I have a coworker who is a Jehovah’s Witness and just got back into his faith. I wanted to know more about his faith and asked him why he chose to go back to the JW faith, which he was raised in, instead of a different denomination, among other questions. I didn’t want to debate so I responded respectfully and didn’t bring up opposition to his faith (we didn’t touch on any of the beliefs really). When he told me about/showed me a video of his recent baptism I smiled and said “nice” and gave a thumbs up in support. Then I remembered that they don’t do baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Basically, I wanted to be nice, a good example of unity among different beliefs in Christianity and not to bash someone who I have no beef against, but I hope I didn’t give the wrong impression that his faith is something I agree with. Opinions?
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The first thing that comes to mind when I read this is that you are in an excellent situation to evangelize, very convincingly. If your friend believes in the Bible – and perhaps the JW use some corrupted form of the Bible, but you have to work with what you’ve got – then you could show him in YOUR Bible where the form of Baptism is plainly mentioned. Then you could ask what words were used at HIS ‘baptism’ - and see what he says.
You might have to do a lot of listening before you can get a solid question in edgewise.
Remember that the Church has 7 sacraments, but so many protestants only recognize baptism, but some say it’s not a sacrament. (Well, it could well be that when THEY do it, they’re correct, because they have a defective practice making it invalid, and therefore, not a sacrament.) Of these 7, only Holy Baptism has specific mention as to what it entails in its essential aspects. There are some fine points that the Church has worked out over the centuries, but they were most likely all present from the very beginning of the Church.
The others, Penance (Reconciliation), Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Eucharist and Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick), do not show up with their specific formula in Scripture, except perhaps for the Eucharist. (“Take ye and eat: this is my body,” Mt.26:26, and “This is my blood of the new testament which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins” Mt.26:28.)
I’m not saying you should use all this when speaking to your friend, but it is good to know in case a question comes up. You have a great deal of information like this at your disposal. Before you go trying to draw someone into the Faith it’s indispensable that you should have a good foundation yourself because the world is full of disinformation and you have to be prepared for their rhetoric without being frustrated. Frustration evokes emotions and they will judge your emotional responses as “lunatic fringe” and such. You must remain calm.
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Pray the Holy Spirit would guide you in that conversation to explain & share your faith. I think at the very least you gave an example of how Catholics are loving (or should be) towards others.