As part of my mental health treatment, I had appointments with several people who worked as a team to provide mental health services to me. One of them, the peer advocate, was a Jehovah’s Witness. Before I graduated from the program, I attempted to witness to her, as Jehovah’s Witnesses are NOT Christians, and they hold false beliefs, some of which are heretical (damnable). Below, I’ll talk about how this experience went, and perhaps you can learn from it, that any future interactions with J.W.’s may have better results. (And hopefully, they won’t be with people as stubborn and deceived as my acquaintance.)
For privacy reasons, her real name is withheld. I will refer to her as “Agatha.”
Initially Giving the Gospel
Before I talked about the gospel with Agatha, I actually gave her tracts on a few separate occasions. She actually took the tracts, which was a bit of a surprise for me, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses generally refuse any literature pertaining to faith that is not sourced from the Watchtower Society. One of those tracts was a Chick Tract that was specifically written to target the false religion.
I do believe that she read the tracts, but she did not believe the gospel message in them.
A Talk About Hell
During my enrollment in the program, my grandfather got sick with COVID. Although he overcame the COVID virus, the illness had lasting effects, including dementia and physical weakness. The entire mental health team, including Agatha, knew about his deteriorating health.
I tried giving my grandfather the gospel several times, some of which were before he caught COVID. (I say “tried” because there was a language barrier; I only speak English, which he did not speak.) Unfortunately, I do not think he accepted Christ before he passed.
When I met with Agatha, I mentioned to her that I believed he died without Jesus and was in hell. Her response? In a cheerful tone, she said that it was okay because he wouldn’t suffer forever.
I was in disbelief. I knew that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the false doctrine of Annihilation, but for her to say that in a cheerful way, and as a mental health worker, no less, was shocking.
I don’t know whether it was the Holy Ghost in me wanting to correct her false belief, or if it was some other actor, but I told her that the punishment for dying without the salvation of Christ is eternal suffering and burning, not finite, and told her what Jesus said in the book of Luke concerning Lazarus and the rich man. She disregarded it as a “parable” because “Jesus spake in parables,” which I corrected her on because the Bible does not say it was a parable. She still insisted it was just a parable.
I then referred to the book of Revelation’s references to the lake of fire. She brushed them off as “symbolic.” Her reason: it was the book of Revelation. That was her ONLY REASON for not taking the lake of fire literally.
I challenged her to prove to me that it was a symbol and not literal. She said she would get back to me on it, and the next day, she said she had the proof verse: Revelation 1:1. She read it from the Watchtower-written New World Translation, which said something about Revelation being given to John in signs. I had my Bible nearby, so I looked up what the actual words of God says, which reads as follows:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (Revelation 1:1)
It says NOTHING about signs, so I said, “The word of God says nothing about signs in that verse.” She asked what Bible I had and if it was the King James, which I replied, “Yes.” She replied, “Well, do you believe that there are still some signs in Revelation.” I answered, “Yes,” at which point she then changed the topic to the focus of the appointment.
Nearing Graduation
As my graduation grew near, I knew I would have regrets about not talking about salvation with Agatha, so I asked her if she read the tracts I gave her in the past. She told me that she did, but when I asked what she thought about them, she didn’t give an elaborate response, saying they were only “okay.”
I proceeded to ask her what she thought about salvation. She told me that she did not believe in the doctrine of “once saved, always saved,” and that people have to work to maintain their salvation.
I explained to her that good works neither earn nor maintain our salvation. First, I quoted Romans 11:6:
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. (Romans 11:6)
I probably recited it too fast because she thought that it meant that grace and works are dependent on each other and that one cannot exist without the other. I clarified that it was actually the opposite, that they cannot coexist.
Then I quoted Ephesians 2:8-9, which reads:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
I then expounded with emphasis on verse 9, asking that if someone’s own works got them, or secured them, into heaven, would they be able to claim, “I did this or that for my place in heaven?” Agatha acknowledged that would be the case.
Then I explained that according to verse 9, they would be able to “boast” and therefore would have something to glory over that was of their doing. Then I asked, “Should we be able to glory in ourselves, or should God get all the glory?” She responded, “I agree, God should get all the glory.”
I also showed her some verses from Galatians that explain how our salvation is kept by God’s grace. At the end of the session, she said that what I said about salvation and eternal security by grace made sense. Whether she accepted it as truth, I don’t know.
Then she said what I expected from a Jehovah’s Witness, based on my research.
The Next Few Meetings
Before I left, she admitted that she did not believe that Jesus Christ is God. I knew this admission was coming, but I was not ready for how adamant she was on this point. Since the appointment was over, I just mentioned we would definitely continue on the topic when we have our next meetings.
(Since this was over a few meetings, I don’t remember the EXACT sequence of events. I will cover the points made from both sides in no particular order.)
For the next few meetings, I brought my Bible with me. Agatha told me that Jesus never called himself God. I opened my Bible to John 8 and asked her to read the last portion of the chapter, with emphasis on verse 58:
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)
When I pointed out that Jesus used “I am” to define himself like how God said, “I AM THAT I AM” in Exodus 3:14, she still denied the deity of Jesus.
I also had Agatha read Revelation 1:8 and asked her if she agreed that it was God who was speaking in that verse. She did, so I then asked her to read verses 17 and 18. After she read those verses, I asked her, “Since this is God talking, and the speaker of these verses admits to having been dead, when did he die?” She denied that God ever experienced death.
Agatha also made the false claim that Jesus never acknowledged himself as God. I disproved this with John 20:27-29. Jesus did not reprove Thomas for calling him, “My Lord and my God.” Again, she refused to acknowledge the truth and stuck to her clearly debunked false belief.
One more claim that Agatha made was that Jesus always saw himself as “beneath God.” I brought up Philippians 2:5-6, which says the following:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (Philippians 2:5-6)
You probably guessed it, but she still denied the fact that her claim was false. I also brought up the fact that Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30) She still claimed that Jesus was a lesser being than God.
Yet another false claim that she made was that Jesus never accepted worship. I honestly don’t remember which of the many references I used to prove her wrong, but I think it was John 9:38:
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (John 9:38)
I pointed out that Jesus did not rebuke the formerly blind man when he worshipped him, but Agatha still stuck with her un-Biblical claim.
Since she kept denying that Jesus is God and insisted that he was lesser compared to God, I showed her Hebrews 1:8:
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8)
I asked her that since God was speaking (This can be verified by reading continuously from the beginning of Hebrews up to this verse.), “God is referring to the Son as ‘God,’ so if Jesus is not God, who is the God of God?” Agatha said that she did not know this verse, but still would not admit the deity of Jesus Christ.
I showed her John 1:1, which showed that the Word (Jesus) is God, and I told her that I knew her “Bible” phrases it to say that the Word was “a god” and not “God.” She immediately went to search “online” and started reading something from jw.org, a Jehovah’s Witnesses’ official site. The moment she said, “On jw.org, it says – ,” I immediately cut her off and said, “I don’t care what a site says. What matters is what the word of God says.” I interrupted her because I wanted her to think for herself and not refer to the corrupt organization to tell her what to think.
I proceeded to bring her to multiple verses in Isaiah, in which God says that there is no other God beside him. Since John 1:1 says that the Word was “In the beginning,” I asked Agatha why God did not acknowledge the Word’s existence if he was another god. She gave a non-answer with another denial that Jesus is God.
I read the first part of Isaiah 9:6:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: … (Isaiah 9:6a)
and asked her who that was prophesying about. She correctly answered, “Jesus.” I had her read the rest of the verse herself:
…and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6b)
I reminded her that she already admitted this verse was about Jesus and asked her, “Do you admit that Jesus is ‘The mighty God’ with a capital ‘G,’ and if not, how do you explain that Jesus is both a ‘son’ and ‘The everlasting Father’ with a capital ‘F’?” Her answer made no sense, but it was still yet another denial of the truth.
The other verses in Isaiah include: 43:10-11; 44:6, 8; 45:5-6, 21; 46:9; and 48:12.
I showed her the golden verse that proves the Holy Trinity is one God: 1 John 5:7, which reads:
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (1 John 5:7)
Knowing that the Word is Jesus Christ, I asked her to explain this verse. She gave me some response like, “God and Jesus are of one MIND.” She also denied that the Holy Ghost was a person.
Despite her denying the absolute proof-text on the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, I tried to show her an undeniable verse:
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)
I asked her, “Since the Bible says it explicitly, when was God manifest in the flesh?” She outright said, “I don’t believe that ever happened.” At this, I became more animated, saying that the Bible LITERALLY says it happened. Yet, she still denied it!
What I Learned From This
After the few meetings of talking with her, I was wondering what could have gone differently to yield a better result.
The first thing that could have been done was praying more. I have heard from other accounts that trying to convince a Jehovah’s Witness, who has been in the cult for a long time, is one of the most annoying experiences. (Yes, I wanted to facepalm every time she denied such explicitly stated truths.) The Lord’s intervention is definitely needed in such conversations.
When I thought about what else could have been done, the word “salt” came to mind. I do believe that this was the Holy Ghost telling me that I was too gentle with my approach. As I thought on It more, a certain passage from the gospel account by John came to mind:
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I forth of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God. (John 8:42-47)
Also, the verses for testing spirits came to mind:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)
When these verses came to mind, I thought that perhaps God wanted me to call her out as an antichrist, or a child of the devil. Upon hearing these sharp words, Agatha could have been under conviction.
Also, when I looked up the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation “Bible’s” Revelation 1:1 after all this happened, I saw that it calls New Testament believers “slaves.” One of her arguments for the (false) non-existence of eternal suffering is that God is love, so he cannot punish someone with eternal suffering, ignoring that he also is holy, perfect, and has wrath. I should have called her out on the unreliability of her “Bible:” how could such a “loving” God call his own children “slaves?”
(She also said that Satan himself was no exception and would not suffer eternally! How deluded!)
Share your thoughts and experiences with Jehovah’s Witnesses: Have you been banging your head against a wall, like I have? Did you get annoyed at how I repeated so frequently how Agatha denied the truth? Are you unsure about what else is wrong about their cult and would like to know more? Post below!