Literature for JW

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Monicathree

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I have some JW’s that have been coming to my house for about 2 years. I, and a friend from our Apologetics group at our parish, met with them a couple of times. It was awesome. That being said…they still come by and give me their literature. I think they are very sweet and we got along really well…it was a married couple. At this point, I feel I have to tell them in a most charitable way that I will never leave Jesus’ church, I could never leave Him in the Holy Eucharist.
We did speak to them about the septuagaint and they, vaguely, had heard of it. So, I want to give them something brief, but hard hitting. I know for me, when I came to the faith, the fathers were key. Polycarp learning from St. John…it doesn’t get any better than that for that link you know. Is there anything out there that you think would be good to give them…without it being a dissertation that they might not read. Because at this point, I just don’t want to keep taking their stuff. I want to make my testimony to them and give them something to think about.

peace-Monica

A little aside…the last point they tried to make to us to “prove” there is no trinity was when Jesus said that the only unforgivable sin was to sin against the Holy Spirit. I guess meaning other sins towards the Father and Jesus were forgivable…🤷
 
Monicathree,

In formulating your approach to them, before you give them something to think about, perhaps you might want to think about this.

God is no mere impersonal force; He is personal because He is intelligent. It would never have even occured to the sharpest mind to inquire into the number of Persons in the Godhead because everyone would say that, as God is one in nature, so He is one in Person. All our experience is thus summed up - one intelligent nature, one person. We have seen that the nature of God is mysterious enough, but, left to ourselves, we would never have suspected the deeper mystery of the infinite simple nature of God being had by three distinct Divine Persons. Yet the basic dogma of the Christian religion states that three distinct Divine Persons actually possess the same identical nature. Nature and essence are only different aspects of the same fundamental reality. Essence is the principle of being in a thing while nature is its principle of activity. The 4th Lateran Council identifies essence and nature. No one can rightly call himself a Christian who does not profess belief in this mystery.

We explain this doctrine by answering three questions:
(1) Is it a fact revealed by God that the three Divine Persons have the same identical divine nature?
(2) How far do faith and reason go in explaining this fact?
(3) What are the consequences to us of this fact?
 
This is awesome!! Exactly what I had in mind…I feel like I hit the motherload:thumbsup:

Thank you for your replies. Now…I have a seventh day adventist coming into the scene…so much out there, huh!!!
 
Hi Monica, I would suggest a copy of Animal Farm by George Orwell because as they read it they will see the watchtower, kingdom hall culture being exposed as being mentally, spirituallly unhealthy.
 
don’t waste your time or literature. As a former JW pioneer I can tell you without a doubt that any literature you give them—if they even take it–will be throw away without being read. They are not allowed to accept or read any other literature on pain of expulsion. Nothing you can do. They have been playing you for two years now no matter how nice they are or what progress you think you might have made. You are a Bible Study and a means to count their time every month. Sorry but that is the reality of it. JWs do not convert, they have to be deeply shaken–it has to be personal, for them to ever leave since every reasoning is concidered the work of the Devil no matter how much sense it makes (the Devil becomes an angel of light you know!)
Only way I got out was finding discrepancies in their own literature and having a personal tragedy hit home that made me question my personal faith and their inadequate answers to my questions. It had absolutely nothing to do with any other religion or anything from ‘the outside’.
Pray for them.
And the only way you are going to get them to stop coming to your house is to outright ban them and tell them to make a note of it on the territory card. If you so much as smile at a JW you are counted as a Return Visit and the cycle starts.
 
Ravyn_Guiliani said:
JWs do not convert, they have to be deeply shaken–
Click to expand...
Ravyn, I know a JW who converted to Islam – no improvement. The problem with all alternatives to our faith is that they are not deep. People can wander around in Fundamentalist Walmart forever if they never get a taste of the beauty and profundity of the Truth. There is a discernable qualititative difference between the Catholic Church and all the rest. Hiding that light under a bushel is a terrible absence of charity.
 
Tomster said:
Monicathree,

In formulating your approach to them, before you give them something to think about, perhaps you might want to think about this.

God is no mere impersonal force; He is personal because He is intelligent. It would never have even occured to the sharpest mind to inquire into the number of Persons in the Godhead because everyone would say that, as God is one in nature, so He is one in Person. All our experience is thus summed up - one intelligent nature, one person. We have seen that the nature of God is mysterious enough, but, left to ourselves, we would never have suspected the deeper mystery of the infinite simple nature of God being had by three distinct Divine Persons. Yet the basic dogma of the Christian religion states that three distinct Divine Persons actually possess the same identical nature. Nature and essence are only different aspects of the same fundamental reality. Essence is the principle of being in a thing while nature is its principle of activity. The 4th Lateran Council identifies essence and nature. No one can rightly call himself a Christian who does not profess belief in this mystery.

We explain this doctrine by answering three questions:
(1) Is it a fact revealed by God that the three Divine Persons have the same identical divine nature?
(2) How far do faith and reason go in explaining this fact?
(3) What are the consequences to us of this fact?
Click to expand...
I’ve heard a few ex-JW converts tell their story on The Journey Home, and they say pretty much the same thing Ravyn said. Giving any literature is a waste of time.

The best you can do is plant some seeds. Tell them you are looking forward to spending eternity in heaven with Jesus. You are probably aware JW’s believe only a few souls (144,000) will spend eternity with God. Tell them to spend eternity on an earthly paradise without God would be no heaven for you.

One of the converts on Journey Home said someone once said this to him while he was a JW, and this comment left quite an impression on him and actually led to his conversion.
 
Tomster said:
Yet the basic dogma of the Christian religion states that three distinct Divine Persons actually possess the same identical nature.
Click to expand...
Normative Christians believe that Jesus was the man who was God Himself. The rest is really just detail

JWs believe that Jesus was the archangel Michael. There is no precendent for that belief before JWs started up the the 1850s or so, at least that I am aware of. Michael is traditionally depicted as fighting the devil and Jesus also encounters the devil in the wilderness, which is how they justify it.
 
JohnPaulTwoToo said:
Ravyn, I know a JW who converted to Islam – no improvement. The problem with all alternatives to our faith is that they are not deep. People can wander around in Fundamentalist Walmart forever if they never get a taste of the beauty and profundity of the Truth. There is a discernable qualititative difference between the Catholic Church and all the rest. Hiding that light under a bushel is a terrible absence of charity.
Click to expand...
I guarantee for the JW to become anything else they have to have had some deep personal crisis. They just simply are not allowed to entertain the idea that their religion may be wrong.

But the Islam thing is not a very big surprise, JWs are very chauvinistic and exclusivists—extremists in the making. It is a legalistic religion. Pharisaic.
 
Malcolm_McLean said:
Normative Christians believe that Jesus was the man who was God Himself. The rest is really just detail

JWs believe that Jesus was the archangel Michael. There is no precendent for that belief before JWs started up the the 1850s or so, at least that I am aware of. Michael is traditionally depicted as fighting the devil and Jesus also encounters the devil in the wilderness, which is how they justify it.
Click to expand...
Seventh Day Adventists believe Jesus is Michael too. JWs were closely related to SDA in the beginning with SDA being only a few years older.
 
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