Responding to Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Arguments

23 June 19920 Comments

In this lecture, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III presents a wise and calm approach to debating Jehovah’s Witnesses, focusing on defending the divinity of Jesus Christ through clear biblical reasoning.

🔹 1. A Calm and Logical Approach
His Holiness advises avoiding aggressive or defensive arguments. Instead, one should gently highlight divine attributes, proving that these same attributes belong to Christ, allowing the opponent to realize the truth through Scripture itself.

🔹 2. Proving Christ’s Holiness
He begins by asking, “Isn’t God holy?” The Bible says, “You alone are holy” (Revelation 15:4). Once agreed that only God is holy, he presents Luke 1:35 — “The Holy One who is born of you shall be called the Son of God” — showing that Christ is the same holy God incarnate.

🔹 3. Christ’s Omnipresence
Pope Shenouda explains that Christ exists everywhere, saying, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them.” He is in heaven, in paradise, at the right hand of the Father, in believers’ hearts, and knocking on sinners’ doors. Thus, He is unlimited by space or time, a divine attribute belonging to God alone.

🔹 4. Christ’s Eternal Existence
He shows that Christ existed before Abraham — “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58) — and that He shared glory with the Father “before the world was” (John 17:5). Scripture also declares, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

🔹 5. Christ’s Divine Authority
Examples of Christ’s authority include:

His power over nature — calming the sea, walking on water.
His authority over the Law — “But I say to you.”
His victory over death — raising the dead and destroying death by His own death.
His command over angels — who serve and obey Him.
His power over Himself — “I have power to lay it down, and power to take it again.”

🔹 6. Purpose of the Teaching
Pope Shenouda concludes that the goal of such teaching is not to win arguments, but to reveal the truth in love and humility, allowing light to replace misunderstanding, for true faith is proven by divine truth, not by shouting.

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