How do you debate Jehovah's Witnesses?

Answer 1

We are not interested in debating anyone. If, when a JW comes to your door, he sees that the conversation has turned to an unproductive debate, he will likely excuse himself and move on to where his time and effort will be more effective. We view our time as precious right now, because we believe that we are deep into the time of the end, and it is critical that we speak to as many as we can. It is encouraged by our organization to not waste our time in debates. It is even unscriptural, when you consider Paul's words to the first century christians at 2 Corinthians 12:20. Paul was focusing on debates within the congregation itself, but really it could also be applied to whatever spiritual activity is taking place. Since we as Jehovah's Witnesses are a christian organization, we try to follow the direction given to the first century christians, and this includes not engaging in debates.

Answer:We try our best not to get into any form of debate. The whole point of going out in the door-to-door ministry is so we can teach people about the things we have learned from the Bible and if we get into debates or arguments then we are unable to do that in a proper sense. And we could lose any type of respect that person had for us if we debate with them about religion or a certain belief they may have.

3rd Party Answer:

When someone makes a claim to another person, the burden of proof in on the claim maker. As with many Christians, JW's will claim the reason for their faith is because of the scripture, and that the reason the scripture is true is because of their faith-- circular logic. However, one key debatable topic JW's will always bring up, is that the 'end is near,' much like the writer of the above answer. The reliability of these claims is severely damaged due the fact that none of the Watch Tower Society's previous claims have been fulfilled.

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Answer:You could start with the Watchtower Society and the New World Translation. JW's contend that other Bible translations are corrupted by religious traditions rooted in paganism. In reality, the NWT is the work of a Bible Translation Committee with no working knowledge of biblical languages. Second, the NWTmistranslates the Greek Scriptures in order to expunge the deity of Jesus Christ. Against all credible scholarship, Jesus is downgraded from God to "a" god in John1 and demoted from the Creator of all things to a mere creature who created all other things in Colossians 1. According to the Translation Committee of the Watchtower Society, Jesus was created by God as the archangel Michael, during his earthly sojourn was merely human, and after his crucifixion was recreated an immaterial spirit creature. Third, the Translation Committee has sought to conform the NWT to their religious traditions by replacing the cross of Christ with a torture stake. In Watchtower lore, the cross is a pagan symbol adopted by an apostate Christianity when Satan took control of the early church. JW's view wearing a cross as a blatant act of idolatry. Conversely, Christians wear crosses as a reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for us. Finally, the Watchtower Society claims that the Christian Scriptures have "been tampered with" in order to eliminate the name Jehovah from the text. In reality, it is the Translation Committee of the NWT than can rightly be accused of tampering. In well over 200 cases the name Jehovah has been inserted into the New Testament text. In Romans 10:13 this is done to obscure the deity of Jesus. In other passages it is done under the pretext that referring to God as Lord rather than Jehovah is patently pagan. Ironically, in The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, Watchtower translators themselves fall into this "pagan" practice by translating the Greek word kurios as Lord even in cases where it specifically refers to the Father. I will end with Revelation 22:18-19: For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Answer 2

If you are a Christian then the best way is to listen to them, accept them in love, and then tell them directly what Jesus has done for you in your life, and how much better a relationship is with Jesus, as he meant it to be, than their warped theology that is judgemental, dour and plain wrong.

Unless you know your scriptures well, don't argue The Bible with them. They have been given stock answers to use, usually by taking verses totally out of context, to counter any doubt in the unwary. If you do know your scriptures well, then it is relatively easy to disprove their bogus beliefs.

However, there is one area which the JW simply cannot answer. JWs believe that Jesus is the subservient Son of God rather than divine, as the Bible describes him - as a member of a Trinitarian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They will never accept that Jesus is anything but 'god-like' - in other words, just a man with 'special' properties, rather than God in human form. This is absolutely against the teachings of the early Christians, the Bible and even Jesus himself.

And here is the problem. Throughout scripture, God is revealed as a God of ultimate love. Unconditional, self-sacrificing, deliberate, perfect love. When Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, Christians believe that as Christ suffered, God also suffered - as Jesus is God in human form. In other words, as an act of absolute and unconditional love, God sacrificed himself for our own sins by taking all the sin and pain that we should suffer on his own shoulders. This is an ultimate act of love.

The JWs, however, believe that "Jehovah-God" sacrificed Jesus - another person. In other words he sacrificed someone else. This is the sacrifice of a God that demands to be appeased by human sacrifice and not by an act of love by sacrificing himself. It reminds us of the false gods of the Aztecs or Babylonians demanding human sacrifice to be appeased. This is not love, but revenge and hatred. Yet the JWs, by not accepting the divinity of Christ, have to, by definition, subscribe to this objectionable idea.

Therefore, this non-acceptance of Jesus as divine flies in the face of all that the Bible says, and the theology behind the Cross. And that is why JWs are not just wrong - they are verywrong... and when pointing this huge anomaly in their beliefs, they either have never thought it through for themselves, or they have but never seem to have an answer.

One final note... after dealing with any JW, if you are a Christian, pray for them. Pray that one day they may see the folly of their ways and that their eyes may be opened by the Holy Spirit working in them, and that they come to their senses and leave this sinister manipulative cult.

Answer 3

Normally by speaking to them face to face because that is how you meet them.