How to Get Jehovah’s Witnesses to Listen

I am a philosophy and religion professor at McPherson College in Kansas. I heartily applaud you for the outstanding material on your website, which I came across after having a two-hour long conversation with two JWs on the subject, “Who is Jesus?” last Tuesday. I kindly asked them if they would present their best reasons why Jesus was created, after which I would present my best reasons why Jesus is God. Even though they obliged, they would not allow me to discuss the “Should You Believe In the Trinity?” brochure’s fabricated quotations of the Early Church Fathers. I feel like these fabricated quotations are the “smoking gun” that should shatter the Witnesses’ trust in the Watchtower. So my question is: How do I get JWs to look at the PDFs of what the Early Church Fathers wrote and the online search engine of the Fathers’ writings, so that they can see that not a single phrase the brochure attributes to the Fathers comes from them?

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Thank you for writing. You’re in a tough spot because your conversation started with a “prove me wrong” tone. This can immediately paint you as an opponent in their eyes—someone “against” their faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses typically avoid debate, and this kind of confrontational start puts them on the defensive.

Additionally, JWs are trained to be suspicious of any outside attempt to challenge the Watchtower. They’re taught that all opposition is influenced by Satan, so when someone questions their beliefs, they often see it as a spiritual attack. That’s why I take a very low-key, non-confrontational approach and only start showing facts after building some rapport and gauging whether the person is truly open-minded.

A good first step is to use their own materials—from their official website, JW.org. If you begin with photocopies, they might think you fabricated them. Instead, use your phone to pull up the source directly from their site and show it to them. Ask them to verify it on their own device. Here’s a link to one such brochure:

“Is It Clearly a Bible Teaching? What the Ante-Nicene Fathers Taught”
https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Should-You-Believe-in-the-Trinity/Is-It-Clearly-a-Bible-Teaching/

Once they trust that you’re using their own materials (not “apostate” or anti-JW sources), you can cross-reference the same quotes from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2 – Clement of Alexandria, available at:

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.html

It might take time to find the exact quotes, but if you can show the context and compare it with what the Watchtower presents, it builds credibility. Bring photocopies or pages from my book as backup—only after showing them the online sources—so they can see you’re sincerely researching, not attacking.

Keep in mind: many JWs aren’t in the organization because of doctrinal conviction, but because of family, friends, or fear of shunning. For them, even considering contrary evidence can feel like risking their entire social world. You’ll quickly discover how honest someone is based on whether they’re willing to examine their own materials objectively.

At the door, most JWs are looking to see if you’re teachable—not someone who questions everything. They typically aren’t interested in “proofs,” because they didn’t join based on deep research—it was relational. Some want to believe they have the truth regardless of evidence. Unless a person is willing to question, they’re unlikely to go beyond polite conversation.

You can’t force anyone to see what they don’t want to see—but you can stir curiosity. That’s why I use thought-provoking questions like: