, Colossians 1:15-20, etc. ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" and "I and the Father are one" and "He is the image of the invisible God, etc."). Why not go there? Because JW's have a forcefield. Seriously. They are invulnerable to this frontal attack, at least from me.

Any discussion on such passages will invariably lead to translation issues, assertions of textual variants, and a whole host of other issues that I am not remotely prepared to engage them on. Sure, they are wrong and can be shown to be - but it's usually not a good idea to have a technical debate on the opponents' "home turf." Those texts are their bread and butter, and they are extremely well propagandized not to listen to a word you say about them. And I do not have the technical background sufficient to call them on a lot of things that must be questionable. This kind of frontal attack brings nothing but a bloody, angry stalemate - if I am lucky. It is much more efficient and effective to attack from the rear.

So, I asked them to flip to Psalm 45:6-7, as well as Psalm 102:25-27.

Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.

In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end

I simply asked: These verses are talking about Jehovah, right? The only God, supreme, eternal, and perfect?

They were very slow to answer, and re-reading each verse carefully. Then, they very cautiously agreed that it was talking about Jehovah God alone. I think they were cautious because they had no idea what I was getting at. But, the very margins of their own Watchtower Bible stated this was about Jehovah. Guess they can't argue with that

Next, I asked them to flip to Hebrews 1:8-12, where the author quotes those passages:

8But about the Son he says,
"Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy."[f] 10He also says,
"In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end."[g] 13To which of the angels did God ever say,
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet"

The silence in the room was rather deafening. But I wanted to be patient with them, and not heavy-handed or mean. I wasn't trying to play "gotcha" word games with them. Thankfully, they at least appeared to be taking it seriously, and were genuinely without a response, and said so. With no anger or hostility, they decided it was time to go. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part, but I think they wanted to leave because they were genuinely troubled in their souls, seeing the Watchtower Bible clearly teach the divinity of Christ.

I have their information and asked if it would be ok to contact them in the next few weeks to hear their thoughts, and speak with them more. I hope God gives me uncharacteristic patience and restraint, as their attacks on the gospel make me want to lose it sometimes. But, knowing God brought me out of equal damnation, and that He didn't exactly do so in one day, but through a very long process, does help.

There was also another issue, which I will start another thread about. Even when the possibility for offense was great on that one, they understood and didn't seem too insulted/attacked.

Anyway, at least for the novices out there like me, this kind of method is a vast improvement over the tens and hundreds of hours of study it would take to adequately engage a JW on the traditional passages on Christ's deity - and then to do that only to get bogged down with some of the well-programmed, "this-is-my-answer-no-matter-what-you-say" types. Throw them off-guard with more subtle passages like this, where even their own scriptures rebuke them

 

[Croghanite]

excellent job!

 

[jambo]

I have always found that the deity of Christ can be more clearly demonstrated to a JW from the OT. For instance the characteristics of Jehovah as the Lord my Shepherd in Ps 23 or the nature of God in Is 40.11 ie 'Like a shepherd he will tend his flock. In his arms he will carry the lambs and carry them in his bosom; he will gently lead the nursing ewes' The JWs will of course say this is Jehovah yet if those verses do not describe the Good Shepherd of Jn 10 then I don't know what does.

'A new commandment I give unto you...' Surely only Jehovah can give new commandments?

I have also found that speaking of what your faith means to you is mind blowing for the JWs. Their faith is all academic knowledge. There is no sense of emotion to their faith. To speak of what the Lord means to you personally can make such an impact upon them and I found such breakthrough comes not by discussing Jn 1.1 etc but by the reality of daily Christian experience.

We would say man's chief end is to glorify God and to ENJOY HIM FOREVER. The JW's chief end is simply to know facts about God.

 

[Augusta]

That is a good approach. My husband and I took a different more direct tack when they came to our door. We kept pressing that if Christ was not God then they were still in their sin, there can be no atonement without Christ the God-man. I hope that they could see our genuine concern for their lost state if they continued to deny his deity. No mere man could die for all men. At most he could only die for one other.

 

[3John2]

Thanks a ton for sharing that approach. I WILL try it next time.