Every week we go to our favorite fishing hole in Dallas – the West End transit center. At this location the bus and train lines intersect. At lunch time there is a hustle and bustle about the place. In 30-40 minutes between two of us we can generally hand out a couple hundred tracts and have a few conversations.
There are people of many walks of life there. Some are homeless. Some are corporate executives. Some are parents with kids. Some are from other countries sightseeing. Recently we’ve seen small groups of well dressed people walking together. Offering them a Tract they will generally say no. Then we see three or four other well dressed people, the first group goes up to the second group, they change places and the second group leaves. It’s like clockwork. What we’ve just seen is a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses report for duty. Some days there are two or three of these stations where the JWs stand to make their material available. I’m thankful that they only give material to people who ask for it. Since we hand our tracts to people and ask “did you get one of these” I’d guess we probably hand out more tracts in a half hour than they do all day. But still, the JWs are there with their false message.
Why is a cult more active at spreading its lies than the church is at proclaiming the truth? Have we become complacent knowing our hope is in the Lord yet failing to share that hope with others. It’s a stark contrast to the cult and false religions of the world. As I engage with the JWs I share the truth with them. I also ask them if they will go to Heaven and they say no. I can not imagine the rigor of going out like clockwork to work their spot on the street but not even knowing their eternal destiny.
I have tried various approaches with different scriptures to try to reason with Jehovah’s Witnesses. The most common objection from them is that they deny the Deity of Jesus. Using John 1:1 as a starting point the Jehovah’s Witnesses New World Translation inserts a single letter, a, before “God”. So where The ESV and other translations clearly say “the Word was God.” The Jehovah’s Witness says “the Word was a god”. Big difference, especially as you read on into the chapter that “the word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (V14) These verses clearly show that Jesus is eternal and He is God. The JW denies that.
I tried using verses from Titus 1 one day while talking with a couple of the JW’s. In Titus 1 we can see that credit for salvation goes back and forth between God the Father and Jesus. Then looking at other verses like Isaiah 43:11 it is clear that there is no savior aside from the Lord. So again, Jesus has to be God.
A few weeks after having this discussion I saw the woman who I had shared this with. She brought up our conversation and the reference to Isaiah 43. She then tried to show me that there are multiple saviors, but those verses she used were out of context of salvation to eternity. For example they showed that some people saved someone from a problem. The topic of the trustworthiness of their translation of the Bible came up. She asserted that there is a man who wrote a book claiming the New World Translation is the most reliable translation. The Book is “Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament” by Jason David BeDuhn.
In our Basic Evangelism Training Seminar we encourage people to “study the last question asked”. By this we mean that even if we don’t meet the person who asked the question, someone else may ask. By studying we can be prepared next time for that question. So, it’s encouraging that this JW woman was thinking of our conversation and trying to prove herself (and her beliefs) correct even from the Bible. I pray that as she searches the scripture she will ultimately be lead to the truth.
I have not read “Truth in Translation” but I was able to do some research on the book. One issue with the book is that it only investigates eight Bible verses.
“A brief summary is that Professor BeDuhn does not appear to be as unbiased he claims. He also derived his conclusion based on only eight verses which he considered key to detecting theological bias in a translation. He concluded that the New World Translation and the New American Bible (a Catholic translation) were the most accurate in the eight issues on which he critiqued the translations. ” Article from La Vista Church of Christ
The minister who wrote that article preached a sermon going into more details of the issues with the book and then examines other scriptures which show the JWs New World Translation is not the most accurate. The outline of the sermon can be found online and is worth reading to better understand the verses that are often contentious when speaking with JWs. These verses include Genesis 1:2, Exodus 3:14, Numbers 1:52, Matthew 2:11, Matthew 25:46, Luke 23:43, John 1:1, John 1:18, John 8:58, Acts 20:28, Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Phillippians 2:6, Colossians 1:16-20, and 2 Peter 3:10.
CARM has information about Jehovah’s Witnesses which includes why JW is not Christian and a message for JWs. I encourage you to read over that information as you prepare to share the Gospel with JWs.
As you seek to reach the lost and JW in particular, continue to pray for Wisdom that the Lord will guide your conversation. Most recently, I’ve tried just simply introducing myself and asking how they became a Jehovah’s Witness. Some have been in the cult their whole lives. Others converted to it later in life. This has been fruitful just in building repoire and getting to know them. If you have experiences to share please send them to us in the comments.
