Some Questions to Ask a Jehovah Witness the Next Time They Knock on Your Door (Copy)

Several years ago, we had a roommate who was a Jehovah Witness. When he discovered we were Catholics, he began challenging me to debate him. I held off for a time to keep peace with the house, but eventually I offered to discuss with him over dinner and said I hoped this would not end our friendship.

During the dinner, I asked him a series of questions. These were questions I had routinely asked Witnesses who knocked on our front door over the years. He did not know how to respond to these questions, so he said he would ask the elders at his Kingdom Hall. I discovered later that they had told him to not speak with me anymore, so he did not.

I was not trying to win an argument or lose a friend. I was trying to help him see the flaws of his false religion, so he could open his eyes to the truth and embrace the Christian Religion founded by Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, since his elders did not have answers for my questions, he was told to cease talking with me altogether, and he obeyed.

I have asked these questions to Witnesses at our front door for years. One time, the woman said she did not have answers, but assured me that the gentleman she was with was an expert in Catholicism, and he could answer them. She looked back at him, he shook his head, and told her they had to leave for the day.

Be polite and sincere with Witnesses when they knock on your door. Do not avoid them. That is not charitable. Share the truth with them, so that hopefully a seed is planted. By God’s grace, one day they too will experience the joy of receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist and of belonging to His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Jehovah Witnesses reject the dogma of the Trinity, and they falsely claim that Jesus is merely a divine being that was created by the Father; they do not consider Jesus to be God in the flesh and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. In other words, He is not true God, nor consubstantial with the Father. This is a rehash of an old 4th century heresy known as Arianism, which was condemned at the Council of Nicea.

Here are the questions I typically ask, in one form or another.

The Son calls the Father “God” in John 17:3, and the Father in turn calls the Son “God” in Hebrews 1:8. The Bible teaches there is only one God. So what does that teach us, and why does the Father say this? Why does the Father address Jesus as God?

Why does Thomas call Him “my Lord and my God” in John 20:28? Why doesn’t Jesus correct him?

In John 8:58, Jesus gives Himself the divine title of I Am “Eigo Eimi!” The same name God gives to Moses of Himself in Exodus 3:14. Why does Jesus do this? Is it right for any creature to give himself the divine name?

In John 10:30-33, Jesus says He and the Father are one, and the Jews accuse him of making himself equal to God. Why do the Jews accuse Him of this? Why doesn’t Jesus correct them?

In 2 Peter 1:1 and Titus 2:13, Peter and Paul both call Jesus “God.” Are they wrong?

In Revelation 1:8 and 22:13, Jesus uses titles of Himself that belong to God alone (Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12). Is this a claim to be God?

In Isaiah 6:1-5, Isaiah says he sees The Lord God Almighty. In John 12:41, John says that Isaiah saw Jesus in this vision. Why does John say this? Is John wrong?

In Matthew 16:15-19, Jesus says the powers of death can never prevail against his Church. In Matthew 18:15-18, he says in severe disagreements, take it to the church. Paul calls the church the pillar of truth in 1 Timothy 3:15. Paul says the church exists in all generations in Ephesians 3:21. In a disagreement on doctrine with who God is, which church would you and I go to if we lived in 1000AD? Or in 1800AD?

Catholic bishops in the 4th century determined which books were inspired by God and belonged in the Bible, and which ones did not. Why do Jehovah Witnesses to this day accept their decision?

In Philippians 4:3, Paul says a bishop named Clement is written in the “book of life.” Clement became the 3rd bishop of Rome after Peter. Clement wrote that Jesus was God, and said he was taught this directly by Paul. He wrote this while John the Apostle was still alive. So was Paul wrong in Philippians 4:3? Is he in the book of life or not? Was he faithful to the Word like Paul said, or was Paul wrong and the Jehovah Witness interpretation correct nineteen centuries later?

A bishop named Arius is the first person historically to claim Jesus was an angelic god and inferior to the Father. He lived in the 4th century. Doesn’t the Bible say to reject false teachings of the world? To reject man made traditions? So why do you follow the teachings of Arius, a man who lived four centuries after Jesus and the Apostles?

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls. Amen.