Were You Embarrassed When Someone "at the door" Knew More About the Bible Than You Did?

by BabaYaga 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  BabaYaga

  It seems I often encountered "householders" who could rattle off examples of the Bible contradicting itself or go into a diatribe about the history of the bible. I never knew what to say... but of course I was trained to "know" we were still "right" regardless of their argument, and I somehow still managed to feel holier than thou and left the door feeling sorry for them (rather than foster any dangerous doubts!)

  Ah, memories. Ah, lessons in life!

  Now, I know so much more about the bible than I ever knew while witnessing about it! And that knowledge is still barely scratching the surface. I just know enough now to know we had no business witnessing about it.

  How about you? Did you ever feel that someone "at the door" might actually know more about the bible than you did? What did you feel, say, or do?
• 

  darth frosty

  It was rare it happened to me. The one that I remember most I recall being impressed. I looked at it like 'well he's on the right path eventually he may be a JW (ahh yes conditioning at its best ;-)
• 

  snowbird

  I remember getting into a discussion with a lady about John 8:58 - I AM.

  She referenced Exodus 3:14; I had nothing to say in rebuttal.

  That should have set off all kinds of alarms, but didn't.

  Sylvia
• 

  teel

  Ha, I wish my FS were that interresting as yours BabaYaga. I can't remember one instance when I met someone who actually had deeper Bible knowledge and wanted to talk about it. Most of the time all I got was people complaining about politics, economics, etc. and I had to reassure them that all this will soon end. That may be because of my country's communist background though.
• 

  JWoods

  My first realization that something was wrong was when a church of christ minister challenged me on the name Jehovah all through our NWT new testament. Way back in about 1969

  I then set out to do research to "prove" that the tetragrammaton had been in the original NT manuscripts all along.

  OOPS.

  Then I kind of confronted old GB member Schroeder about it at the overseer school.

  DOUBLE OOPS.

  Got sent off to do special research project for the weekend on ancient Russell stuff at the library in Pittsburgh, PA.
• 

  LongHairGal

  Yes, I met somebody like that years ago and it made me feel uncomfortable. I saw how JW logic just didn't work after a certain point and I couldn't wait to escape from his doorstep. I was relieved to walk away even though I felt rather stupid.

  Afterwards, I really asked myself if I actually believed in what I was preaching and if I actually SHOULD be preaching!
• 

  Judge Dread

  Never happened.

  Judge Dread
• 

  gubberningbody

  That never happened for me. Perhaps I'd have left if that was even possible.
• 

  EverAStudent

  LongHairGal wrote: "Yes, I met somebody like that years ago and it made me feel uncomfortable. I saw how JW logic just didn't work after a certain point and I couldn't wait to escape from his doorstep. I was relieved to walk away even though I felt rather stupid. Afterwards, I really asked myself if I actually believed in what I was preaching and if I actually SHOULD be preaching!"

  How did you answer yourself???? What did you say to yourself?????
• 

  LongHairGal

  EverAStudent,

  I had to answer "No" to those questions. I could not deal with this horrible reality and so I buried this issue in the back of my mind. But, like a cork held under water, it kept popping up.

  This bothered me for a long time and was the reason I hated field service and got so few hours in because it was torture. I also felt ridiculous in field service - like I was trick-or-treating (I should have been wearing a costume).

  Only when I found out the religion's scandals and hidden history in 2000 did I realize my instincts were right and it was then I began my 'fade' and felt no more guilt about hating field service.