A Debate with Jehovah's Witness

I'm debating via email with a Jehovahs Witness lady who I bought a bunny from. This actually is my first time debating with a Jehovahs Witness. Here is my response to their theology, or theory really, that Jesus is not God, which is why they are a false teaching.

"Yes I know all those verses. I went to a private Christian college, Biola. I got a very good understanding of the Bible there. The trinity is three in one. God the father, Jesus the son and the Holy Spirit are at the same time three brings but one being. They are different beings but they are all God and they are all one."

"I love that your so interested in the Bible as the authority. Not many people today really know & use their Bibles. I commend you on that :)

One of the things I enjoyed learning is that Jesus himself actually worshiped God. At Matt 20:17 it says "Jesus said to her “Do not touch me, for I have not yet gone up to my Father. But go to my brothers and tell them ‘I am going to my Father, your Father, my God, your God". Jesus himself called God his father & referred to him as a separate person. Just before his death at Mark 15:34 he called out to God... "And at the ninth hour, Jesus called out with a loud voice: “Eʹli, Eʹli, laʹma sa·bach·thaʹni?” which means, when translated: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" At Matthew 4:10 when being tempted by the devil to do an act of worship to him Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 & 10:20 when he told him "Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service". Also in the 17th chapter of John, which is a prayer from Jesus to his father he prayed in verse 3: "This means everlasting life, their coming to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ". Obviously this verse is referring to two distinctly different people, the only true God, & the one he sent to the earth. There would be no reason for Jesus to be praying to himself. During the model prayer he also prayed at Matt 6:9 "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified". Then at John 14:28 Jesus himself stated "the Father is greater than I am". The more I've learned in my studies about the beautiful relationship between God, & his only begotten son Jesus Christ, the more I have been drawn to both of them. Stephen stated “Look! I behold the heavens opened up and the Son of man standing at God’s right hand.” (Acts 7:56) Jesus, “the Son of man,” was thus seen by Stephen in a role supportive to God in heaven—“at God’s right hand”—even as he had been ‘alongside God’ before he came to earth.—John 17:5. The apostle John too described Jesus as subordinate to God. John said that he had written his Gospel so that readers might come to believe that “Jesus is the Christ the Son of God”—not that he was God. (John 20:31) John also received a heavenly vision in which he saw “the Lamb,” who in his Gospel is identified as Jesus. (John 1:29) The Lamb is standing with 144,000 others, who John says “have been bought [or resurrected] from the earth.” John explains that the 144,000 have the Lamb’s “name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.”—Revelation 14:1, 3.

Could “the Lamb” be the same as “his Father”? Clearly not. In the Bible they are distinct. They even have different names. Just before his arrest Jesus prayed "Father, if you wish, remove this cup [that is, an ignominious death] from me. Nevertheless, let, not my will, but yours take place.” (Luke 22:42) If God and Jesus are “one in essence,” as the Trinity doctrine says, how could Jesus’ will, or wish, seem different from that of his Father? These are just a few of the verses that have strengthened my belief in Jesus being the Son of God. I hope you enjoy them. I also enjoyed this comment... The New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967) discusses the Trinityat length and admits: “The Trinitarian dogma is in the last analysis a late 4th-century invention. . . . The formulation ‘one God in three Persons’ was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century.”

I know we are of different religions & have different beliefs but I thought you might find it interesting to look at things from a different perspective. I definitely appreciate you opening up to me on your take of those verses you sent me. I want to make it very clear that I completely respect your right to religious freedom. We are granted not only the gift of religious freedom where we live, but also the gift of free will from our Heavenly Father, & those are freedoms I both appreciate and respect for my fellow man ( & woman) :-) I am in no way trying to impose my beliefs on you, but I have enjoyed this conversation.

We would be so lost without Gods word. Could you imagine having no hope for the future? I wonder sometimes how difficult it must be for people who don't have any faith to deal with all the tragedies in the world today. I cant imagine being able to cope with life in this world without a hope for better times soon ahead.

I hope you have a great week! I encourage you to continue investigating in jw.org A lot of things in there are really beneficial to people of any religion, like the dramatic bible readings. They really bring the scriptures to life! I think you would really enjoy them. They read directly from the bible but there are different voices for different characters & background noises. It really helps you to imagine being in the scene! :-)

I wanted to share a brief video with you I think you would LOVE! Its not made for any denomination in particular, its just designed to give evidence of why we can trust the Bible. It has some awesome facts about how it always accurate, and is available more than any other book. Its only about 4min long but its packed with faith strengthening facts to help us grow our already strong faith in Gods word :-)

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/good-news-from-god/good-news-in-the-bible-from-god/video-bible-true/

-Shaina-

(Pray for Shaina :)