What About The New World Translation
Jehovah's Witnesses have their own translation
of the Bible, which they call the New World Translation. Is it accurate?
Should Christians use it in discussing the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses?
The New World Translation differs
from other translations in some rather startling ways. For example,
in over 200 times in our New Testament - what they call the Christian
Greek Scriptures - the New World Translation has substituted the word
"Jehovah" in place of the word "Lord" which, of course, appears in the
Greek text. In several passages in which Jesus is called "God" the text
has been mistranslated, notably John 1:1, which is made to say that
"the Word was a god." In Colossians 1:16-17, which says that "all things"
were created through Christ, the New World Translation adds the word
"other," making it say that "all other things" were created through
Christ. These are just a few examples of their mistranslations.
Thus, most biblical scholars who have written
on the subject have now concluded that the New World Translation is
doctrinally biased and is the work of amateur translators.
In dealing with Jehovah's Witnesses on the
teachings of the Bible, three different strategies may be used. First,
one may ask the Jehovah's Witness to agree to use a different translation
for the purpose of discussion.
Second, one may keep the discussion to passages
in the New World Translation which are not mistranslated (that is, if
you find any). For example, in discussing the deity of Christ, John
20:28 and Isaiah 9:6 are unambiguous, or clear, even in the New World
Translation.
Finally, for those of you who have some knowledge
of the Greek language, the Watchtower book called the Kingdom Interlinear
Translation can be used to show Jehovah's Witnesses the blatant mistranslations
in the New World Translation.
Whatever strategy is used, don't let Jehovah's
Witnesses get away with assuming that their translation is the only
acceptable version of the Bible. It is, in fact, a most unacceptable
version. By all means be sure to pray that God, through the power of
the Holy Spirit, will see fit to transform the lives of those who even
now are trapped in the deceptions of the Watchtower.
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