BETHEL GAMBIT,

or Jehovah's Witnesses

start and lose

Structural analysis of one of the most effective

methods of rehabilitation of sect adepts

"JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES"

KALININGRAD

2011

Introduction

If strangers come to your home and invite you to talk to them about the Bible, ask them what their organization's name is. Most likely, you have Jehovah's Witnesses in front of you. Door-to-door walking is their favorite method of spreading their teachings. They say that the Bible teaches them this. But if you start reading the Bible on your own, you will see that the apostles went from house to house only during the earthly life of the Savior. After the descent of the Holy Spirit, they walked, first of all, through those cities where there were synagogues. And the first sermons of the apostles sounded precisely here, where people knew the Law and waited for the Messiah promised by the prophets. In the synagogues, the apostles became personally acquainted with those who accepted the teachings of Christ, and later Christian communities could gather in the homes of these hospitable people for common prayer and the breaking of bread. Sometimes the disciples of Christ went to the place where the pagan sages gathered, for example, the Apostle Paul went to the Athenian Areopagus. In all other cases, the sermon was accompanied by some obvious miracle. For example, in the 3rd chapter of the book "Acts of the Holy Apostles" it is told how the Apostle Peter healed a man who was lame from birth. The people, seeing this, were filled with horror and amazement, and then... "When Peter saw this, he said to the people, 'Men of Israel! Why are you amazed at this, or why do you look at us, as if by our own power or piety we have made him walk?" (Acts 3:12). And then there was a sermon that led people to faith in Christ.

What do all these cases have in common? At the time of the sermon, the apostles already possessed the amount of authority necessary for religious conversation. In the synagogue, not everyone was allowed to preach, but only men who had reached adulthood and moreover were of the Jewish faith. The Apostles met these requirements. The Apostle Paul came to the Athenian Areopagus as a Roman citizen who knew ancient philosophy and rhetoric. In all other situations, God's miraculous providence drew people's attention to simple Jewish fishermen, who, thanks to God's help, preached with greater persuasiveness than the wisest pagan philosophers.

What about our guests who call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses? They never go to synagogues, the Areopagus, or their modern counterparts. They also have a problem with obvious miracles. They say that their main task is to draw people's attention to the teachings of the Bible. What to answer them? If we are true Christians, then we should study the Holy Scriptures, but does this mean that we should accept the spiritual guidance of all those who come to our homes with the Bible in their hands? Let us answer the question: Why should a Christian study the Holy Scriptures?