--- title: Admonish Him as a Brother — The Verse That Undoes Shunning url: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/shunning-admonish-as-brother/ markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/shunning-admonish-as-brother.md type: argument perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching topics: [Practice, Authority] challenges: [Salvation Requires Works and Organisation Membership, Disfellowshipped Members Must Be Completely Shunned] verses: [2 Thessalonians 3:14, 2 Corinthians 2:6, Matthew 18:17, 2 Thessalonians 3:15, 1 Corinthians 5:11, Matthew 9:10, Matthew 9:9, Matthew 11:19, Galatians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:2, 2 John 10, 1 Corinthians 5:1, 2 Corinthians 2:5, 2 John 7, 2 Thessalonians 3:6] strength: Very Strong tone: Good attribution: GotQuestions; Mike Winger; Apologia Studios (Clay Frye); PMC/NIH study (2022); JWFacts (primary Watchtower sources); 1947 Awake! p. 27 added: '2026-04-04' last_reviewed: '2026-04-04' index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt --- # Admonish Him as a Brother — The Verse That Undoes Shunning *2 Thessalonians 3:14–15 / 2 Corinthians 2:6–8 / Matthew 18:17* ## Doorstep Question > "In your Bible, 2 Thessalonians 3:15 says to 'continue admonishing him as a brother.' How can someone do that if they are not allowed to speak to the person at all?" ## JW Claim Shunning is a loving provision based on 1 Corinthians 5:11, 2 John 10, and Matthew 18:17. It protects the congregation from spiritual contamination, motivates the wrongdoer to repent, and upholds Jehovah's name. Those who are disfellowshipped or who disassociate have broken their dedication to Jehovah, and limiting contact encourages them to return. ## Strategy This argument targets the biblical foundation of the shunning policy using the Watchtower's own Bible against it. Lead with Scripture, not organisational criticism. 1. Open their NWT to 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15. Verse 14 is the one the Watchtower cites: 'stop associating with him.' But read verse 15 aloud together: 'And yet do not consider him an enemy, but continue admonishing him as a brother.' Ask simply: 'How can you continue admonishing someone as a brother if you are forbidden from speaking to them?' This is the decisive moment — their own NWT directly contradicts the total-shunning policy in the very next sentence. 2. Show that biblical discipline was temporary. Turn to 2 Corinthians 2:6–8, Paul's follow-up to the 1 Corinthians 5 case. The man repented, and Paul writes: 'The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him. So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.' Paul treated discipline as a brief measure with urgent restoration — not a multi-year reinstatement process where repentant people sit in the back row being ignored by their own families. 3. Use the 'tax collector' question. Matthew 18:17 says to treat the unrepentant person 'as a tax collector.' Ask: 'How did Jesus treat tax collectors?' He ate with them (Matt 9:10–11), called one as an apostle (Matt 9:9), and was criticised for being their friend (Matt 11:19). Following Jesus's own example of how he treated tax collectors would mean the opposite of total shunning. 4. Expose the scope problem in 1 Corinthians 5. Paul lists specific sins: sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, verbal abuse, drunkenness, swindling. Having doctrinal questions is not on the list. Accepting a blood transfusion is not on the list. Eating lunch with a disassociated friend is not on the list. The Watchtower applies this passage far beyond its scriptural scope. 5. Address 2 John 10 in context. The full letter identifies the subject as itinerant teachers promoting antichrist doctrine (v. 7: those 'refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh'). This is a specific warning about travelling false teachers, not a policy for every family member who has doubts. 6. If appropriate, mention the 1947 contradiction. The January 8, 1947 Awake! (p. 27) called excommunication 'altogether foreign to biblical teachings' and of 'pagan' origin. Five years later, the Watchtower introduced the very practice it had condemned. This is powerful but use it as a secondary point — lead with Scripture, not organisational history. ## Key Insight The Watchtower's own NWT of 2 Thessalonians 3:15 says 'continue admonishing him as a brother.' You cannot admonish someone you refuse to speak to. The very verse the organisation uses to justify shunning contains the instruction that makes total shunning impossible. ## JW Responses & Counters ### Response 1 **JW says:** "The Bible says not to even eat with such a person (1 Corinthians 5:11)." **Counter:** That passage lists specific sins — sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, verbal abuse, drunkenness, swindling. Which of those sins did Raymond Franz commit by eating lunch with a friend? Where does Scripture say asking questions or reaching a different doctrinal conclusion is grounds for expulsion? The Watchtower applies a passage about gross immorality to people whose only offence is sincere disagreement. ### Response 2 **JW says:** "2 John 10 says not to even greet them." **Counter:** Read the full letter. Verse 7 identifies the subject: people who refuse to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh — itinerant teachers of antichrist doctrine. That is a specific warning about travelling false teachers, not a blanket policy for a family member who has doubts or who quietly withdraws from the congregation. ### Response 3 **JW says:** "Jesus said to treat them as a tax collector (Matthew 18:17)." **Counter:** How did Jesus himself treat tax collectors? He ate with them (Matt 9:10–11), called Matthew to be an apostle (Matt 9:9), and was publicly criticised for being a 'friend of tax collectors and sinners' (Matt 11:19). If we follow Jesus's own example of how he treated tax collectors, we would do the very opposite of shunning. ### Response 4 **JW says:** "Shunning is discipline out of love — it motivates people to return." **Counter:** Read 2 Thessalonians 3:15 in your own NWT: 'continue admonishing him as a brother.' You cannot admonish someone you refuse to speak to. And 2 Corinthians 2:6–8 shows Paul treated discipline as temporary — he urgently told the congregation to 'forgive and comfort him' and 'reaffirm your love.' A multi-year reinstatement process where your own family ignores you is not what Paul described. ### Response 5 **JW says:** "People are free to leave whenever they want." **Counter:** Technically yes, but at the cost of losing every friend and family member. Even Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson acknowledged at the Australian Royal Commission that leaving is 'a personal decision' — but when the consequence is the destruction of every relationship you have, it is not a free decision. Galatians 5:1 in your own NWT says 'do not let yourselves be confined again in a yoke of slavery.' ## What to Avoid Do not call the organisation a cult — the word will end the conversation instantly. Do not tell the JW they are 'trapped' — it will feel condescending. Instead, ask questions that let them see the tension for themselves. Lead with Scripture, not organisational criticism. Many JWs have disfellowshipped family members they are secretly grieving — approach the topic with genuine compassion. ## Homework Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 in the NWT until you can quote verse 15, "continue admonishing him as a brother," from memory and show that it follows directly on verse 14. Then read 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 and 2 Corinthians 2:5-8 together so you can trace Paul's case from discipline to "forgive and comfort him." Read 2 John 7-11 so you know who verse 10 is about. Practise the doorstep question aloud, gently, remembering they may be grieving someone. Prepare for the 1 Corinthians 5:11 reply with the list of sins Paul names, and for Matthew 18:17 with Matthew 9:9-11 and 11:19. ## Next Moves - [No Honourable Exit — Trapped by the Threat of Shunning](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/no-honourable-exit.md) - [Organisation Above Scripture — When the Green Book Becomes Black](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/organisation-vs-bible-authority.md)