Witnessing to the Jehovah's Witnesses

Will JW families be reunited in the Paradise Earth?

by Jay Hess

This material offers a non-confrontational approach of witnessing to the Jehovah's Witnesses (legally known as The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society) that is gracious and respectful (Colossians 4:5,6; 1 Peter 3:15). Just as Peter started his presentation by discussing issues that were fundamental to his audience (Acts 2:16-37) and Paul did the same (Acts 17:22-31), this presentation centers around an issue that JWs consider to be fundamental.

The Jehovah's Witnesses can talk on a myriad of Bible related subjects but one of their favorites is discussing their doctrine of the "paradise earth". JWs believe exactly 144,000 people will go to heaven and the rest of those judged to be righteous will live forever, not in heaven, but on a re-newed earth. They teach that almost all of the 144,000 are already in heaven (this includes the apostles and all Christians since then). Consequently JW literature focuses on the 'hope' for the majority of mankind, living forever in unity on a paradise earth. They frequently emphasize that this doctrine is the ultimate solution for all mankind's problems. Their books and magazines emphasize this teaching more than any other and supplement their teachings with numerous color pictures of happy families all living in gorgeous conditions with lots of greenery and water. The pictures show people welcoming their deceased relatives back from the grave. These pictures give one a comforting image that would entice anyone . . . until you hear the rest of the story. The JWs do not really believe that their believing families will be united after the resurrection.

In presenting the rest of this material to a JW you do NOT attempt to persuade them that their view is incorrect. They love this doctrine. Who would not want to live in such wonderful conditions? Often I hear of Christians trying to push a JW off this doctrine first by saying it is incorrect or by offering a better place, heaven. But JWs already believe in heaven, they just do not believe they will be there. Generally they do not even wish to go to heaven but are happy to live in the situation that God placed Adam and Eve. As for trying to prove that there is no paradise earth, were you aware that many prominent mainstream evangelical Christians believe that there will be a paradise earth? So if a Christian tries to refute their belief in a paradise earth this will undermine any later effort to direct them to a stable Christian fellowship outside of the JWs.

The approach I offer below moves in a different direction. Remember that JWs love this doctrine, often they find it more comforting than the thought of going to heaven. They are convinced that this is a biblical doctrine that only they know about, the rest of mainstream Christianity is in the dark about this, and that by itself this is enough to prove that the JWs must be the true church. Can you imagine the impact on them if they were to learn that this doctrine that they love so much that appears to solve all mankind's problems will actually bring tears to some who live in that 'paradise' and that within mainstream Christianity there is a better, more comforting doctrine on paradise earth?

In the discussion that follows your goal will be to carefully ask questions that gently reveal to the JWs that their paradise earth will NOT unite families but rather tear believing families apart, forever. Then you will gently inform them that there is a significant number of Christians, including some well-known prominent ones, who believe in a future paradise earth where believing families will be united and fellowship together forever in happiness. There will be no arguing, no Bible ping-pong, no persuading, just a complete undermining of the comfort they derive from their faulty teaching and the trust they have put in their leaders.
 

Goal

Your goal will be to inform the JWs that some mainstream Christians believe in the paradise earth and the JW view is inferior and quite sad in some cases.
 

Background information

 
This subject is not discussed much among Christians so most guess it must be false and tend to argue with the J-Ws. Actually the belief that Jesus will rule a populated paradise earth for 1000 years is taught among conservative evangelical Christians as in: Nelson's Introduction to the Christian Faith (1995), page 285 (article entitled "The Millennium" by Grant Osborne); Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth (1975) pages 164-167; David Jeremiah's Escape The Coming Night, Vol 4 pages 45-48, 71-72 (1994) and his radio show "Turning Point", and Heaven is a place on Earth by Michael Wittmer associate professor of systematic theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary (see 8/16/2004 Christianity Today).

Consider this quotation from Charles Stanley's Eternal Security (1990) pages 107-110:

"Our Final Home

"Most Christians believe their ultimate destiny is heaven. That is not true. Man's ultimate destiny is planet earth. When God created the heavens and the earth, He intentionally placed man on the earth. He could have put him in heaven. But God placed man here for a specific purpose: to rule over creation (see Gen. 1:28-31). The earth became man's responsibility. To make his job easier, God designed a body for man that is tailor-made for living and working on planet earth. 

"That was God's plan in the beginning, and nowhere in Scripture are we informed that His original plan has been altered. On the contrary, all of Scripture teaches that we are moving toward a time in which God's original plan will be fulfilled. 

"Our Temporary Home

. . . 

"When a believer dies, he or she goes immediately to be with the Lord (see 2 Cor. 5:6-8). Since we know from numerous passages that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, in heaven, it is safe to say that Christians go to heaven when they die (see Col. 3:1). . . . 

"But Christians do not stay in heaven forever. When Christ returns, He will establish a kingdom on this earth, a kingdom that will last for one thousand years (see Rev. 20:4). If, as Paul said, 'we shall always be with the Lord' when He returns, it makes sense that we will be included in this kingdom. Keep in mind, this is an earthly kingdom (see Rev. 20:7-8). So once again, believers will make their home on earth. 

"When the thousand years are completed, and Satan has been defeated once and for all, God will re-create the earth: [here is a quotation from Revelation 21:1-3]

"God will not only re-create the earth, He is planning to move in! Instead of men dying and going to heaven, John presents us with a picture of God packing up and coming to earth. The point is, after Christ returns, man is back on earth forever. Sin and death will be destroyed, thus erasing any potential division between man and his Creator. All in all, God's original plan will be fulfilled. 

"Think Again

". . . because heaven is just a stopover. Heaven is temporary. We are all coming back one way or another." 

Summary

You will gently introduce the subject of the biblical future for believers. Since your goal is to show the deficiencies of the JW view in comparison to how some Christians see it, yet without doing any teaching yourself which offends JWs, you will ask them to do all the explaining. Initially you will offer only a simple summary of the material and then ask them to explain the issue. You start by emphasizing aspects that are similar to the JW view and then, after the JW does some explaining, you mention the issue that highlights the deficiencies and sadness of the JW view.

You will reveal the disturbing issue by gradually asking questions. You plan your questions so that the JW will explain to you that young children can never go to heaven. After that the JWs will explain that some believing families will be separated eternally in two separate parts of the kingdom. The general flow is this:

After the JW comments on the troubling issues, you carefully ask about Matthew 19:13,14,16,27-29 and then Ephesians 3:15. Keep in mind you can only introduce a verse if you do it by asking questions. JWs often find it suspicious if a person can refer to more than one verse from memory so be careful whenever you present scriptures. You will want to write these verses either on a piece of paper that you will call your "notes" or write them in the margin of your Bible. You will ask the JWs how these verses support their view as contrasted with the Christian version.

In conclusion you will emphasize the emotional consequences of their JW belief and how it leads to sadness. You will contrast the Christian version of the paradise earth and show why it is more satisfying. Then you ask a final grabbing question. "If I were to hold to the more satisfying Christian version of the paradise earth would I be welcome in the JW religion?"
 

Sample conversation

Here is a sample conversation you might have with a JW:
 
 You I really enjoy discussing the Bible and comparing what different Christian groups believe. Some groups don’t like to discuss their beliefs and leave it to their Ministers to do that. How about you? Are you comfortable explaining your beliefs in contrast to what others believe? 
 JW Oh yes, we enjoy doing that.
 You I had read some things about what some Southern Baptists believe about the future  and it sounded interesting. I am curious as to how your beliefs compare. Would that be OK if I made some notes and compare your views with the views of others? . . .Let me get some paper so I can make some notes.
 You I have some paper here and also found my notes on what some others believe. I had read something a prominent Southern Baptist, Charles Stanley, wrote and he said some interesting things about the future for believers and I found that others believe it too. My notes say that Charles Stanley wrote in a book entitled "Eternal Security" that although a Christian goes immediately to heaven when he dies, the final home for all believers is to live on earth forever and this will be the kingdom of God. Have you heard of this before? (Or . . . I know you believe something like that.) What would you say about this view?
 JW We did not know anyone else believed that. We believe that the final home for the majority of mankind will be to live on a paradise earth forever. This will be the earthly part of the kingdom of God.
 You Will families be together in the kingdom?
 JW Oh yes, notice this picture here. It shows families being reunited in God's kingdom on earth. It will be a paradise and people will welcome family members back from the dead. Doesn't this look wonderful?
 You Yes. What if a family member was not a believer could they make it into heaven because the rest of the family is there?
 JW No. Only tested and faithful persons can go to heaven. Actually only 144,000 people will go to heaven. The majority of believing mankind will live on earth forever.
 You What about little children of Christian parents who live forever in  heaven, since infants cannot be believers, will they go to heaven or not?
 JW No, the children of believing parents will live on earth.
 You If they cannot go to heaven but must live on earth, who will care for them if their parents are in heaven?
 JW We don't know for sure. There will be many millions of adults on earth and some might even be relatives and could raise the children.
 You Since the infants will have parents in heaven, could the adults on earth have parents or relatives in heaven? 
 JW Yes, I suppose it could be possible that some adults would have relatives, either parents, siblings or grown children in heaven.
 You What about Joseph and Mary? Some of their children became believers but they could have had children who died as infants. In the kingdom where will each member of this family live? Where will Joseph live or Mary or the children?
 JW Since Joseph apparently died before Jesus did, Joseph will live on earth forever. Mary will be in heaven along with the grown children that died as faithful Christians. Any infants that died would be raised into the earthly kingdom.
 You So it sounds like all the many Christian parents who were persecuted and killed by Rome in the early centuries will spend eternity in heaven apart from their children on earth. Is that what you believe?
 JW Well, yes. Those who died faithful who were part of the 144,000 will be in heaven forever while those who are raised onto earth, if they stay faithful, will live there forever. Here let me show you how the Bible teaches this . . .
 You Oh, my. That viewpoint is a bit of a surprise. Forgive me for saying this but my first reaction to this is a little uncomfortable. But I would like to understand this better before I get the wrong impression. OK?
 You Before we get into WHY you believe these things, which we can do a bit later, I want to know first WHAT you believe. After I learn WHAT you believe we can go back over WHY you believe it. First let me learn WHAT you believe so I can put it together and ask good questions that compare your belief with what these others believe. To help me put this together, could you comment on one Bible passage for me? I know if you could comment on this one verse, or maybe two, I will see your point. Would that be OK?
 JW Sure.
 You The verse I would like to understand is Matthew chapter 19 starting about half-way through. Let me get my Bible . . . . Here it is, it is Matthew 19 starting about verse 13. When I read this I get the feeling that this is saying that the kingdom of heaven belongs to little children and that no one should hinder them from going into the kingdom of heaven. How do you see it?
 JW This is possibly referring to people who are like children, they are teachable and accept the Bible without arguing. Or maybe it refers to children entering the earthly part of the kingdom. I will need to check on this and get back to you.
 You When I continue reading down to verses 27-29, the context seems to imply that those who go to heaven will gain the relationships they lost in this life. For example it says that those who lost children will gain them in the kingdom. Is this talking about the people that go to heaven and what is it that they will gain?
 JW It is talking about those who will be in heaven but they do not literally get these things when they are in heaven. They only figuratively get children in that they rule over others who are like children to them.
 You So your view is that heaven does not truly belong to little children. And when Peter asked about those relationships that he and others lost, they won't really ever get those back. Peter was asking literally but Jesus answered figuratively?
 JW Yes that's right.
 You I see, then I had one more verse that if you comment on it I will understand your view. According to my notes here the verse is Ephesians 3:15. . . . [Read it.] What families in heaven is this talking about?
 JW I am not sure I will have to research this.
 You Ok, then summarizing this. It appears that in comparing these two views, these Southern Baptists and those who hold that view agree with you that people will live on earth in paradise forever but the difference is that while they believe godly families will be able to fellowship together and comfort one another, kind of like the pictures in your literature, you believe that some of these families will not be able to welcome their family members back because the families will be forever separated, some in heaven and some on earth. Is that how you see the difference?
 JW Yes, that seems to be the difference.
 You Oh, dear. Oh my. That sounds so very sad to me. That does not sound like a paradise to me. I can see why some people would hesitate to believe this doctrine of yours, it seems so sad. 

So what Bible verses lead you to conclude that some families will be eternally separated rather than this other view that says believers will initially go to heaven but later live on earth united with all their believing family? Do you have verses that indicate your interpretation is more correct than this other view?
 JW I cannot think of any verses that specifically show that point. I will have to research this.
 You If the Bible taught this sad doctrine then I would naturally believe it but I hope you can see why I would not choose it since it is so sad. Suppose I were to hold to the more satisfying Christian version of the paradise earth where believing families will be united forever in paradise, even families like Joseph and Mary, would I be welcome in the JW religion if I held that view?
 JW No, you would not be allowed to be a JW.
 You Oh dear. Oh that is so sad. I have never heard such a thing. If I held to your view of the future I would still be allowed to join some other church, even though there was this difference. Though they would probably wonder why I would choose such a sad view over the more satisfying view where families would be united in happiness forever. But they would still let me join. Yet if I believed the more satisfying Christian view you would not let me join your group unless I believed your sad interpretation. I hope you can see why I do not find your viewpoint attractive can't you?