Shortly after I was saved, a little over 10 years ago, a Jehovah's Witness team of two knocked on my door! Having been fooled for so many decades by the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, I was now on the defensive and warded them off when they presumed to tell me there is no such thing as the Trinity! I cordially invited them to never grace my doorway again!
Years later as I stood on my porch chatting with my mailman, here comes this diminutive person I recognized as being Nancy, "not wanting to offend" me, but wanted to invite me to a Passover service at their Kingdom Hall! I was so amused by her meekness, I accepted the pamphlet she handed me, and promised I would attend.
The "service" was nothing like I expected, the sermon being even more quizzical! Their rationale intrigued me when it came to the "communion," which was passed around but no one could partake of it. It's reserved for the "elect!" I also accepted the offer to "study" their bible with them!
I felt nothing but admiration for the zeal with which these people dedicate themselves to their mission! I felt nothing but embarrassment at how I, and so many more, were so willing to sit back and do nothing to promote the word of God, albeit we are saved!
Years later as I stood on my porch chatting with my mailman, here comes this diminutive person I recognized as being Nancy, "not wanting to offend" me, but wanted to invite me to a Passover service at their Kingdom Hall! I was so amused by her meekness, I accepted the pamphlet she handed me, and promised I would attend.
The "service" was nothing like I expected, the sermon being even more quizzical! Their rationale intrigued me when it came to the "communion," which was passed around but no one could partake of it. It's reserved for the "elect!" I also accepted the offer to "study" their bible with them!
I felt nothing but admiration for the zeal with which these people dedicate themselves to their mission! I felt nothing but embarrassment at how I, and so many more, were so willing to sit back and do nothing to promote the word of God, albeit we are saved!
The Kingdom Hall had a schedule of everyone participating in the upkeep of the building as well as the grounds, all of which were immaculate! Wow, again!
Nancy, I noticed, meticulously kept up with the hours she would put into her "work" on a tablet! It seemed she and all the others had to account as to how much time they spent in the pursuit of their mission.
Thus it was that I came to "know" many through the "socializing" that was done at the different homes I attended for my studies. Through this socializing it became evident to me that, that which they presumably believed and taught was not what they applied to their own lives!
Whereas they opposed government, elections, courts, they were not shy to avail of such to further their own ambitions be it through work, one as a Housing Inspector, another in a Legal Aid office, or suing someone: four cases I met within the extremely small group of people I came to know, to include one who ducked out of being in a Jury by carrying with him a bible from which he'd quoted (the Housing Inspector), while his wife was in a lawsuit due to a car accident injury... What frauds!!
Well, some three months of it taught me all I needed to know about this cult! And a cult it definitely is, their every moment to have an accounting! Very sad, for I met some lovely people, the cleanest ever, respectful of others, polite to the extreme. Their fellow-shipping is something to be envied: they are genuinely close, with frequent gatherings in which all participate, to include the games with the children!! Yes! I was envious of such equilibrium!
I read somewhere that convention centers love it when they rent out to the Jehovah's Witnesses for they know that the building and the grounds will be returned to them in immaculate condition!
The text "THE WORD WAS GOD" (John 1:1) has been a problem for four presidents of Jehovah's Witnesses. Charles Taze Russell (founder) thought he found relief when in 1876 N.H. Barbour, an Adventist, introduced him to Wilson's EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT. Mr. Wilson never studied Biblical Greek in a college. He was a follower of John Thomas who not only denied basic Biblical doctrine but founded his own religion called the "Christadelphians." Neither Thomas nor Wilson believed "THE WORD WAS GOD."
In the interlinear feature of his EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT Wilson placed the words "a god" under the Greek word for "GOD" theos. In contradictory fashion, however, Wilson's regular translation feature showed the John 1:1 Greek word "theos" to be translated "the LOGOS was God."
N.H. Knorr, third Jehovah's Witness president & F.W. Franz, the future fourth Jehovah's Witness president, realizing the deficiency of the DIAGLOTT, then decided to translate their own Bible called THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Neither Mr. Knorr nor Mr. Franz had ever academically studied Biblical or koine Greek. Franz did not graduate from any college nor did he receive a Rhodes Scholarship as he had claimed.
Besides Knorr & Franz, the rest of the NEW WORLD translation committee consisted of Jehovah's Witness "Governing Body" members Milton Henschel, Albert Schroeder & G.D. Gangas. None of these men were Greek scholars or even proficient in the Biblical languages.
Their "TRANSLATION" imposes John 1:1 with "the Word was a god" thus "creating" a second "god." Their KINGDOM INTERLINEAR for John 1:1 says "god was the Word." By this methodology, the Jehovah's Witnesses could force the Biblical text to agree with their preconceived ideas that Jesus was not God Almighty in human flesh but rather simply a created angel named Michael who Jehovah God recreated as a man who eventually ceased to exist after death on a torture stake (rather than a cross).
The Jehovah's Witness leadership, wishing to justify their "translation," turned for support to a man named Johannes Greber who had done his own translation of the Bible called "THE NEW TESTAMENT." Jehovah's Witness publications such as "MAKE SURE OF ALL THINGS", pages 5 & 489, 1965 revision, "AID TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING", pages 1134 & 1669, 1971 edition, "Watchtower" magazines: 9/15/1962, page 554, 10/15/1975, page 640, 4/15/1976, page 231; see also "Watchtower" February 15,1956 all which confirm the reliability of Johannes Greber.
What Jehovah's Witnesses don't say until their April 1, 1983 "Watchtower" is that Greber translated his "Bible" via his spiritistic medium wife who was allegedly in contact with good angels (see Greber's other book entitled, "COMMUNICATION WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD OF GOD"). The Jehovah's Witnesses liked Greber simply because his "translation" rendered John 1:1 the same as theirs despite what Deuteronomy 18:9-14 says about communication with "familiar spirits."
What do actual Greek scholars think of the Jehovah's Witness translation of the Bible? Dr. Julius R. Mantey, who is even recognized by the Jehovah's Witnesses as a Greek scholar in their own publications, says of the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION, "a GROSSLY MISLEADING TRANSLATION. It is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1:1 'the Word was a god.' But of all the scholars in the world, so far as we know, none have translated this verse as Jehovah's Witnesses have done."
Dr. Paul L. Kaufman (Portland, OR) says, "The Jehovah's Witness people evidence an abysmal ignorance of the basic tenets of Greek grammar in their mistranslation of John 1:1." Dr. Charles L. Feinberg (La Mirada, CA) says, "I can assure you that the rendering which the Jehovah's Witnesses give John 1:1 is not held by any reputable Greek scholar."
The list could go on & on with scholars such as Bruce M. Metzger (Princeton Theological Seminary), Dr. J.J. Griesback, Dr. Eugene A. Nida, Dr. William Barclay, Dr. Ernest C. Colwell, Dr. Harry A. Sturz, etc. all saying the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION by the Jehovah's Witnesses is unreliable & untrustworthy. Scholastic dishonesty is the best description for the Jehovah's Witness bible as they attempt to rewrite the Bible into their own peculiar brand of religious ideas.
The Jehovah's Witness' own book, "AID TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING" perhaps explains why they have produced this NEW WORLD TRANSLATION bible, when on page 1060, under the definition for a LIE they say, "Lying generally involves saying something false to a person who is entitled to know the truth and doing so with the intent to deceive or to injure him or another person."
Jeremiah 11:14
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whenever I encounter such a thing—I speak right up and tell them to speak english….that is what our tax dollars paid for with the English as a second Language crud…..I am not shy—they are in our country, in our businesses and unless they are in court and completely fail to understand what is happening should they be given an interpreter—-why make it so easy for these rude people….when they speak it around me I turn and say something to them in Choctaw Indian……they usually shut up right away, then in plain english I tell them that they are in MY country—–
ReplyDeleteBeing saved?
ReplyDeleteThat is tantamount to "being pregnant!"
You either are or you are not!!
It is the corrupt versions that have it as "being saved!"
The correct translation is in the King James Bible, God perfect word for the English-speaking peoples:
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us WHICH ARE SAVED it is the power of God.
2 Corinthians 2:15
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, IN THEM THAT ARE SAVED, and in them that perish: