My friendly neighborhood Kingdom Hall, part 2
Over this past summer, I have been picking up and putting down Ravi Zacharias’ new book Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith we Defend. It’s a great book and I do look forward to finishing it, hopefully before Shepherd School starts up again for the year.
The first section of this book is actually written by those on in senior positions on Dr. Zacharias’ staff who used to belong to various theological persuasions such as Atheists, Muslims, Hindus, etc.. The purpose of the first section of the book is to answer the question “How could someone believe that?” The respective chapter’s author gives a testimony of how they came to believe what they did, then takes a step back to present the mainline belief and arguments of their particular sect, concluding in an apologetic response to each key point. It is a quick way to get a half a clue as to the belief systems of say, a Hindu, from an inside perspective from someone who used to practice Hinduism. It helps you get inside the mind of a Hindu a little and in most cases, it is enlightening to see just how someone could come to understand doctrine surrounding the Vedas and such.
Doing this is valuable because it helps you see that people with differing belief systems are (usually) not crazy and that they do have a legitimate reason for believing as they do. In a very real sense, talking with the Jehovah’s Witnesses has been like a live exercise of what is highlighted in Dr. Zacharias’ book. How could the JW’s believe this stuff? In a formal debate, those who usually succeed are the ones who cannot only fully understand the opposing position, but know the arguments well enough that they could actually defend it if they suddenly found them selves on the other side of the argument and needed to.
Yesterday’s topic surrounded the Trinity and I have to admit that I kind of did before, but now I totally see how the Jehovah’s Witnesses get off track. Even more, I can see how they think that Crystal and I are off track. Giving all credit to the Holy Spirit, we gave as good as we got and both parties walked away needing to go back to our respective camps and check a few things out in the Bible. Until the day I die, there will be things about the Bible that I will not understand because they are spiritual things and as of yet, I am not spiritual. If I understood them all, then I would be God. FYI, I have never seen a supposed “contradiction” in the Bible that could not be explained by normal reason and logic after being studied out. The contradictory things are usually very clear once you understand the contextual, historical and cultural aspects of the contradiction in question. Since the Bible is inerrant, it is always the reader who has made some error on some level and is either not connecting all the dots, or connected them incorrectly. Studying those errors out will only make you a better student / learner. So bring your questions! The Bible has bested better and more learned people than you and I!
This is all the more reason to learn to rightly divide the word of truth. Mr. JW made the comment that so many of the people he comes across are spiritually dry inside and worst of all, have no hope. Not having that first hand knowledge, I am strongly inclined to agree with him, but tying back to my first point, I can absolutely see how someone would buy into the JW’s doctrine. If you have no basis of comparison and cannot discern truth, the first form of spirituality that you encounter will likely carry you away. In the case of the JW’s, the Scripture that they quote and the way they present it does appear to say what they advocate that it says.
Ephesians 4:13-15 says: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Having quoted that passage, I don’t think that Mr. JW is deliberately trying to deceive us, he really believes what he is saying to us just as we really believe what we are saying to him. A person should believe strongly enough in their convictions to the point that they can intelligently defend their stated position, whatever the topic.
While at the end, I don’t see either party changing the mind of the other, regardless of the strength of argument(s), etc. I can tell you that when we do come to the table for that last time, we will be none the worse for wear. Proverbs 27:17 (NASB) says: Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another. This is exactly right. The next time around, be it another JW or just a guy on the street, both Crystal and I will be sharper and far better equipped to handle the questions that are right to ask. We will have a far better ability to show the whole chain of Scripture that supports our claims and reasons for faith and hope, not just showing a pithy verse here and there, expecting people to automatically throw themselves at the feet of Jesus, weeping in repentance. It is right to challenge the Bible, as the infallible word of Jehovah God, the Almighty, it can certainly stand up to the scrutiny, however minute and exacting, but will you be willing to make a change if you get your questions answered? Will you live like the answer you got actually meant something to you?
If have taken your question to the Bible and still, the answer is “no”; I love you, but you’ve made an operator error.
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Tags: Apologetics, Jehovah, JW, Witness
