Why Did I Write the Watchtower and the Word?
Last year I published a book called The Watchtower and the Word, both in print and Kindle. It would be fair to ask about my reasons for writing such a book.
I will say that I did not write the book out of intolerance toward Jehovah’s Witnesses. I support the right of individuals to belong to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower to exist as a religious organization. I have no personal feelings against either the individuals or the organization. Religious freedom either exists for all or it exists for none.
So why would I write this book? Both Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christians claim the Bible as their principle text. Because of this common tradition, I see an invitation for each group to critique our beliefs according to the Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses should hold Christian beliefs up to the Bible and Christians should do the same thing with Jehovah’s Witness beliefs.
The key is to do this with respect. When I wrote The Watchtower and the Word, I tried to do that by imagining how a Jehovah’s Witness would read it. Of course they would not like it as it disagrees with their beliefs, but my hope was they would at least appreciate the spirit in which it was written.
I have had a number of people comment about the irenic tone of the book. They mentioned that this felt like a different way of doing apologetics. Of course I am not the first to do this. Many apologists write with peace and respect.
I say all this to explain why I wrote the book. I don’t hate Jehovah’s Witnesses. Rather I appreciate the fact that we both rely on the Bible and I take that as an invitation for a biblical discussion.
