Hey NeverKnew,
It is great that you are reaching out to your friends and trying to rescue them from a spiritual prison they mindlessly believe is a spiritual paradise.
Many have observed questions work better than statements, in getting people to think for themselves.
Some great Bible books have been mentioned. However they are made useless by the Watchtower imposed framework. To break out of this we need to introduce a new framework. We do this by getting them to focus on one topic whilst reading these specific books in the Bible.
It is the MAP in scripture which leads people away from the Watchtower (religion) to Jesus (relationship).
This map is known as the unabridged (full) gospel message. Watchtower religionists refer to this MAP as the "Good News".
Possibly some well placed, well considered and well timed questions can get them to start focusing on the MAP and help them to note just how unfamiliar they are with it.
Such as:
- Would you be willing for us to focus on one topic?
- Is it OK if this topic was "the good news"?
- Would it be OK if we used mainly the Bible?
- Would it be OK if we used mainly Paul's writings (Romans to Hebrews)?
- How many times does the wt library refer to "publishers of the good news"? (157 times plural publishers, 100 times singular publisher, wt lib 2010)
- Are you a "publisher of the good news"?
- How long have you been a "publisher of the good news"?
- Can you explain to me what the gospel is in one word? (message)
- Can you explain to me what the "good news" is in one word? (message)
- How many times does the NWT refer to "good news"? (use wt lib, and http://wol.jw.org, select "Bible" for search results, remember to use inverted commas for phrase searches, eg "good news")
- How many times does Paul refer to "good news"?
- Please can you explain the "good news according to Paul" from your heart?
- Please can you write down the explanation you have just given on paper (with today's date)?
- If the "good news" is a map, have you missed any important markers in your description?
- If the "good news" is a medicine, have you missed any important ingredients in your description?
- Can we read the scripture passages where Paul speaks about "good news" (starting in Romans)?
- How do you feel about a "good news" that includes an ingredient called "salvation"?
- How do you feel about a "good news" that does not include an ingredient called "salvation"?
The last two questions can over time be repeated with more ingredients, one-by-one:
- A saviour
- A high-priest
- Deliverance/liberation
- A deliverer/liberator
- Reconciliation/atonement
- A reconciler/atoner
- Restoration (Physical, Emotional, Ethical, Mental, Moral, Spiritual)
- A restorer
- Jesus as our "older brother" (search wt lib for - Jesus/Christ "older brother", see also Heb 2:11)
- Sonship (those calling God "father" are claiming to be his sons)
- Justification (imputed righteousness, a right standing is imputed as a "free gift" by "unmerited favour")
- Sanctification (imputed holiness, a clean standing is imputed as a "free gift" by "unmerited favour")
- Jesus' birth
- Jesus' death
- Jesus' burial
- Jesus' resurrection
- Jesus' ascension
- Jesus' ransom (paid to for our legal release from the authority of our step-father Satan in the greatest legal custody battle ever)
- Forgiveness (imputed sinlessness)
- Faith (a wide opening of our spiritual eyes)
- Repentance (awareness of dysfunction, conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit)
- And so on... (yes there are more ingredients to this message of liberation)
When they are ready to go even deeper you might also examine:
- The "good news according to Moses"
- The "good news according to Isaiah"
- The "good news according to Psalms"
- The "good news according to John"
- And so on...
BTW the above semi-innocuous method gives them lots to think about without having to deal with much more confronting translation errors in their "perfect" translation.
Even deeper specific issues (religion vs the gospel):
- Law vs grace (unmerited favour, undeserved kindness)
- Is "legalism" apostasy? (rule-making and rule-keeping)
- Is "moralism" apostasy? (living by an external moral code instead of having our internal consciences/compasses/hearts recalibrated through circumcision by Holy Spirit)
- Is "ethnocentrism" apostasy? (dissecting peripheral doctrines and creating supremacist groups around certain interpretations)
- Is Gnosticism apostasy? (pursuing knowledge about God and Christ, instead of knowing them in a relationship, referred to by some as "Christless Christianity", see John 17:3 NWT vs KIT)
- Faith vs works ("Salvation is by faith alone, but not by faith that is alone". Works of the law, versus, works of faith.)
- The antithetical relationship between religion's "message of death" published in Eden, and God's response the "message of salvation".
- The antithetical relationship between religion's "message of enmity" published in Eden, and God's response the "message of reconciliation".
- The antithetical relationship between religion's "message of bondage" published in Eden, and God's response the "message of deliverance".
- The antithetical relationship between religion's "message of decay" published in Eden, and God's response the "message of restoration".
BTW again, apostasy is not dissent against religion, but rather spiritual unfaithfulness, adultery, fornication or prostitution against our heavenly father by embracing religion (practices and beliefs about God), instead of the "unabridged gospel" message (a relationship with God).
My best wishes and prayers are with you and yours on this very courageous, brave and compassionate jailbreak mission.
Greetings and blessings
Fernando
(ex born-in, left mid-2009, after 4 decades and 4 generations, to pursue the "good news" instead)
South East Queensland, Australia
