What are the most effective methods for witnessing to Jehovah's Witnesses?

Question

I searched Yahoo Answers about this subject yesterday and found an open question that had one answer with good information and links. I added the page to my favorites but today I am getting the message that the question was deleted. I need this information because Jehovah's Witnesses have been coming by my house and I want to share Jesus with them but we seem to be going in circles.

Answer 1

Doctrinal approach -- dealing with biblical issues such as the deity of Christ, the Trinity, etc. Also known as Bible battling or Bible ping-pong, this might be what you've been doing (you toss a few verses at them; they toss some back at you, and so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseam).



Drawbacks -- You must be willing and able to devote a LOT of time to prayer and intense (militant) Bible study. You cannot just copy the research of others who've gone before you. You must know your Bible very well, and why you believe it or you will be no match for a sharp JW who is thoroughly schooled (weekly) on tearing down the basic tenets of the Christian faith. Generally, you must also know why the Witnesses believe what they do in order to effectively show them where they are wrong. You must be prepared for disappointments, because JW's could care less about your honest interpretation of the Bible. Their primary authority is the Watchtower organization, and they always read the Bible through the Watchtower colored lens.



Advantages: The JW's security rests in doctrines and beliefs, not in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So, if you can shake just one belief and show them where they are wrong, it shakes their whole security. Doubts and fears will begin to enter their minds, and will result in a chink in their armor. This can lead to their doubting the interpretations of the Watchtower, and you may get the opportunity to share the true gospel of Christ with them.



Historical approach -- dealing with the past history of the Watchtower Society, such as the organization's doctrinal flip-flops, cover-ups and false prophecies.



Drawbacks -- You must be willing and able to devote the time to either collect and study past Watchtower publications or to collect the materials of others who do devote their time to such research. If you are not careful with this approach, you can very quickly be labeled an "opposer" by Jehovah's Witnesses who call at your door and consequently have your address placed on the "Do Not Call" list of your local Kingdom Hall.



Advantages -- Handled correctly, this approach is one of the best for helping Jehovah's Witnesses gain freedom from the organization very quickly. Just as soon as they realize the Watchtower could not be God's organization and come out from under its authority is the best time to share the real gospel.



Devotional approach -- dealing with salvation and their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This is basically asking simple questions and sharing your personal testimony.



Advantages: You don't have to be a Bible scholar to use devotional approaches. Witnesses are little prepared in these areas and do not have the ammunition to combat your own personal testimony. You may never lead a Witness to Christ on your doorstep this way, but you can plant some very good seeds. Trust God to put people in their path to water them, and He will make them grow.



With all of these methods, don't forget that PRAYER is the key to unlocking the closed mind. We can't save anybody, so you just do what you feel called to do, and let God handle the outcome. Also, never assume the position of "teacher" with a JW. Your presentations will be much more effective if you stick to asking gentle questions.



I pray that God will bless your efforts to reach out to these people who I love! Send me an email, and I'll forward some more info to you. I also have an extensive WT library myself, and I'll be glad to provide photocopies of anything you might need from their publications.

Answer 2

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible to be God's word and it is the basis for all their beliefs. So if you want to disprove something they believe then you must be able to show them they are wrong by using the Bible to back up what you are saying-2 Timothy 3:16; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11



They would be happy for you to "share Jesus with them", but will only believe what you say if it is back up by God's word. Maybe you are "going in circles" because you have not compared what they believe to what you believe. Try that and maybe things will be clearer for you.

Answer 3

Peace.



There is no wonder with the light of the truth. No one can know the true significance of Jesus the Christ, or be of the anointed, unless s/ he is taught by YHWH/ JEHOVAH and LEARNS.





'Listen' please:







John 6:44-45 (New International Version, ©2011)

44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[a] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.





Footnotes:

a.John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13







Isaiah 54:12-13 (American Standard Version)



12 And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones.



13 And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.









Jeremiah 31:31-34 (American Standard Version)



31 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:



32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah.



33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:



34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

Answer 4

The main thing you have to keep in mind is that Jehovah's Witnesses are trained not to listen, but to preach. If you try to preach to them, they will shut down. They do not understand the concept that you are trying to reveal the truth to them.



The most effective way that I've found is to ask them questions that cause them to doubt. They are trained very well to robotically flip to a verse in the Bible (which is usually completely out of context, i.e. "the dead are conscious of nothing", which I'm sure you've heard) and cite it to you and believe that will align your thoughts with the Watchtower doctrine. If you ask them questions that they cannot take a scripture out of context yet proves their doctrines wrong, you will have a lead into their thoughts and hearts.



Some random examples that have stumped the most extreme JW that I've used include questions such as, "The Holy Spirit is great, isn't He? Can you explain the nature of Him?", "Can you explain the difference between God as the only Savior and Jesus as the only Savior?". Those haven't failed yet, but most likely you will receive the response, "I will have to research that, but I will definitely get back to you." Every time I've been told that, I've never heard from them again.



You must remember, however, make sure you know your Jesus because they will attack Him at any chance they get. They will demote, diffuse, and deter you from seeking Jesus as your savior. Also, make sure you know what you're getting into when you start asking questions. If you are not sound on the Bible, they will throw every verse at you that they can think of to get you off topic.



Prayers for you on your quest. It's all about planting the seed of doubt about the Watchtower and watering it with Jesus, and fertilizing it wither prayer, will give you your best chances at unlocking the heart of the JW.

Answer 5

Jehovah's Witnesses believe wholeheartedly that the Bible is God's word. They are avid Bible students. Try to share what you believe is true using your own Bible. They are happy to discuss God's word.



On the other hand, if you belong to a church, perhaps you can solicit the assistance of your pastor. Maybe he can provide you some scriptural guidance as to how to witness to Witnesses. Or, if you do not belong to a specific church, perhaps you can visit a church and solicit the assistance of that pastor.



Any advocate of God's word - by the very fact of his advocacy - should be able to witness to another person about God. After all, you are trying to share the truth of God's word. Therefore, you want to be able to witness to not only Jehovah's Witnesses, but to Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Jews, Seventh Day Adventists, and so on. It would not make much sense to go on line and 'google' ways to witness to these varying religious groups, would it? God's word does not change, does it? No, it would not. The prudent course of action, therefore, is to get a firm handle on God's word the Bible while making sure that you have God's Holy Spirit, and go from there. Consider, respectively, Hebrews 4:12, where the word of God is described as being alive and exerting power, and Acts 4:29 where God's servants petition him to grant them boldness to continue speaking his word.



I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses.



Hannah J Paul

Answer 6

How to witness to Jehovah’s Witnesses:



First don’t argue with us. We didn’t come to your door to argue. Nobody wins an argument (contrary to what others have said). Please understand that for one to win an argument, one of the individuals would have had to change their mind. If we feel that all you want to do is argue we will leave. By leaving we aren’t “running away” we are following the counsel at Matt 10:12,13.



Next don’t try to tell us that we must believe the trinity. According to the New Encyclopedia Britannica (1976), and the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967) the trinity is not found in the bible, and the Apostles did not believe anything even remotely approaching that idea. The Encyclopedia Americana (1956) says that the trinity does not reflect accurately early Christian teaching regarding the nature of God, it is, on the contrary, a deviation from their teaching.



So if you say that you can “prove” the trinity using the bible, you are either misunderstanding what the bible is actually trying to say or you are purposely trying to teach falsehoods.



Next don’t say that “my” bible is inaccurate or full of mistakes. According to Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament. by Jason BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona; The New World Translation “is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available” and “the most accurate of the translations compared.” One of the bibles it was compared to was the NIV. John 1:1 was one of the verses compared and the NWT was the only bible translation that translated it correctly. (He did say he preferred “and the Word was divine or godlike to “a god”, but a god is an accurate and truthful translation).



Speaking of the NIV, when Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., Executive Secretary for the NIV’s committee was asked why they didn’t translate Jehovah’s name correctly and accurately in their bible in the almost 7000 times it appears, he stated that they had spent $2 million dollars and if they had translated God’s name correctly as Jehovah or Yahweh instead of LORD, they would be throwing that money away. He also said that we are the victims of 350 years of the King James tradition.



So my question is if they mistranslated Jehovah’s name 7000 times to “sell bibles” what else did they

mistranslate to “sell bibles”? (2 Corinthians 2:17)



If the reason they didn’t use Jehovah’s name was “Jewish Tradition” remember what Jesus said about Jewish traditions and God’s Word at Matt 15:6, the Jews had made God’s Word invalid do to their traditions. Therefore is following Jewish tradition a good idea when it comes to translating God’s Word?



Another point you shouldn’t bring up is the immortality of the soul. Unless you can disprove Ezekiel 18:4 and Matt 10:28 which says that the soul will die and also be destroyed as punishment for sin. Please remember that the first recorded lie in the bible was to the effect that if we disobey God we will not die. (Gen. 3:4) So if you tell me that the soul / spirit does not die, you are repeating the lie Satan told Eve.



Add to this the fact that according to Eccl. 9: 5 & 10, the dead are conscience of nothing at all and Jesus liken death to sleep (Matt 9:24; John 11:11-14). Finally let’s not forget that eternal life is a reward for faithfulness, not something we already have. (John 3:16; Romans 6:23)



Another point you shouldn’t mention is “All those who believe that Jesus is Lord will go to heaven.” Please notice what Jesus said about John the Baptist at Matthew 11:11. No one can deny John’s faith in Jesus, but he won’t even be a lesser one in heaven, so how and where is John to receive his reward for faithful service? (Matt 5:5) This is in harmony with what the bible says about King David (Acts 2:34) not going to heaven. Another point about heaven is: don’t say Jehovah took Enoch to heaven because John denies this at John 3:13.



So what is the best way to witnesses to one of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Well, instead of waiting for one to come to your door, call your local Kingdom Hall and ask for a personal study of the bible, study once or twice a week, attend all the meetings for 6 months. If you haven’t learned to witness to Jehovah’s people in this time period, pray to Jehovah and ask him to help you remove whatever it is that is holding you back.

Answer 7

Greetings,



Here’s a novel idea; why don’t you invite them in and discuss the Bible’s teachings!



If you want to “witness” to us why don’t you start with some of the most important subjects.



First, you could be a witness to how the religion you fellowship with displays the identifying marks of being truly Christian. The Bible gives us several objective ways to identify true Christians. The basic way is to "follow closely in Christ's footsteps" (1Pet.2:21). And Jesus stated that a primary way you would identify true Christians would be by "their fruits" or the result of their teachings, and by the "love they show" even for their enemies (Mat.7:15-20; Jn.13:34,35; Lk.6:27,28).



So, you could start by witnessing as to how your religion has not contributed to the bloodthirsty wars, immorality, and sectarian violence like most religions have (Mt.7:21-23; 2Tim3:5; Gal.5:19-23).



So a good “witness” would be for you to compare your religion’s record with the Witnesses’ and show us that we are not the only ones who really imitate Christ. WWJD! (2Cor.10:3-5; 1Jn. 3:10,15; 4:8).



A second easy way to Witness to Jehovah’s Witnesses is in regard to your religions’ respect for the Bible. You could witness to the fact that your religion respects the Bible enough to not change it. For example regarding the use of the Divine Name for God. The English form of God's name is Jehovah or Yahweh, and is found in the original Bible over 7,000 times. So show us how you use a bible which has not removed this name from their Bible and replaced it with the common, ordinary title "LORD" (Jer.23:27; Rev.22:18,19). Witness to us how you are imitating Christ in “making the Father’s name known” (Jn.17:6,26; Mt.6:9). It is very important for Jehovah’s Witnesses to know those who are not under the curse for changing the inspired Word of God by removing that Divine Name.





Another thing to witness for is how your religion is united in their beliefs worldwide. So show us that members of your religion do not just "agree to disagree" but are in agreement on such things as war, abortion, homosexuality, special gifts, or baptism & etc. (1Cor.1:10; 2Cor.13:11; Eph 4:4-6; Phil.1:27).





Another scriptural evidence of True Christianity you could witness about is the “fruitage” of Christian morality. Most religions turn a blind eye to immorality on the part of their members and continue to fellowship with those willfully living an immoral life. So demonstrate to us that your religion follows God's commands and helps all congregation members to live moral lives, not allowing practicers of homosexuality, fornication, or adultery to be accepted members of their congregation (Gal.5:19ff; 1Cor.6:9; Eph.5:3-5; 2Pet.3:14; 2Cor.7:1; 1Cor. 5:11-13; Rm. 16:17,18; 2Thess. 3:14; 2Cor.6:14-18).





These are all Scriptural evidences of True Christianity that Jehovah’s Witnesses gladly can Witness to others about. So if you can Witness to us regarding these things then we will be fully convinced that you have something worthwhile to share with us.



On the other hand, if you cannot provide a witness even on these most basic of Biblical requirements then perhaps you should listen a little closer to what Jehovah’s Witnesses have to share!





Personally, I have examined almost every religion and I have not seen another one which can help you develop a close relationship with God. Their historical record shows that they cannot promote a true relationship with God. Their members as a whole do not "practice what they preach," or even unitedly agree on what they should preach.



My experience tells me that only Jehovah's Witnesses as a group give evidence that they have a proper relationship with God and have something positive to witness about.





Yours,



BAR-ANERGES

Answer 8

Jehovah's Witnesses already know Jesus, thank you

Answer 9

I had a guy try that with me once... nothing he said made sense, but he wouldn't let me get a word in to at least reason with him... from the Bible.



In that "conversation" he probably said at least 10,000 words and I less than 20... We eventually had to walk away because:

1 we couldn't get a word in

2 We knew we'd never get anywhere with him.

Answer 10

The majority of us already know what you offer. But go ahead and try. You may become a Christian if you listen.

Answer 11

thank you but I already know Jesus Christ. we do what he commanded at Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20. if you say you know Jesus, why don't you do what he asked you to do?

Answer 12

The best thing to do to prove them wrong is to study the Bible with them.

Answer 13

I don't see you knocking on doors and preaching the work that Jesus commanded!

Answer 14

They don't want truth.

They want your time

and their credit.



My best success came from the Holy Spirit.

I told them I could not study with them because of their teaching on that subject.

I said that as a loving wife, I gave his opinions as our opinion, but that if anyone dishonored me, or assumed that I did not exist or was not important because I was constantly quoting him and speaking well of him, my husband would certainly not appreciate that.

I said that I was sure God the Father would respond the same way to people who discount the Holy Spirit.

And while I was saying that the man kept moving backward with fear on his face and couldn't get away fast enough.

Answer 15

just bring your bible. we will leave ours at home and use yours.

Answer 16

It's pointless. The you and them have opposing interpretations of an ancient, messed up, self-contradictory book. If you don't want to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, just say "I'm not interested".

Answer 17

http://www.jwfacts.com/

One of the best sites I have found.

you also need God to remove the scales from their eyes.



Happens sometimes, Happened to me and now I am a Christian and I follow the Lord and not the Tower



http://www.freeminds.org/psychology/mind-control/mind-control-or-brainwashing.html



http://carm.org/jehovahs-witnesses

Answer 18

I just start reading the Bible to them as soon as I open the door. They run...no literally, they RUN.



Good luck getting through to them.

Answer 19

shut the door.