Page 3 - Cults and Marginal Groups - Textbook w videos short

Cults and Marginal Groups: Jehovah’s Witnesses
And Seventh Day Adventists
By Dr. Kris Bjorgen

Study Section 1: Where did Jehovah’s Witnesses come from?

1.1 Connect.

How many times have you had two or more Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door to share
the “gospel” of good news with you? They seem to be very knowledgeable about the Bible and
have some convincing arguments and verses to support their beliefs. Are you able to defend
your faith with them? Do you know how to answer them when they quote verses in the Bible
that tell you Jesus was the first created being of Jehovah God?

1.2 Objectives:

1. The student should be able to describe the pressures that the witness at your door faces on a
daily basis.

2. The student should be able to define the four characteristics of a cult, as are the Jehovah’s
Witnesses.

3. The student should be able to explain a brief history of where the Jehovah’s Witness cult came from,
how they started, and how they and other groups spun off of a strong movement in the middle 1800’s.

1.3 Learning How to Witness to a Jehovah’s Witness – Introduction.

The average Christian finds great difficulty in answering Jehovah’s Witnesses who cite a string
of verses that challenge many of their major beliefs: the deity and person of Christ, His atoning
death for our sins, His bodily resurrection, His current ministry, the Trinity, Hell and the eternal
state, how to gain eternal life, the identity and work of the Holy Spirit, celebrating birthdays or
other major holidays, wearing crosses and jewelry, and the list goes on! A
new convert to the Watchtower Society is immediately trained in their false
doctrines and is prepared to answer the typical responses of “unbelievers”
(Christians). They know pretty much every proof text for their doctrines and every
rebuttal to your defense of your doctrines. The average Jehovah’s Witness can make,
as Dr. Walter Martin said, a “doctrinal pretzel” out of the average Christian in 30
seconds!!!

In his training, the Jehovah’s Witness (hereafter, JW) is taught to defend the peculiar doctrines of the
cult. They will spout endless lists of “proof texts” on every conceivable subject. Most Christians are not
able to give an answer to their arguments and cannot site equally compelling “proof texts” for the
fundamental beliefs of their faith! This is a shame!

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