In this clip from his latest Stand to Reason University course, Tim Barnett shares the first and perhaps most important question to address when “Engaging Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Transcript
This course is not a magic bullet. It’s not an exhaustive treatment of everything Jehovah’s Witnesses believe. Mastering this content will not guarantee your Jehovah’s Witness friend, family member, or coworker will turn to Jesus, God the Son. So, why take this course? Simply put, it will help. Specifically, this STR U course will help you stay focused on the one question that matters: Who is Jesus? It will equip you with the ability to effectively demonstrate from Scripture that Jesus is God. In addition, this course will answer some of the most common challenges raised against the deity of Christ. Finally, it will help you tactfully maneuver in discussions so that you will have maximum impact.
The material in this course has been tried and tested through countless hours of conversations with Jehovah’s Witnesses. My hope and prayer is that mastering this material will help you introduce Jehovah’s Witnesses to the one who said, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
All right, let’s get started.
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Most of us have answered a knock at the door only to discover a smiling, well-dressed couple, Watchtower publication in hand, standing on the other side, waiting to talk to us about the gospel according to Jehovah’s Witnesses. I used to dread these encounters. In fact, while they were introducing themselves, I’d be frantically thinking up excuses to get them off my porch and out of my life. However, I came to realize that I avoided these conversations because I was not equipped to engage the Jehovah’s Witnesses in a thoughtful way.
They seemed to know their stuff. I didn’t. They trained for hours prior to our conversation. I hadn’t trained at all. I only knew what I believed and had no idea why I believed it. For instance, I tried to make the case that Jesus is God—a doctrine they reject—yet I had few reasons to offer them to support my belief. To make matters worse, they had quick responses to my points that they could recite at will. As a result, I’d leave the conversation feeling bested by the couple at my door and unsure about my own convictions. Many Christians have had the same experience.
Those awkward encounters are a thing of the past, though, because I have since learned some of the things that tip the scale in my favor, and I want to pass those ideas on to you so that you don’t have to run for cover the next time Jehovah’s Witnesses knock at your door. I want to give you some tools to help you make the greatest impact possible in your conversations with Jehovah’s Witnesses.
To simplify the process, we’ll focus on the single issue that matters—the vital question: Who is Jesus? A host of issues can get you sidetracked with Jehovah’s Witnesses if you’re not careful—soul sleep, celebrating birthdays or Christmas, blood transfusions, Heaven, Hell, war, and even the Holy Spirit. Don’t go there—at least, not initially. None of these are the most important issue. The goal in your conversation is to answer only one question: Who is Jesus? How you answer this question changes everything.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Archangel Michael was the very first being in the universe created by Jehovah. Michael was then used by God to create the rest of the universe. Later, at the appointed time, Michael was born of the virgin Mary as a human being, thus ceasing to be an angel. Then, after his spiritual resurrection, Jesus resumed his identity as Michael.
That is the Jehovah’s Witness answer to the question, Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Archangel Michael incarnate. By contrast, Christians hold that Jesus is the eternal second person of the Trinity. Jesus wasn’t created by Jehovah. He is Jehovah. Christianity stands or falls on this view of Christ. If you can demonstrate that Jesus is Jehovah, then the high tower of the Jehovah’s Witness doctrine comes crashing down.
The salvation of everyone, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, depends on an accurate understanding of and belief in God the Son. Jesus said, “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). Here Jesus is claiming to be the “I am” recorded in Isaiah 43. The irony is that Isaiah 43 is the chapter where Jehovah’s Witnesses derive their name. Isaiah writes, “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he’” (Isaiah 43:10).
Jehovah says his true witnesses will believe of Jehovah that “I am he.” Yet Jesus says true believers must believe of Jesus that “I am he.” In fact, this claim, coupled with John 8:58— “Before Abraham was born, I am”—was the reason the Jews tried to stone Jesus. Jesus’ point was clear. Rejecting his deity is rejecting salvation itself. That’s why our question—Who is Jesus?—is the only question we should focus on.
There are many convincing arguments for the deity of Christ in the Bible. You want to be as strategic as possible, though, when Jehovah’s Witnesses are standing at your door. Our general goal is to get them thinking—to put a stone in their shoe, so to speak. We want them to walk away pondering the important points we’ve made. That won’t work if we trot out the standard verses for Jesus’ deity like John 1:1 or John 20:28. Jehovah’s Witnesses have heard those verses countless times. They’ll be waiting for you with well-rehearsed responses. They’re trained to answer these challenges without even thinking. We need a different strategy. I’m not saying we never use John 1:1 or John 20:28. They offer clear support for Jesus’ deity and should be used. Just don’t start with them. Make your visitors think through some other passages first, verses they probably haven’t considered or haven’t been trained to respond to.
Our basic strategy is to demonstrate that Jesus is identified as Jehovah. If we can show that Jesus is Jehovah, then the Jehovah’s Witness belief system comes crashing down. So, here’s the question: Is Jesus ever identified with Jehovah? The simple answer to this question is yes.
You may be thinking, What’s so special about Jesus being recognized as Jehovah? Well, this requires some background information. The proper name for God in Hebrew is YHWH. This divine name is called the tetragrammaton, which means “four letters.” The tetragrammaton is so sacred to ancient Jews that the name was never written in full or even spoken. In fact, Jews for centuries would substitute the divine name with the name Adonai. This led to confusion over exactly how to pronounce the divine name. Eventually, Jews began to place the vowels from Adonai—A-O-A—between the consonants YHWH, and the result was “Jehovah.” So, the name “Jehovah” turns out to be a man-made construction rather than a biblical term.
With these preliminary issues out of the way, in our next class, we will dive into a persuasive argument showing that Jesus is Jehovah. It involves two straightforward passages of Scripture—one from the New Testament and one from the Old Testament. All you have to do is connect these together.
We’ll see you next time.
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