The wife and I were expecting a health worker to call at our door 10:30 this morning and about 10;35 two women appeared at our door so I opened up thinking they were who I expected ,so I was take back a bit being caught off guard when they identified themselves as doing a bible work.
This is just the gist of what took place & not a word for word conversation.
A woman about in her fifties her companion about her twenties.The older woman did most of the talking as she read to me the scripture from her phone " in the last days critical times hard to deal with...Etc.Etc.and she went back and emphasised that we were living in the last days because of what that scripture said.
I made the comment that the scripture just about sums up human history in any given time.Then I went on to say that this day and age is the best time in human history overall given the advances in technology ,medical procedures ,the overall standard of living being higher and so on .But they insisted on we were living in the last days.Then I said different religions have been claiming that for the past couple hundred years.
Then to throw them a curve ball I asked if they were Mormons ? Oh no we are Jehovah`s Witnesses.Had I been prepared for them and not caught out unawares I would have taken a different tact.I then asked the older woman how long she has been a witness and she said 36 years so I then said to her you must have seen a lot of changes in your religion during that time which she agreed with.( the light gets brighter)
So what you believed all those years ago is not all the same that you believe today.And they agreed .And what they then said because the younger one chipped in every now and then ,was that what they believed back then was the truth as they saw it ,and i tried to point out that if they then found it necessary to adjust that thinking that what they believed in the first place wasn`t true Then they couldn`t be led by Gods spirit? Because Gods spirit could`t lead them to teach something that wasn`t true.
There response ? it was true according to their knowledge and understanding of the scriptures at that time .....?
How do you argue or have a reasonable discussion with a response like that ?
I did ask the older lay who was it that started JW`s and she said Rutherford which they both agreed to then I said to her you have been a JW for 36 years and you don`t know who started your religion ? Again they said Rutherford.
I said I think you will find it was Charles Russell ,they looked at each other oh yes it was and I pointed out that he claimed Christ presence began in 1874 and that Armageddon was going to happen in 1914 ,they weren`t ready to accept that and the older lady brought how they thought 1975 was when Armageddon was going to take place and I stopped her there and said don`t change the subject I`m talking about 1874 and 1914
And then the health worker my wife and I were expecting turned up and I had to excuse myself from these 2 JW`s and blow me down they said it was very nice talking to someone who has an interest in religion , can we call back again some other time ?
I said sure anytime.
{ I hope I didn`t bore you with the way I presented it }