[Sorry for the long hiatus from the blog. I’m learning that I get energized and blog in spurts. Working on some methods to consistently update the blog. I figured I couldn’t move on to the next blog subject until I finish the previous one… so here goes! Thanks for your patience with me.]
By this time, one of two things is going through your mind. Either you’re getting more confident in your ability to hold your own with your Jehovah’s Witness visitor, or you’re trying to think of ways to get them up from their chair and out the door. Maybe both. In attempt to end the conversation, you might slip up and say something like, “Well, all I know is that I’m going to heaven when I die!” Bad move. Your new friend also parts from Christian doctrine in regards to both Jesus’ resurrection, as well as our own.
They will claim that Christ’s resurrection was “in spirit” rather than bodily, and that Jehovah “disposed of” Jesus’ body at the resurrection. This stance is impossible to reconcile with Jesus’ prediction in John 2:18-22, and His post-resurrection interaction with his disciples in which his body was not in the tomb, he was touched by Stephen, and he ate food. After sharing these important points, I would show them 1 Corinthians 15 in their own Bible where Paul speaks of the necessity of Jesus’ resurrection to our faith. “And if Christ has not been raised,” he says, “then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”
Along with the resurrection of Jesus, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have different views as it regards the end times. While there are several differing viewpoints on end times within Christian circles, Jehovah’s Witnesses differ from orthodox Christianity on some of the more foundational issues. They believe that there is no literal “Hell” (Matthew 25, Luke 16, as well as Revelation 20-21), that only 144,000 righteous people will make it to heaven (Revelation 7), and that the earth will not be destroyed by fire (Revelation 21:1-2). I encourage you to search the Scriptures healthy understanding of these Biblical passages and Christian theology. Familiarity with your Bible is your only weapon in this battle.
Being unfamiliar with your Bible will get you picked apart in this convo.
Renewed Vision 