Advice for refuting a Jehovah's Witness

[Believer1997]

I am praying that she realizes how dangerous these people are to her salvation. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

[Fez]

I really can't comment, because what I know about JW's I have just begun to learn on this post. I will do some more reading just for my own interest. No good arguing with a JW if I don't really understand what they are all about.

Until then I guess I will carry on doing what I have always done to refute a JW. Just say "Sorry no thank you", and close the door.

[Guest yod]

As with all cults, their interpretation about what happened in the Garden of Eden is where you can point out that they are NOT following the Word of God.

I always invite them into my house for a bible study. After doing this a couple of times and causing the "witnesses" to start asking their leaders some questions, they simply avoid my house now completely

DARN!!!

[godrulz]

From what I understand, Hades and Hell are not exactly the same. I brlieve that Hades was the place where everyone went in the old testament,and the good were separated dfrom the bad. Remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man, after they died? The ywere communicating with each other, but from different parts of Hades. Hell,on the other hand is the New Testament place where people go that have not accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour. Someone correct me if I'm off on this one. But as far as hell being a man's grave? No.

Not saying you are wrong or right...I've just always understood it differently...and I could be wrong. The bible only gives us a faint glimpse into the afterlife. But I always understood it as the righteous went to Abrhams Bosom whereas the wicked went to Hades. In Luke 16, we see Lazarus comforted in the place known as "Abrahams Bosom" where the rich man was tormented in the flames of Hades.

Many believe that everyone goes or went to the same place once we died because in the end of Revelation we see the white throne judgement. I believe all are judged immediately when they perish, just not giving reasons. At the white throne judgement the books will be opened and everyone's life will be known and the reasons for their eternal resting place be made well aware.

As I have said, this is just my opinion. The words speaking of the rich man, state he "looked up" to see Abraham. Maybe this shows us that they were able to see and speak to each other....maybe it was told that way to make the point of the parable more understandable...I have no idea.

Before the cross, Hades had two compartments: righteous and unrighteous. After the cross, Jesus emptied the righteous compartment and took those saints to heaven. Unrighteous Hades/hell is still being filled until the GWT. Then Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire, the final destiny of the godless.

Lk. 16 is not a parable, but an actual story. Even if a parable, it still must be consistent with spiritual reality or Jesus is misrepresenting truth.

This is a non-salvific issue, so one should get back to the Deity of Christ (some Christians like John Stott now deny hell, so it is not a heaven/hell issue).

[angels4u]

Hello bro's and sis's,

I was talking with my older sister, Melody, today about her fiance, Frederick. Frederick is a Jehovah's Witness, you see. And the other day, Mel went to a JW church and had a JW Bible-study with Fred and his buddy. They were talking about a few things that of course made my sister confused. Thankfully God has given both me and my grandfather the opportunity to teach her a few things, answer some questions, and hopefully give her something tangible to defend the Word with.

She will be calling me later tonight, at which point I will be able to give her as much knowledge on the issues as I can.

The issue she's wondering about now is hell. As you know, JW's don't believe in a physical hell full of fire and sorrow. They believe that when you die you die and 'that's it'. She was told that the definition for hell is 'a man's grave', which I replied saying that that's simply not true. Thankfully I've been given the opportunity to start studying Greek, which will help tremendously in situations like this.

The Greek words for hell are hades and gehenna. The Hebrew word is sheol.

Hades - The abode of Hades/Pluto, the god of the underworld. Used in place of Sheol when translated from Hebrew.

Sheol (Hebrew) - Underworld, grave, pit; used in the OT as "the abode of the dead".

Gehenna - A valley southwest of Jerusalem that was used to burn children in offering to the god Moloch in the time of Ahaz. It was later desecrated by Josiah and became a dumping place for the offal (animal guts/entrails) of the city. In the NT, it is the name used as a symbol of the place of future punishment.

Anyways, I'm going to do some research on the subjects tonight and write out a basic outline for arguing against the JW's false doctrine in a very loving and calm manner. I plan to discuss the Greek text, verses that discuss hell, and things like that. At one point I also want to talk with Fred himself, so we can at least get a standpoint on eachother.

Can anyone lend me some advice or Scripture to help me?

Oh, and prayers would be welcomed, too.

Do you think she would let you pray with her? Ask Gods Spirit to reveal her the truth and to take the blindness of unbelieve away.

Angels

[pokemaughan]

Thank you all for you replies.

Today I found a goldmine of faith-breaking questions for Jehovah's Witnesses that are intended to leave them wondering if the Watchtower is right or not.

I'm almost certain that these questions will do a good deal to help Melody understand why JWs are wrong, and at the same time, perhaps direct Fred in the correct direction!

Pray for Fred to hear and listen to the truth!

[KarenMM]

This web site might help you with download available -http://www.preachtheword.com/sermon/cults01.shtml

God bless

K.

[AnnaMoodley]

I hope it goes well. May God be with you and may He guide you as to exactly what to say so that Fred will see the truth.

[oak]

To me people that support false doctrines or are in cults, give themselves away by being prideful. They know a secret handshake or interpretation that has nothing to do with the essence of Christianity. They miss out on the fact that Christ conquered death by both His crucifixion and resurrection

[hillsong_girl]

This is a matter close to my heart as well, since I have a friend who is a JW. I started to put something together to eventually (when I feel lead to) share with my friend. Check it out http://www.worthychristianforums.com/index...amp;hl=reaching

Really, JWS are hard to reason with, but I guess all we can do is try to show them the truth and pray for them.