I was in the KH once with my wife and carrying my NIV and started to get some unwanted attention from the witnesses. One asked to see my bible and flipped to the book of john , right to chapter one and she was “ The word was a god, not god “. She was a real uber bitch type.
I then asked her to explain the book of John and what makes it different than the other gospels ?
She looked at me like she had seen a ghost.
I later went on to explain to her how the book of john unlike the other gospels deals with the issue the person of Jesus Christ and who he really was. I started to point out to her some of the I AM statements and old testament quotes and who the author thought Jesus was.
She just walked away and later told the elders.
I am hardly a theologian but I think it is good to study the bible in terms of context and audience. It’s not a matter of passing or failing. It to have enough brains to know when someone is creating dogma by cherry picking verses.