New World Translation An "Abomination"

This article alerts readers to the mistranslations and doctrinal bias found in the Jehovah’s Witnesses' New World Translation of the Bible.

The Watchtower Bible (New World Translation) used by "Jehovah's Witnesses", is regarded by many language experts and theologians as an abominable assault against the Bible. They understand it was translated by those who were incompetent to deal with the original languages, has changed significantly in its theology over the years, has altered key Bible verses to conform them to Watchtower theology, lies about its use of brackets (then evidently removed them in their online version at jw.org), etc.

1) Real language scholars roundly condemn the NWT.

As Rhodes notes, Dr. Julius Mantey, who penned A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, labeled the New World Translation as

“a shocking mistranslation.” (Mantey 30)

Dr. Bruce M. Metzger, the late New Testament professor at Princeton University, described the New World Translation as

“a frightful mistranslation,” calling it “erroneous,” “pernicious,” and “reprehensible.” (Bruce Metzger, Theology)

Dr. William Barclay pointed out that

“the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is evident in their New Testament translation… It’s glaringly obvious that a group that translates the New Testament in such a way is intellectually dishonest.” (Barclay 1953)

Dr. Robert Countess, who authored a doctoral dissertation on the Greek text of the New World Translation, found that the translation

“has failed significantly in preventing doctrinal biases from influencing the translation… It must be seen as an extremely biased work. At some points, it’s outright dishonest; at others, it’s neither modern nor scholarly.” (Countess, 91)

British scholar Dr. H.H. Rowley criticized the translation, stating,

“From beginning to end, this volume stands as a prime example of how not to translate the Bible.” (ibid.)

Rowley also referred to this translation as

“an insult to the Word of God.” (ibid.) (Rhodes 24-27)

2) The NWT was translated by incompetent and biased JW's.

Again, Rhodes observes:

The translators of the New World Translation were not experts in biblical languages. The Watchtower has been notably resistant to disclosing the identities of the translation committee members. The official stance was that the translators wished to remain anonymous and humble, attributing all glory to God. However, such anonymity also blocks verification of their credentials.

When former high-ranking member Raymond Franz disclosed the identities of the translators in his book Crisis of Conscience—Nathan Knorr, Frederick Franz, Albert Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton Henschel—it became clear that the committee was ill-equipped for the task (Franz, p. 50, note 15).

Out of the five committee members, four had no training in Hebrew or Greek and merely possessed high school diplomas. The fifth, Frederick Franz, claimed proficiency in Hebrew and Greek. Yet, when tested under oath in an Edinburgh courtroom, he failed a basic Hebrew test (Martin 124). Franz had left the University of Cincinnati after his sophomore year, having not pursued any theological studies even then (Rhodes 25).

3) The NWT has changed significantly in its theology over the years:

One notable shift pertains to the Watchtower Society's stance on worshipping Jesus. Initially, the Watchtower Society supported the worship of Jesus. For instance, an early edition of The Watchtower magazine from 1880 stated,

“to worship Christ in any form cannot be wrong” (The Watchtower 1880).

A few years later, a 1898 issue asserted,

“Yes, we believe our Lord Jesus while on earth was really worshipped, and properly so. While he was not the God, Jehovah, he was a God” (ibid. 1898).

However, the narrative took a turn in 1959 when The Watchtower magazine cautioned,

“Do not erroneously conclude that Christians are to worship Christ; that is not what he taught” (ibid. 1959).

By 1964, the magazine declared unequivocally that

“it is unscriptural for worshipers of the living and true God to render worship to the Son of God, Jesus Christ” (ibid. 1964).

This doctrinal evolution is mirrored in the translations of the New World Translation. For example, the 1961 edition of this Bible translated Hebrews 1:6 as,

“But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: ‘And let all God’s angels worship him’ ” (emphasis added).

In stark contrast, the 1971 edition changed the wording to,

“But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: ‘And let all God’s angels do obeisance to him’ ” (emphasis added, Rhodes 24-27).

4) The New World Translation has been altered to align with Watchtower beliefs:

To demonstrate, let's examine how the Watchtower Society translates Colossians 1:16,17.

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (NIV).

The Jehovah's Witnesses' version of this verse suggests that Christ was the first creation of the Father, who then used Christ to create everything else in the universe. The New World Translation states,

"By means of him all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all other things and by means of him all other things were made to exist" (jw.org) (The NWT shows brackets here)(Watchtower Bible and Tract Society 409).

Note, here, that although Rhodes shows them still using brackets for the word "other", the NWT online at jw.org has evidently removed them. So now they appear to be pretending that these words they have inserted are actually in the original languages.

The insertion of the word "other" four times into Colossians 1:16,17 has no basis in the Greek texts. This translation, biased by design, aims to support the heterodox Watchtower doctrine that portrays Jesus as a created entity, not as God Almighty. However, the truth in Colossians 1:16 is clear: Christ created “all things.” Hence, Christ cannot himself be a created being (Rhodes 27).

By contrast, Isaiah 44:24 shows that Jehovah made all things by Himself, not through the agency of someone else. In this verse, God declares,

"I, the LORD [Yahweh], am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone" (NASB, emphasis added).

This statement that Yahweh made everything "by Myself" and did it "all alone" clearly contradicts the idea that Yahweh created Jesus first and then made everything else through Him. Since Isaiah 44:24 refers to Yahweh as the sole creator of the universe, and other scriptures like John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16 call Jesus the creator, it strongly suggests that Jesus is indeed God (Rhodes 24-27).

5) The New World Translation lies about its use of brackets:

The introduction to the New World Translation claims that some words are added in brackets to smooth out the reading experience in English, without altering the text's original meaning. Yet, adding the word "other" to Colossians 1:16,17 significantly changes the scripture's meaning. The Watchtower Society's aim here is clear: they want to present Jesus as a created figure, not as God Almighty. Interestingly, in the 1950 version of the New World Translation, these four instances of "other" in these verses didn't have brackets, making it seem like the word was part of the original Greek text. It wasn't until 1961, after evangelical scholars pointed out this distortion, that brackets were included to indicate these were additions. Now, on their website, it looks like they have removed the brackets altogether (jw.org) (Rhodes 24-27).

Suffice it to say that the NWT (New World Translation), is an assault on the real Bible, that was written by men who were not competent to translate from the original languages. It has changed over the years, and always in such a way as to accommodate Watchtower doctrines.

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Sources

William Barclay, The Expository Times, November 1953.

Jerry and Marian Bodine, Witnessing to the Witnesses (Irvine, CA: n.p., n.d.), pp. 39-40.

Robert Bowman, Understanding Jehovah’s Witnesses (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991), p. 66.

Robert H. Countess, The Jehovah’s Witnesses New Testament (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1982), p. 91.

Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience (Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1983), p.50, note 15.

jw.org. "Colossians 1 | Online Bible | New World Translation". Jw, https://jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/colossians/1/. Accessed 25 April. 2024.

Julius R. Mantey, cited in Erich and Jean Grieshaber, Exposé of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Tyler: Jean Books, 1982), p. 30.

Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Minneapolis: Bethany, 1974), p. 124.

Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), p. 409.

Rhodes, R. (2001), The 10 most important things you can say to a jehovah’s witness. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, pp. 24–27.

The Watchtower. "JWS Online Library". Jws-library, 1 Mar. 1880, https://jws-library.one/?file=data/1880/w_E_18800301/w_E_18800301.html. Accessed 25 April. 2024.

ibid. Jws-library, 15 Jul. 1898, https://jws-library.one/ file=data/1898/w_E_18980715/w_E_18980715.html. Accessed 25 April. 2024.

The Watchtower. "JWS Online Library". Jws-library, 1 Mar. 1880, https://jws-library.one/?file=data/1880/w_E_18800301/w_E_18800301.html. Accessed 25 April. 2024.

ibid. "JWS Online Library". Jws-library, 15 Jul. 1898, https://jws-library.one/?file=data/1898/w_E_18980715/w_E_18980715.html. Accessed 25 April. 2024.

ibid. "Do You Really Accept the Teachings of Christ? ". Wol, 15 Jul. 1959, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1959521. Accessed 25 April. 2024.

ibid. "Questions From Readers ". Wol, 01 Nov. 1964, pg. 671, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1964807. Accessed 25 April. 2024.