Help! JWs visiting

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JWs just came to my door. I do not know what possessed me, but I invited them in! They declined as there were more in their party that were out in the neighborhood. They asked if they could come another time and I said ‘yes’!
They want to discuss their magazine and the Bible. They specifically asked if I was a Bible reader. Of course, I do read the Bible regularly. I am afraid that I will completely mess up this wonderful opportunity Our Lord has given me to witness to them about the Church and Our Lord. Where do I start?! What do I say when they come back (I know they will)?
This is the first time this has happened to me (I used to turn people away…what came over me?) and I want to present an effective witness.

** edited to add, the magazines they left are entitled ‘What We Learn From Mary’ and ‘Are We Running Out of Water?’ I suppose I am looking for Catholic teachings I can give them on these two subjects.

Thanks for any help, guys.
 
I pray that you will not be subtly unsettled by their arguments and persuasions. Certainly you should seek out some Catholic books on their beliefs and read them so be able to face them more securely. You can be sure they come armed and ready to unsettle Catholics in their faith.

May the Holy Spirit protect you. Even if faith is strong, others can catch a person unaware.

God bless you for your enthusiasm and good intentions.

Sometimes this scripture has relevance. I hope not so here

“Have nothing to do with the pointless philosophical discussions and antagonistic beliefs of the ‘knowledge’ which is not knowledge at all; by adopting this, some have gone right away from the faith. Grace be with you.” [1 Timothy 6 20-21]
 
Trishie, thanks for your response and warning. I’ve been perusing some websites about their beliefs. All I can say is ‘wow!’. I think it uncanny that they left a magazine dealing with Mary but had no way of knowing I was Catholic.

I have determined to not get into serious theological debate with them (as I am ill equipped for such undertakings as yet), but to stubbornly stay focused on the divinity of Our Lord. I just have a gut feeling/ intuition that Jesus as a divine person is going to be important to focus on.

I can also see that very early on there will be some discussion about the translation of Bible they use. I understand they tinkered with it to support their rather skewed view of things.

To be sure, a lot of prayer is being given up for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all this. I so want Our Lord to have HIS say in all this. Maybe they will be converted as a result.
 
Have you searched for Jehovah Witnesses on other threads? You may find some interesting information there.🙂
 
A great resource is the parent site of this forum, Catholic Answers. This particular link has apologetics on all non-Catholic religions. Jehovah’s Witnesses are listed under the non-Christian heading.

[catholic.com/library/noncatholic_groups.asp](Catholic Answers non-Catholic faith tracts)

I will pray for you. Trust that God will give you the words when you need them, but also study up some, too. 😃

God Bless!
Ericka
 
juliasmith said:
JWs just came to my door. I do not know what possessed me, but I invited them in! They declined as there were more in their party that were out in the neighborhood. They asked if they could come another time and I said ‘yes’!
They want to discuss their magazine and the Bible. They specifically asked if I was a Bible reader. Of course, I do read the Bible regularly. I am afraid that I will completely mess up this wonderful opportunity Our Lord has given me to witness to them about the Church and Our Lord. Where do I start?! What do I say when they come back (I know they will)?
This is the first time this has happened to me (I used to turn people away…what came over me?) and I want to present an effective witness.

** edited to add, the magazines they left are entitled ‘What We Learn From Mary’ and ‘Are We Running Out of Water?’ I suppose I am looking for Catholic teachings I can give them on these two subjects.

Thanks for any help, guys.
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  1. Do not sit down and talk with them if there are more of them that you. They will rapid fire questions at you and shortly you will not be able to keep up. It will lead to confuse and fustration.
  2. Have others from the parish with you. Particularly those who have a good knowledge of the teachings of the church.
  3. Your priest, invite him. At least inform him of what you are doing and listen to his advice. Be prepared for him to tell you not to meet.
  4. If no one can come, ask them to only have one person come. JW will come to your house in pairs and at time two pairs.
  5. When they can not abide by these rules, do not meet.
  6. If you defend your faith well expect: A they will not return or B they will return with reinforcements.
7 Understand they are there to convert you.

I have experienced both Mormons and JW at my home. Be nice and ask questions. I did it as a seminary student and was a Baptist Pastor. Please be careful as to what you are entering is fraught with danger.
 
I agree, don’t let them get you alone, and, especially, don’t let them get you on their turf. They will eventually drop you if you don’t go with them to their den, or meeting house (or lair). They put you in a room with no windows, and browbeat you until you cave.

I would keep asking them questions, keep them on the defensive.

Eventually they will “quit” you when they see they are not getting what they want from you. You may make one of them think twice, though, so it I would go ahead and meet with them.
 
First they are people who do believe in a God…and not the UN God at that…so thats a plus! Several years ago I had just completed a book on the largest female concentration camp in Europe during WW2 and the information of the behavior of the JWs in the camp was excellent…they cared for each other,they protected each other and they were a united front against the left wing naitonal socialist troops of Germany…they kept together by praying and kindness. When the knock came I was startled and said wait…going to the book I brought it out to the porch and showed the pages to them…one man said thru tears it was the nicest visit he had ever had to a strangers home…I then gently advised them I was an orthodox Roman Catholic ,feel comfortable in it but am forever sympathetic towards the JW…thank you and good by! that was the last I ever heard from them and I felt it was the best thing to do. It is better to light one small candle then to curse the darkness…Nino
 
Nino said:
First they are people who do believe in a God…and not the UN God at that…so thats a plus! Several years ago I had just completed a book on the largest female concentration camp in Europe during WW2 and the information of the behavior of the JWs in the camp was excellent…they cared for each other,they protected each other and they were a united front against the left wing naitonal socialist troops of Germany…they kept together by praying and kindness. When the knock came I was startled and said wait…going to the book I brought it out to the porch and showed the pages to them…one man said thru tears it was the nicest visit he had ever had to a strangers home…I then gently advised them I was an orthodox Roman Catholic ,feel comfortable in it but am forever sympathetic towards the JW…thank you and good by! that was the last I ever heard from them and I felt it was the best thing to do. It is better to light one small candle then to curse the darkness…Nino
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God bless you for that!
 
First of all, when and if they return…as you open the door send a quick prayer up to the Holy Spirit to put the right words in your mouth. You will be amazed how quickly the HolySpirit responds to this request and you will surprise yourself as well.
You can easily throw them off by guard by instead of answering their questions, say answer me this question and pose your own question. It throws them off script because that’s exactly what they are unprepared for. Then ask them if they were born and raised JW’s. Frequently they are Catholic or Protestant that have been pulled into the JW’s because they did not feel the presence of community in our larger churches. So then talk about your faith, not theirs…and when they offer you their magazine, tell them you will accept it if they will take yours…and have some articles from the internet…or of you have your church bulletin, diocesan paper etc handy and then exchange it with them. They are not allowed to take our stuff…so if they refuse, then say if you aren’t open to my beliefs then you cannot oblige. But tell them that if they are willing to really have an open exchange you will accept their literature. After they leave, pitch it. You don’t need to read it and it spares some other unsuspecting soul of getting their fallacies.

Ask them about the divinity of Jesus. They don’t believe he is divine.They don’t believe in the Trinity either. You have so much ammo in your arsenal.
 
stbruno said:
… After they leave, pitch it. …
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My grandmother would take me downtown with her when I was
6 or 7. One day they were on most of the corners, passing out
their literature and I was surprised when my grandmother took
it (I knew even then that they were not Christians). She saw that
I was puzzled, but put her finger to her mouth, telling me to say
nothing. We went around the block where the JW’s were out
of sight and where there was a huge trash can. She shredded
the literature and tossed it in. Before we left downtown that
day, she did the same for literature from other unsuspecting
JW’s. So I agree with the above.
 
They didn’t show today :o
I rather thought they would.

Thanks for all the encouragement/warnings. Are they really this bad? They sound like a bunch of brainwashing terrorists, to hear some of you. It was a woman about my age and her daughter. They seemed nice enough.
Having run my own neo-pagan group in the past, I think I can handle this. I still plan to keep to the Divinity of Christ.

Funny thing, I invited them in and the woman started to come in but stopped short and then made the excuse of having others in the neighborhood. I wonder if the blessed salt on the threshold had anything to do with her refusal to come in?:eek: 😃
 
juliasmith said:
They didn’t show today :o
I rather thought they would.

Thanks for all the encouragement/warnings. Are they really this bad? They sound like a bunch of brainwashing terrorists, to hear some of you. It was a woman about my age and her daughter. They seemed nice enough.
Having run my own neo-pagan group in the past, I think I can handle this. I still plan to keep to the Divinity of Christ.

Funny thing, I invited them in and the woman started to come in but stopped short and then made the excuse of having others in the neighborhood. I wonder if the blessed salt on the threshold had anything to do with her refusal to come in?:eek: 😃
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LOL, I wouldn’t doubt it.
 
juliasmith said:
They didn’t show today :o
I rather thought they would.

Thanks for all the encouragement/warnings. Are they really this bad? They sound like a bunch of brainwashing terrorists, to hear some of you. It was a woman about my age and her daughter. They seemed nice enough.
Having run my own neo-pagan group in the past, I think I can handle this. I still plan to keep to the Divinity of Christ.

Funny thing, I invited them in and the woman started to come in but stopped short and then made the excuse of having others in the neighborhood. I wonder if the blessed salt on the threshold had anything to do with her refusal to come in?:eek: 😃
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Yes, their organization is really this bad. The people, though, who have been seduced into it through their ignorance are in need of our prayer.
 
You may choose to consider this an opportunity.

If you’re strong in your faith it may be an opportunity to share it with others. With me, my experiences with the Witnesses (as a not-too-educated Catholic) only forced me to learn more about my faith and the Bible.

And the suggestion of offering them some of your church’s literature is exactly what my aunt used to do (“I’ll read that if you read this!”). Oddly, their organization tells them not to read other churches’ literature, but they’ll criticize you if you tell them you’re not supposed to read theirs.

Good luck.
 
juliasmith said:
JWs just came to my door. I do not know what possessed me, but I invited them in! They declined as there were more in their party that were out in the neighborhood. They asked if they could come another time and I said ‘yes’!
They want to discuss their magazine and the Bible. They specifically asked if I was a Bible reader. Of course, I do read the Bible regularly. I am afraid that I will completely mess up this wonderful opportunity Our Lord has given me to witness to them about the Church and Our Lord. Where do I start?! What do I say when they come back (I know they will)?
This is the first time this has happened to me (I used to turn people away…what came over me?) and I want to present an effective witness.

** edited to add, the magazines they left are entitled ‘What We Learn From Mary’ and ‘Are We Running Out of Water?’ I suppose I am looking for Catholic teachings I can give them on these two subjects.

Thanks for any help, guys.
Click to expand...
Catholic Answers sells a great book called** Answering Jehovas Witnesses**. I read it and it is real good. I suggest your read it carefully, then invite the JWs back over for coffee.
🙂
 
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