Sharing the Truth With JWs

Sharing the Truth:
Tips for Talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses at Your Door

By Chuck White, Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam

Are you looking for a simple way to share your Catholic faith with Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) when they knock on your door? If so, try this strategy devised by the Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam (CEGG).

Overview of Stategy
In a nutshell, the CEGG strategy consists of three parts: 1) Asking them one question and then showing them Scripture verses that contradict one of their erroneous teachings and show the truth of the Catholic position, 2) Sharing one personal experience of God’s grace and 3) Offering them one piece of good Catholic literature.

This strategy will NOT involve trying to refute every one of the many JW errors, nor will it involve trying to defend all 2000 years of Church history.

Specific Strategy
• Say a short prayer before greeting them at the door.
• Greet them warmly and ask them if they are Jehovah’s Witnesses.
• Immediately gain control of the conversation by telling them that you have a question for them and then ask them the question listed later in this tract. After listening to their response, read to them some of the scripture verses listed (from your Bible) and explain how the verses refute their belief.
• Do NOT let them change the subject! (They might try.)
• Sometime during the conversation (perhaps near the beginning) try to share at least one example from your own life of God’s grace working in your life.
• To end the conversation, do three things:
1. Offer them good Catholic literature and tell them that you understand that they are forbidden to take it. If they offer you literature, offer to swap your literature for theirs.
2. Tell them that the Church needs their zeal and assure them that you will be praying that they will one day come into the Catholic Church.
3. Ask them to pray for you.

The Question
Here’s a question that you should ask your visitors: “I understand that you believe that the human soul ceases to exist at death. Where is that in the bible?”

Their Typical Response
They will probably cite one or more of these verses:
“…but the dead no longer know anything…” Ecclesiastes 9:5
“For among the dead no one remembers you…” Psalm 6:5-6
“When his spirit departs he returns to the earth; on that day his plans perish.” Psalm 146:4

Your Reply
“The Old Testament shows a gradual growth in the realization that the human soul is immortal. God’s plan for the human soul is most clearly revealed in the New Testament, especially in the words of Jesus. Let’s look at the Gospels for clear proof that the human soul does not die, even if the body does.”

“‘…he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey..’ 1 Peter 3:19 Peter tells us that after his death, Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison. Now if souls cease to exist at death, why were these souls alive?”

“‘…I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. He is the God of the living, not of the dead.’ Matthew 22:32 This verse makes it clear that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not in fact, dead!”

“‘Suddenly two men were talking with him – Moses and Elijah.’ Luke 9:30 If human souls die, and Moses and Elijah were dead, then why were they talking with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?”

When conversing with your visitors you will probably only get to show them two or three bible verses at the most. But if this list doesn’t suffice, there are more! Check out John 11:26 and Philippians 1:23.

Preparation
To prepare for your encounter:
• Mark your bible with the verses listed earlier in this tract so that you can find them quickly. Keep your Bible in a place where you can access it quickly. Perhaps keep this tract in your Bible.
• Well before any JWs visit you, prayerfully recall a time when you experienced Christ working in your life in a powerful way. Practice telling this story in just a few sentences so that, if given the opportunity, you could share it with your visitors.
• Procure some good Catholic tracts or booklets that you could offer to the JWs that visit you.
• Pray for JWs regularly, especially ones that you know.

Some Useful Tips and Information
• The bible translation that JWs use (the New World Translation) is considered to be very faulty by most Catholic and Protestant scripture scholars.
• Here are some of the errors that the JWs believe:
• Hell is not eternal.
• Human souls cease to exist at death (i.e. souls are not immortal).
• Jesus in not God.
• Nearly all of Christendom (except for themselves) has apostatized.
• Jesus died on a stake, not a cross.
• Jesus’ Second Coming occurred invisibly in 1914.
• Only 144,000 people will reign with Jesus in Heaven.
• Blood transfusions are immoral.