Mirriam Jolie

After learning that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not worship Jesus or believe in the Holy Trinity, I was intrigued. The theologian in me began to wonder if this movement was a true religion. Since one of my co-workers is a Witness, she agreed to help me understand the religious doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses. After talking to … Read more

Last year one of my mentees asked about Bethel. Since I had lived with with my Jehovah’s Witness uncle who had worked at Bethel and I had learned more about it in theology school, I gladly shared everything I knew. Seeing the great curiosity among my mentees, I decided to write an article about it. … Read more

Recently, I had a casual chat with members in our online forum about how to tell a person’s church from their dress code. One member wanted to know more about the dress code of Jehovah’s Witnesses, saying he had never encountered one. Since I had interacted with them so many times during my research project … Read more

A friend recently shared that he plans to throw a New Year’s party. However, he was concerned that inviting his sister, an ardent Jehovah’s Witness, would offend her. So he sought my opinion on whether Jehovah’s Witnesses celebrate the New Year. We met for coffee, and based on my theology background, I helped him understand … Read more

During a Bible study, someone asked about the prayer practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He shared that he recently entertained two Witnesses at his home. The missionaries shared about their faith and, in the end, offered to pray. He was surprised when one of them prayed in Jesus’ name, given all he’d heard about them. I … Read more

I realized so many people misinterpret Jehovah’s Witnesses’ beliefs after our online forum started a debate on whether this religious group believe in God. While some members said that this denomination believes in God, others argued that they do not. Since I lived with a former believer of Jehovah’s Witnesses and had extensive knowledge about … Read more

Tattoos are a controversial subject among believers. So, I wasn’t surprised when a student asked whether Jehovah’s Witnesses can have tattoos. This was during a discussion about beliefs held by religious communities. He was convinced that Witnesses who had tattoos were excommunicated. His question sparked an interesting debate, which split my class into two camps. … Read more

During my time in theology school, our lecturers always encouraged us to gain a holistic perspective of the faith, which meant reading different Bible versions. I became interested in the Jehovah’s Witness bible when one of my classmates mentioned that is was inaccurate. While many deemed this translation controversial, I found it so fascinating that … Read more

I recently learned that a colleague from work is a Jehovah’s Witness. We usually say a short prayer to close our staff meetings on Monday. This colleague was sitting next to me last week, and I noticed that she didn’t bow her head or join in the prayer. When she and I were assigned a … Read more

Last year, while celebrating Thanksgiving, I had a strange encounter with Jehovah’s Witnesses who knocked at our door. I remember answering the door, and three members from the religious sect started preaching to me and persuading me to join. Since I have extensive knowledge of Biblical studies, I disagreed with some of their beliefs respectfully … Read more