how can Jehovah's Witnesses New World Translation of John 1:1 be right when it contradicts the Bible?

Question

John 1:1 states unequivocally, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Watchtowers Bible "And the word was a god."

it contradicts passages such as Deuteronomy 32:39, which says, "I alone, am God and there are no gods together with me." Further contradictions can be seen in Exodus 20:3, "Have no other gods besides me," and Isaiah 43:10, "Before me no god was formed nor shall there be any after me."

What reasoning is there to make another god when the Bible clearly says there is no other God?

Answer 1

Because they have to cover up the fact that Jesus IS God. Otherwise their whole belief system crumbles.

Answer 2

It should be noted that none of the complete Biblical texts survived long after the Apostles were killed. This is why the Nicean Council met. They were told to gather all the remaining fragments of the scriptures and get the religion back in order. They did the best they could, but the entirety of Jesus' gospel was lost. We were left with pieces. This is why we have so many denominations today. Every Bible is based on the work of the Nicean Council. As such, no Bible can truly say it is based on the scriptures as they were written by the apostles. It takes careful research, which they did, to come up with anything close to a translation. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls did help prove they frequently used of God's name. Of note, the term Bible is not found in the Bible.

Answer 3

First and foremost, Jesus said plainly that he was God. What people are fheailing to note is that in Greek the preposition *of* in the title "Son of God" doesn't even exist!! The actual translation should be rendered "Son-God" to give the Lord due justice.



So when the Lord Jesus said several times in the Gospels that He was the Son, he was affirming his position as the Deity.



That's why in John 10:30 and other passages the Jews took up stones to stone him for blaspheming that He was calling himself God. Note, He simply said "I and the Father are one" meaning one reality. Isaiah prophesies in 9:6 that the Son is called the Father.



You guys should check out Witness Lee's (famous Chinese Christian) exposition on the Triune-God he states that the Trinity is the means by which God dispenses Himself into man, it's not for mere doctrine, even Paul states this in 2 Cor 13:14



"The love of God, the grace of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

Answer 4

* "troll to troll" knows that the New World Translation rendering of John 1:1 is the correct rendering. But they'll never admit it.



It doesn't contradict the Bible.....that is why it is correct. You are quoting from the King James Version, which is not a correct Bible translation......it is a perversion and distortion of what is true.



John 1:1 states unequivocally: "In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god."



Consider what John further writes in chapter 1, verse 18: “No man has seen [Almighty] God at any time.” However, humans have seen Jesus, the Son, for John says: “The Word [Jesus] was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.” (John 1:14, KJ) How, then, could the Son be part of Almighty God? John also states that the Word was “with God.” But how can an individual be with someone and at the same time be that person? Moreover, as recorded at John 17:3, Jesus makes a clear distinction between himself and his heavenly Father. He calls his Father “the only true God.” And toward the end of his Gospel, John sums up matters by saying: “These have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.” (John 20:31) Notice that Jesus is called, not God, but the Son of God. This additional information provided in the Gospel of John shows how John 1:1 should be understood. Jesus, the Word, is “a god” in the sense that he has a high position but is not the same as Almighty God.



The April 22, 2005 "Awake" makes it very easy to understand:



"Bible verses that in the Greek language have a construction similar to that of John 1:1 use the expression “a god.” For example, when referring to Herod Agrippa I, the crowds shouted: ‘It is a god speaking.’ And when Paul survived a bite by a poisonous snake, the people said: “He is a god.” (Acts 12:22; 28:3-6) It is in harmony with both Greek grammar and Bible teaching to speak of the Word as, not God, but “a god.”—John 1:1"



- Considering that the term "god" does NOT always refer to Almighty God, yet can be a descriptive term for mighty ones.......and certainly Jehovah God's angels are mighty in power themselves......John 1:1 in the New World Translation does not contradict the other scriptures such as Deuteronomy 32:39, Exodus 20:3, or Isaiah 43:10.



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People, Wally does NOT know who translated the New World Translation. As we know, that committee has remained anonymous. All he is doing is spewing the same Anti-JW hate rhetoric that many others around the Religion & Spirituality forum do. Notice that he completely ignores how he's been proven wrong, and focuses his attention on the comments that aren't too elaborate?



The ones who changed and twisted the Bible to fit their false doctrines (as the Bible scholar community readily attests to) are the translators of the King James Version. It's common knowledge that they blatantly added wording to scriptures such as 1 John 5:7, 8 in order to support the false religious doctrine of the "trinity".

Answer 5

Good cut-and-paste job. But your premises are wrong.



John 1:1 was written in Greek, not English. "The Word was God" is an English translation.



That is not "unequivocably" what the Greek says.



Dr. William Barclay, a noted Greek scholar, wrote this about John 1:1:



"John is not here identifying the Word with God. To put it very simply, he does not say that Jesus was God." ("Many Witnesses, One Lord," pages 23, 24)



Dr. Jason BeDuhn, another Greek scholar, has written in his book, "Truth in Translation," that the NWT's rendering of John 1:1 is correct and faithful to the original Greek text.



It is only people with their own theology to promote who cast aspersions on the New World Translation.



Most of what you say is pure nonsense. Please provide proof that you have personal, first-hand knowledge about it, and are not just parroting what other people have said in their own ignorance.

Answer 6

The Bible calls these faithful ones gods: Moses, angels, Jesus.



There is no contradiction. The problem is that those verses from Deuteronomy and Isaiah need to be understood in their context. Also, the historical and cultural aspects have to be taken into consideration. The ancient biblical concept of monotheism is different from the modern western version of monotheism.



JWs and the NWT follow the ancient, biblical concept of monotheism.

Answer 7

First, read Psalm 82:1-6 which refers to the judges of Israel as "gods" because they were representatives of Jehovah and were to speak His law. This makes a great deal of sense when reasoned with John 1:1.



I love the imagination of apostates when it comes to the translation of the NWT.

Answer 8

It is not Jehovah's Witnesses who are misinterpreting the scriptures. Because the Bible says their is only One God does not mean there aren't others. God is a title. Almighty God is not the only one who is called god. (See 1 Cor 8:5) Although there are many that are called gods in heaven (angels) and on earth (pagan deities) there is to us only One God, the creator, out of whom are all thing. All things are THROUGH Jesus but not OUT of Jesus. Jesus is one of those called gods.



Almighty God also stated in the Old Covenant that besides him there is no savior...well guess what, there are many saviors also. What God is saying is that he is the principal savior the source of all salvation. God was not saying that is the only savior. God's salvation comes THROUGH men raised up by him as saviors. Some bibles use the word deliverer which is a synonym for savior. Eg., God's salvation comes to us THROUGH Jesus Christ his Son. God's salvation in past times came to the Jews THROUGH men like Moses, Samson as well as other Judges of Israel. They were saviors or deliverers.



I am a Jehovah's Witness.

Answer 9

Trinity. Some leading Collegiants, influenced by Socinian beliefs, rejected the Trinity. For instance, Daniel Zwicker (1621-78) wrote that any doctrine contrary to reason, such as the Trinity, was “impossible and false.” In 1694 a Bible version translated by Collegiant Reijnier Rooleeuw was published. It rendered the latter part of John 1:1: “And the word was a god” instead of the orthodox rendering: “And the word was God.”

Answer 10

Deuteronomy 7;16,2 corinthians 4;4 Daniel 3;18 , Judges 2;17, 1 Corinthians 8:5 "There are many lords and many gods but there is only one true god", you did not do your homework.

Answer 11

TO QUOTE ABAKALS MISSION -



The most revealing evidence of the Watchtower's bias is their inconsistent translation technique. Throughout the Gospel of John, the Greek word “theon” occurs without a definite article. The New World Translation renders none of these as “a god.” Just 3 verses after John 1:1, the New World Translation translates another case of "theos" without the indefinite article as "God." Even more inconsistent, in John 1:18, the NWT translates the same term as both "God" and "god" in the very same sentence.



Two things are incorrect in this paragraph alone -



1) "just three verses after John 1:1"



My NWT does not CONTAIN the word GOD in any form. I checked both verses 3 and 4.



2) "in John 1:18, the NWT translates the same term as both "God" and "god" in the very same sentence"



I checked The Interlinear Bible in Hebrew/Greek/English for John 1:18. The Greek does not show "theon" being used in both instances, and therefore the distinction between God and a god is correct.



Interlinear Bible printed by Sovereign Grace publishers, Lafayette, IN.



What needs to be recognized is that the NWT was NOT the first Bible to recognize this distinction made in John 1:1.



Jehovah's Witnesses did not pave the way and make up a Bible to fit the theology/religion.



This information had been presented by Bible scholars in various translations LONG before the NWT was even thought of.



Please verify your research.

Answer 12

The Bible says “I alone, am God and there are no gods together with me” Notice it uses the words I & AM. That alone should tell you that God is ONE person and NOT THREE. You never use I am for 3 persons, otherwise you are blind.



It is actually your false teaching that is against the Bible.





Notice too, that Jehovah is called “God of gods” , it doesn’t mean that the other gods do not exist.Just like saying “King of kings” the other kings do exist. If you also say that “Jesus is my best friend”, it doesn’t’ mean that the “Father” Jehovah, and other human friends are false friends.



Why is Jehovah called “God of gods” acc to Deut 10:17? If the “gods” are all false gods, then are you saying that Jehovah is the God of “false” gods? Someone cannot be called God of “gods” if these other “gods” do not exist same as saying King of kings if other kings do not exist.



Isa 44:6 states that there is no other God besides him.

- This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and the Repurchaser of him, Jehovah of armies, ‘I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.





This means that there is no other God, who is Almighty, and the Repurchaser. Notice the phrase it used, “I AM” and “ME”. DO you use the phrases “I am” and “ME” for THREE PERSONS? The phrase “I am” is not used for THREE PERSONS and to ONLY ONE PERSON.



Because it uses the phrase "I am" AND “ME” AND “NO GOD BESIDES ME” in Isa 44:6, so there is no room for OTHER persons who are part of God, isn't it? So Isa 44:6 PROVES that God is only ONE PERSON, not THREE



IF only one person is talking in Isa 44:6 and he said “Besides ME, there is NO GOD” then if there’s still TWO OTHER PERSONS who is God, then you are saying that God is telling a lie.



If Jesus said “I AM THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD” the usage of “I AM” THERE PROVES THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE “BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD” and NOT THREE. That ALSO PROVES THAT JESUS IS ONE PERSON THAT IS ONE BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD.



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Isa 63:16 - 16 For you are our Father; although Abraham himself may not have known us and Israel himself may not recognize us, you, O Jehovah, are our Father.





Even the most knowledgeable of the early Christian Greek-speaking scholars, Origen (died 254 A.D.), tells us that John 1:1c actually means "the Word [logos] was a god". - "Origen's Commentary on John," Book I, ch. 42 - Bk II, ch.3.



In many Bibles, the first part of Jn 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word,"

Regarding John 1:18 ,



The word “god” is defined in www.m-w.com as



capitalized : the supreme or ultimate reality: as a: the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe



So notice, that if it refers to the Almighty God, the Creator, the word “God” is capitalized, whether or not it has a definite article “the” or not.



Jesus said “My God” so he basically says “My creator and ruler of the universe, My Supreme being”





Notice how other translations render the text as well :



Notice, too, how other translations render this part of the verse:

1808: “and the word was a god.” The New Testament in an Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome’s New Translation: With a Corrected Text.

1864: “and a god was the word.” The Emphatic Diaglott, interlinear reading, by Benjamin Wilson.

1928: “and the Word was a divine being.” La Bible du Centenaire, L’Evangile selon Jean, by Maurice Goguel.

1935: “and the Word was divine.” The Bible—An American Translation, by J. M. P. Smith and E. J. Goodspeed.

1946: “and of a divine kind was the Word.” Das Neue Testament, by Ludwig Thimme.

1950: “and the Word was a god.” New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures.

1958: “and the Word was a God.” The New Testament, by James L. Tomanek.

1975: “and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word.” Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz.

1978: “and godlike kind was the Logos.” Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider.







John 1:1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. Is the word “god” here wrongly translated? Notice this example.



In the pre-Christian times was the human judge, and the human judge was [walking] with [the] God, and the human judge was [God or god]?







JWs believe that Jesus is the only Begotten Son of God, our King and Lord and Savior, the Christ, the Word, and was born of virgin birth thru Mary. Jesus is the Son of God who became flesh. Jesus as the Word has been with God in the beginning. John 1:1 didn’t say that the Word, is “BEFORE the Beginning” but used the word “IN”, thus bound by that time, which is the “in the beginning”.



Here are the Bible texts that proves that Jesus was created.



1.

John 5:26 states “For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted also to the Son to HAVE LIFE in himself”.

John 6:57 – “… and I LIVE because of the Father”.

Life (eternal life and life to exist) was given by the Father to Jesus, the Son.

2. For Trinitarians, the Son and Father relationship has no beginning. But Heb 1:5, that the Son and Father relationship has a beginning. Notice it uses the words “today” and “I have become”

In Heb 1:5 it states "You are my son; I, TODAY, I have become your father"?.



3. Here’s another Bible text that proves that the Father created Jesus. Notice it uses the words “This day” and begotten/made to prove that the Son has a beginning.

Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten(Gennao) thee. Acts 13:33



The word begotten in Greek is gennao. It means “to be born” –Strong’s dictionary defines this as procreate (properly of the father, but by extension of the mother); figuratively to regenerate: - bear, beget, be BORN, BRING FORTH, conceive, be delivered of, gender, MAKE, spring.



At Acts 13:33, it states the Father “has MADE/BRING FORTH” the Son. This verse talks about the relationship of God to his Son whom he MADE/BROUGHT FORTH (Gennoa).



4. We have to note that Jesus calls his Father, My God. www.dictionary.com defines God also as “one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe”

, ‘I am ascending to my Father and YOUR Father and to my God and YOUR God.’” - John 20:17

So basically, Jesus said “My God” means “My Supreme Being and CREATOR”

Answer 13

There is only ONE Almighty God.



Lots of 'gods'.



Jesus is a Mighty God. Also he is referred to as the Word.



Jesus was the beginning of Jehovah's creation, the first one so he was there at the beginning of creation.



He was WITH God (note our two translations both say the Word was with God - how could Jesus be WITH God and at the same time BE God? If you are with something you are not also that thing are you?)



Jesus is a god meaning that he is mighty and powerful. We as Jehovah's Witnesses, while not worshipping him as God, have deep respect, awe, and appreciation for him. We see him as our King, our Redeemer and our perfect role model. He is a god, but not THE God.

Answer 14

The Watch Tower well knows that the correct translation of John 1:1 is, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."



The reason the Watch Tower gives is false. The grammical rule is an invention.



A real and true student of God's Word should in minimum go to "The Emphatic Diaglott" and read the word for word translation.



It should be clear unless a person practices self deception and Cog. Dis. The sentence structure of John 1:1 is unique. The translation is based in both words and structure. When read in the Greek there is no doubt. There is no other place that the Holy Spirit makes it so clear. The Watch Tower continues to espouse coptic and gnostic teachings that are demonically inspired.

Answer 15

Is it really so that the Bible speaks of only one god? No. The Bible unequivocally states that there are other gods. Some of those gods are even named. Eight verses in the Hebrew scriptures speak clearly of Dagon, the god of the Philistines. I direct your attention to Judges 16:23, 1 Samuel 5:2, and 1 Chronicles 10:10, just to name three. False gods, yes. But gods nonetheless.



The Hebrew scriptures also speak of Baal literally dozens and dozens of times. Why, Judges 2:13 describes God's own people worshipping Baal so that – according to verse 14 – Jehovah God's anger blazed against them!



Furthermore, the apostle Paul, under inspiration, describes three different divine persons at 2 Corinthians 4:4 when he states that " the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." King James Version. It should be readily apparent to any Bible reader that the 'god of this world' is neither Christ (spoken of a few words later) nor Jehovah God (spoken of a few words after that). In both cases here, the Greek word 'theos' is used to describe both the god of this world and God himself.



Moreover, still under inspiration, the apostle Paul pointed out that there are many gods and many lords. "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) . . ." 1 Corinthians 8:5. King James Version



Finally, our Lord Jesus himself, in his masterful defense against the religious leaders' baseless charges, clearly pointed out that his heavenly father acknowledged other gods. At John 10:34-36, Jesus said: "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" King James Version. Here, Jesus is quoting from Psalm 82:6 where God himself refers to humans as gods – or divine ones. If we deny the words of Jesus and of God, are we not calling them liars?



Since it is written in God's word the Bible that there are many gods, since the scriptures cannot be broken, and since one scripture cannot be suffered to contradict another, how is it you accuse Jehovah's Witnesses of contradicting the Bible? Is it not you who contradicts the Bible?



Hannah J Paul

Answer 16

It's a mistranslation. But so is what is in your Bible. I have yet to see any commercially available translation get it right.



For the record, πρός τόν Θεόν does NOT mean "with God," but "toward God." It is a Greek idiom that means "pertaining to God." (The KJV correctly translates the same idiom in Heb. 2:17)



Here's what the first two verses of John say, correctly translated from Greek:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word pertained to God, and the Word was God. This pertained to God in the beginning.

Answer 17

I have to disagree with you. If you look in the King James version, then you will find a contradiction - within the same page! I know because I have it right by me, as well as our version!



You are quoting from the Old Testament, when Jesus was in heaven with his father. However, in the New Testament, in effect Jesus was a god to the people. He performed miracles that could only come from some wonderful power and he says so himself that it came from His Father.



Our bible actually gets it right, even if people insist on disagreeing. Even outside sources have agreed that ours is the closest to the original!

Answer 18

And Yankee fan answered too.

Answer 19

nd according to You wally ....Jesus is his own father ...God almighty and his son at the same time....



Before me no god was formed .....no other God almighty....that is why trinity is false that teach that also Jesus is almighty......only Jehovah is almighty.....Jesus is not almighty according to John 14:28





But don't worry Wally.....every single day more people are watching how false is the confusing concept that Jesus is his own farther God almighty

Answer 20

John 1:1, "The word was a god"



In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. The New World Translation



God was the word in GreekThis is one of the most common verses of contention between the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christians. Their false assumption is that Jesus is not God in flesh, but Michael the archangel who became a man. Therefore, since they deny that Jesus is divine, they have altered the Bible in John 1:1 so that Jesus is not divine in nature. The New World Translation has added the word "a" to the verse so it says, "...and the Word was a god." The correct translation for this verse is "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." This is how it is rendered in the NASB, NIV, KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV, etc.



The New World translation is incorrect in its translation of this verse for several reasons. First of all, the Bible teaches a strict monotheism. To say that Jesus is "a god" is to suggest that there is another god besides YHWH, which is contrary to scripture (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8, etc.). Of course, the Jehovah's Witnesses will respond that Jesus is not the Almighty God, but a "lesser" kind of God. He is the "mighty God" as is referenced in Isaiah 9:6, "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders, and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Therefore, they say that Jesus is the mighty god, but not the Almighty God.



The immediate problem with this explanation is that YHWH is also called the Mighty God in Jeremiah 32:18 and Isaiah 10:20. In all three verses, including Isaiah 9:6, the Hebrew word for "mighty" (gibbor) is used.



* Isaiah 10:20-21, "Now it will come about in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 21A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God."

* Jer. 32:18, "who showest lovingkindness to thousands, but repayest the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God, the LORD of hosts is His name."



We can see that the Jehovah's Witness explanation is not valid. Both the Son and God are called the Mighty God.



Furthermore, how many actual gods are there in scripture? The obvious answer is that there is only one God in existence. Though there are others who have been falsely called gods (1 Cor. 8:5-6) or even said to be "as God" like Moses (Ex. 4:16; 7:1), there is only one real God (Gal. 4:8-9; Isaiah 44:6,8). If Jesus is "a god" that was "with God" in the beginning, then is Jesus a true god or a false god?



But, the Jehovah's Witnesses often claim that Jesus is a god in the sense that Moses was called a god. But, Moses was not called a god. Rather, he would be "as God."



* "Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and it shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him, (Exodus 4:16).

* "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet,'" (Exodus 7:1).



Why was Moses going "as God" to Pharaoh? Because Moses was given the authority and power to display powerful miracles that decimated much of Egypt. Was Moses really a god? Being "as God" in regards to power given to perform miracles over Egypt is not the same thing as being called "a god" that was in the beginning with God, (John 1:1).



John was a strict Jew, a monotheist. Does the Jehovah's Witness really think that John would be saying that there was another God besides Jehovah, even if it were Jesus? Being raised a good Jew, the apostle John would never believe that there was more than one God in existence. Yet, he compared the word with God, said the word was God, and that the word became flesh (John 1:1,14).



John 1:1 in a literal translation reads thus: "In beginning was the word, and the word was with the God, and God was the word." Notice that it says "God was the word." This is the actual word-for-word translation. It is not saying that "a god was the word." That wouldn't make sense. Let me break it down into three statements.



1. "In beginning was the word..."

(en arche en ho logos)

1. A very simple statement that the Word was in the beginning.

2. "and the word was with the God..."

(kai ho logos en pros ton theon)

1. This same Word was with God.

3. "and God was the word." -- Properly translated as "and the Word was God."

(kai theos en ho logos)

1. This same Word was God.



Regarding statement 3 above, the correct English translation is "...and the Word was God," not "and God was the word." This is because if there is only one definite article ("ho"="the") in a clause where two nouns are

Answer 21

The New World Translation (NWT) is defined by the Jehovah's Witnesses’ parent organization (The Watchtower Society) as "a translation of the Holy Scriptures made directly from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into modern day English by a committee of anointed witnesses of Jehovah." The NWT is the anonymous work of the “New World Bible Translation Committee.” Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the anonymity is in place so that the credit for the work will go to God. Of course this has the added benefit of keeping the translators from any accountability for their errors, and prevents real scholars from checking their academic credentials.



The New World Translation is unique in one thing – it is the first intentional systematic effort at producing a complete version of the Bible that is edited and revised for the specific purpose of agreeing with a group's doctrine. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watchtower Society realized that their beliefs contradicted Scripture. So, rather than conforming their beliefs to Scripture, they altered Scripture to agree with their beliefs. The “New World Bible Translation Committee” went through the Bible and changed any Scripture that did not agree with Jehovah’s Witness’ theology. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that as new editions to the New World Translation were published, additional changes were made to the biblical text. As biblical Christians continued to point out, Scriptures that clearly argue for the deity of Christ (for example), the Watchtower Society would publish a new edition of the New World Translation with those Scriptures changed. Following are some of the more prominent examples of intentional revisions.



The New World Translation renders the Greek term word "staurós" ("cross") as "torture stake" because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross. The New World Translation does not translate the Greek words “sheol,” "hades,” "gehenna," and "tartarus," as "hell” because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in hell. The NWT gives the translation "presence" instead of “coming” for the Greek word “parousia” because JW’s believe that Christ has already returned in the early 1900’s. In Colossians 1:16, the NWT inserts the word “other” despite it being completely absent from the original Greek text. It does this to give the view that “all other things” were created by Christ, instead of what the text says, “all things were created by Christ.” This is to go along with their belief that Christ is a created being, which they believe because they deny the Trinity.



The most well known of all the New World Translation perversions is John 1:1. The original Greek text reads, “the Word was God.” The NWT renders it has “the word was a god.” This is not a matter of correct translation, but of reading one's preconceived theology into the text, rather than allowing the text to speak for itself. There is no indefinite article in Greek (in English - "a" or "an"). So any use of an indefinite article in the English translation must be added in by the translator. This is grammatically acceptable in English, so long as it does not change the meaning of the text.



There is a perfectly good explanation for why "theos" has no definite article in John 1:1 that does denies the New World Translation rendering. There are three general rules we need to understand to see why.



1. In Greek, word order does not determine word usage like it does in English. In English, a sentence is structured according to word order: Subject - Verb - Predicate. Thus, "Harry called the dog" is not equivalent to, "The dog called Harry." But in Greek, a word's function is determined by the case ending found attached to the word's root. In this verse, there are two case endings for the root "theo" . . . one is "s" (theos), the other is "n" (theon). The "s" ending normally identifies a noun as being the subject of a sentence, while the "n" ending normally identifies a noun as the direct object.



2. When a noun is functioning as a predicate nominative (in English a noun that follows a "being" verb such as "is") its case ending must match the noun's case that it modifies, so that the reader will know which noun it is describing. Therefore, "theo" must take the "s" ending because it is modifying "logos." Therefore, John 1:1 transliterates to: "kai theos en ho logos." Is "theos" the subject or is "logos"? Both have the "s" ending. The answer is found in the next rule.



3. In cases where two nouns appear, and both take the same case endings, the author will often add the definite article to the word that is the subject in order to avoid confusion. John put the definite article on "logos" (the Word) instead of "theos." So "logos" is the subject, and "theos" is the predicate nominative. In English, this results in John 1:1 being read as: "and the Word was God," (instead of "and God was the word").



The most revealing evidence of the Watchtower's bias is their inconsistent translation technique. Throughout the Gospel of John, the Greek word “theon” occurs without a definite article. The New World Translation renders none of these as “a god.” Just 3 verses after John 1:1, the New World Translation translates another case of "theos" without the indefinite article as "God." Even more inconsistent, in John 1:18, the NWT translates the same term as both "God" and "god" in the very same sentence.



The Watchtower, therefore, has no hard textual grounds for their translation—only their own theological bias. While New World Translation defenders might succeed in showing that John 1:1 can be translated as they have done, they cannot show that it is the proper translation. Nor can they explain the fact that that the NWT does not translate the exact same Greek phrases elsewhere in the Gospel of John the same way. It is only the pre-conceived heretical rejection of the deity of Christ that forces the Watchtower Society to inconsistently translate the Greek text, thus allowing their error to gain some semblance of legitimacy to those ignorant of the facts.



It is only the Watchtower's pre-conceived heretical beliefs that are behind the dishonest and inconsistent translation that is the New World Translation. The New World Translation is most definitely not a valid version of God’s Word. There are minor differences between all the major English translations of the Bible. No English translation is perfect. However, while other Bible translators make minor mistakes in the rendering of the Hebrew and Greek text into English; the NWT intentionally changes the rendering of the text to conform to Jehovah’s Witness’ theology. The New World Translation is a perversion, not a version, of the Bible.

Answer 22

Many people object to the NWT rendering of John chapter 1 verse 1 claiming that is should read "and the word was God" however, since the verse itself says that the word was "with" God then, that same word could not be "God".



Further the greek word for "God" is certainly different from the greek word "god" θεός . Many translators use such words as “a god,” “divine” or “godlike” because the Greek word θεός (the‧os′) is a singular predicate noun occurring before the verb and is not preceded by the definite article. This is an anarthrous the‧os′.



God

In John 1: 1 the first mention of "God" was originally is designated here by the Greek expression ὁ θεός, that is, the‧os′ preceded by the definite article ho. This is an articular the‧os′. Careful translators recognize that the articular construction of the noun points to an identity, a personality.



The Word

In the second part of John 1: 1 (speaking about The Word) we have a singular anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb, this points to a quality about someone. John’s statement that the Word or Logos was “a god” or “divine” or “godlike” does not mean that he was the God with whom he was. It merely expresses a certain quality about the Word, or Logos, but it does not identify him as one and the same as God himself.



In the Greek text there are many cases of a singular anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb, such as in Mr 6:49; 11:32; Joh 4:19; 6:70; 8:44; 9:17; 10:1, 13, 33; 12:6. In these places translators insert the indefinite article “a” before the predicate noun in order to bring out the quality or characteristic of the subject. Since the indefinite article is inserted before the predicate noun in such texts, with equal justification the indefinite article “a” is inserted before the anarthrous θεός in the predicate of John 1:1 to make it read “a god.”



http://www.witnessoftruth.com/articles/trinity/john-1-1-word-was-god.html

Answer 23

God, three in person, one in essence. When they deny the deity of Jesus from eternity past, then they fail to be anything Christian.

Answer 24

The big book of Christian mythology is nothing more than bullshit, who cares if another version of bullshit conflicts with the first? In the end, you have two versions of conflicting bullshit, so I ask you, who really gives a shitt?

Answer 25

since they'r eboth myth, asking which is correct is flawed reasoning...