JAY
12-10-2009, 11:20 AM
... I have had several encounters with JWs. Four that I can recall clearly and they have never ended well.
One of the most recent, I had a co-worker who was JW. At first he was eager to discuss theology with me. Then one day we were having a discussion about Eve, the serpent and the apple and he started getting kind of funny. He was quoting his translation and I disagreed with him regarding the translation. I then took him to Blue Letter Bible and few other sites, comparing various translations of the text and he got visibly agitated. He carried around this well worn, gold leaf covered book that he kept referring to almost as much a the worn bible he kept in his brief case. When I asked what it was he quickly closed it and put it away, saying it was nothing. Just a little study aid that a friend gave him.
Several weeks later, we were departing after a fruitful day at the office and we were having a brief discussion about the afterlife. One of our co-workers had been asking both of us questions about our respective faith and that was the departing topic of conversation. I recall looking at them both, apologizing to my JW co-worker, and saying that I had an extremely difficult time accepting that God was so limited as to only allow 144,000 into heaven. That a creator with the breadth and fullness such as God has would not put his children into competition for his love in such a manner. Neither part of my response was biblicly based, they were answers from my heart (and I am not well studied enough to even prove if they are both biblical).
The following Monday he was in a different office by his request to our supervisor. From that point on was very antagonistic with every interaction we had unless our superiors were around. It saddens me that our professional relationship and potential friendship were damaged by this.
I bring this up because now I see the Adversary working hard to get into the life of one of the teens at our church. A gal she works with has provided her with a book, that I am now in posession of, that proclaims to provide biblical answers to teen's questions. I have been contemplating spending some time doing a comparitive study to see how 'truthful' they are being.
One of the most recent, I had a co-worker who was JW. At first he was eager to discuss theology with me. Then one day we were having a discussion about Eve, the serpent and the apple and he started getting kind of funny. He was quoting his translation and I disagreed with him regarding the translation. I then took him to Blue Letter Bible and few other sites, comparing various translations of the text and he got visibly agitated. He carried around this well worn, gold leaf covered book that he kept referring to almost as much a the worn bible he kept in his brief case. When I asked what it was he quickly closed it and put it away, saying it was nothing. Just a little study aid that a friend gave him.
Several weeks later, we were departing after a fruitful day at the office and we were having a brief discussion about the afterlife. One of our co-workers had been asking both of us questions about our respective faith and that was the departing topic of conversation. I recall looking at them both, apologizing to my JW co-worker, and saying that I had an extremely difficult time accepting that God was so limited as to only allow 144,000 into heaven. That a creator with the breadth and fullness such as God has would not put his children into competition for his love in such a manner. Neither part of my response was biblicly based, they were answers from my heart (and I am not well studied enough to even prove if they are both biblical).
The following Monday he was in a different office by his request to our supervisor. From that point on was very antagonistic with every interaction we had unless our superiors were around. It saddens me that our professional relationship and potential friendship were damaged by this.
I bring this up because now I see the Adversary working hard to get into the life of one of the teens at our church. A gal she works with has provided her with a book, that I am now in posession of, that proclaims to provide biblical answers to teen's questions. I have been contemplating spending some time doing a comparitive study to see how 'truthful' they are being.