Expert: D.S - 8/7/2009

Question
QUESTION: Dear sir,
I am not allowed to ask a follow up question. But i am not happy with your answers. Pls clearly explain me how you believed that witnesses teachings is the best teachings. How you believed that Bible has only the Gods views. Bible was written by humans with a culture. That mean cultural influences are there.
thank you
Nalaka


ANSWER: Its not easy to reject what you believed to be truth,the old expression the truth hurts is a true statement,Nalaka let me ask you a question suppose you were shocked to learn you were going in the wrong direction on a trip and given the right course would you feel unhappy because you thought you were going in the right direction? perhaps one may feel frustrated at the time waisted
but at learning now you are headed correctly you should then feel happy.

Religion is an emotional subject and we tend you be steadfast in our faith primarily because we learn this from scripture,but our quest should be for truth not who is right.

We should be willing to examine and reason on scripture and compare.Yes all believers think they have the truth but when faced with contradictions should we be unhappy? No,we should want to learn more.How can we determine who really has the truth today?

A basic principle in determining the true from the false was laid down by Jesus when he said:

(Matthew 7:16-17) 16 By their fruits YOU will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 17 Likewise every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit;. . .

There would have to be “fruitage,” or evidence that God’s holy spirit was indeed backing this religious beliefs. And what kind of fruitage would that power of God produce in his servants? His Word answers: “The fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control.

The book of Gal mentions the “fruit” listed first was that of love) Love for God is shown in a number of ways. One of these ways is in loving the name of God.

To answer your question :

"Pls clearly explain me how you believed that witnesses teachings is the best teachings".

Look at these translations about what God told Moses;

(Exodus 3:13) . . .Nevertheless, Moses said to the [true] God: “Suppose I am now come to the sons of Israel and I do say to them, ‘The God of YOUR forefathers has sent me to YOU,’ and they do say to me, ‘What is his name?’

New World Translation [Jehovah's Witness]

(Exodus 3:15) . . .This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to YOU.’ This is my name to time indefinite. . .


King James Version
15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations

When the witnesses showed me this I was curious as to why the name Jehovah was omitted,I learned
that the word LORD or God is not a name these are titles so to say Gods name is God or Gods name is LORD is deceptive,the question is why?

If Jehovah did not want men to pronounce his name, he could have explicitly forbidden it. However, nowhere does the Bible forbid the proper use or the pronouncing of his name. Faithful men of Bible times used his name freely.


Many modern scholars and Bible translators advocate following the tradition of eliminating the distinctive name of God. They not only claim that its uncertain pronunciation justifies such a course but also hold that the supremacy and uniqueness of the true God make unnecessary his having a particular name. Such a view receives no support from the inspired Scriptures, either those of pre-Christian times or those of the Christian Greek Scriptures.The title “God” is neither personal nor distinctive (one can even make a god of his belly;


(Philippians 3:19) . . .and their finish is destruction, and their god is their belly,. . .

In view of this evidence it seems most unusual to find that the extant manuscript copies of the original text of the Christian Greek Scriptures do not contain the divine name in its full form instead Gods name as I showed is said to be LORD.Did Jesus and his disciples use the divine name in speech?

(John 5:43) 43 I have come in the name of my Father, but YOU do not receive me; if someone else arrived in his own name, YOU would receive that one.

(Matthew 6:9) . . .let your name be sanctified. . .

(John 17:6) . . .I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world. . .

Gods name is Jehovah so Jesus made this clear yet today most religions exalt Jesus teaching Jesus is God.Only Jehovah's Witnesses use Gods personal name and are engaged in preaching what Jesus predicted:

(Matthew 24:14) 14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come. . .

Every Church preaching Jesus fail in this scripture,the Gospel is not the death burial and ressurection but the good news is of the Kingdom as Jesus says here only the witnesses preach the kingdom world wide.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear sir,
Problems of your answers  I noted is that you never gave direct answers for my questions. You only outlined the sentences of Bible and did not gave direct answers for my question about cultural influences on Bible. Pls give me clear answer for the question that how you believed that witnesses teachings are the best teachings. What are the methods you used for this conclusion.    
Nalaka

ANSWER: Instead of focusing on the cultural influences you need to give clear reasons why you have problems with my conclusions and rejecting church teachings in favor now of Jehovah's Witnesses.
In your next response comment on the structure of my answer as to why this is not the truth ,as to the methods ,I use clear reason ,example: I had problems with the New World Translation that the witnesses use as it renders text differently than KJV and most other common translations.
One such difference I noticed was where Jesus’ words to Mary as rendered in the King James Version

“Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” Then he told her to go tell the disciples about his resurrection and coming ascension

The witnesses version reads quite different;

(John 20:17) 17 Jesus said to her: “Stop clinging to me. For I have not yet ascended to the Father. But be on your way to my brothers . . .

Now I was perplexed why the word "clinging" was translated when Jesus said for her not to touch him,I looked at other translations and discovered he did say clinging;

Amplified Bible:

Jesus said to her, Do not cling to Me

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Don't cling to Me," Jesus told her

The Message
17Jesus said, "Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.


After looking at this simple account I wondered why most translations incorrectly say for Mary not to touch him obviously he couldn't have told her this in view of the fact later that same day Thomas who doubted him was told by Jesus he could touch him and he had still not yet ascended.

This may be insignificant to some but not to me I wondered how many other passages give a completely different thought than what was intended and I discovered there are many many more
so the question then was is this deliberate by the translators designed to mislead,on the surface it could be said this was just a honest mistake but looking more closely at other verses
it is clear tampering:

The familiar account at John 8:1-11 (Authorized Version) about an adulterous woman about to be stoned, and that reports Jesus as saying, ‘Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.

This was not in any early manuscripts, so later editions of the Bible have removed it or put it in a footnote to refine the Bible text.

In more serious cases, tampering had been done with the text to support a false teaching, such as at

1 Timothy 3:16.

God was manifest in the flesh,

If true then Jesus is God,but the correct text as Jehovah's Witnesses pointed out to me is :

“He who was manifested in the flesh"If the first is, it would appear that Jesus is God, contrary to passages that say he is God’s Son.

In older manuscripts the words for “God” and “who” (masculine) were similar (—who, masculine) (—God). Recent manuscripts usually had  or the equivalent. But in the manuscript found by Tischendorf it is , or “who,” referring to Jesus, not God. A scribe had changed the term so it read “God.” The Alexandrian manuscript of the fifth century made me wonder if it was an innocent mistake. At first glance, it appeared to be , but by examination with a microscope it was found to have been originally , and ‘a much later hand’ added the lines to change it. Recent versions have refined the text by reading properly, “He who was manifested in the flesh.



Holman Christian Standard Bible:

He was manifested in the flesh

English Standard :
He was manifested in the flesh


American Standard Version:

He who was manifested in the flesh.

I learned these apparent errors from the witnesses and being a pastor for many years
never knew I was teaching falsely,so instead for focusing on cultural differences you you be more interested in learning the truth.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear sir,
Witnesses bible may be consistence with the real bible. But it is not my question. I want to know that why do you believe that bible (real) has only God's views.
thank you
Nalaka

Answer
The New World Translation is not considered the witness bible its a translation that is the most accurate today,in fact it was compared to every known translation according to Cordwell"Truth in Translation and finished first:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R70L58IK6XY0D

Truth in Translation:
Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament

The New World Translation was deemed the most overall accurate within the verses/words analyzed with the New American Bible second with the King James dead last.

Earnest Colwell ranks our NWT,with 64 points
out of 64 as the best New Testament in English.

In his book:

"What Is The Best New Testament" University of Chicage Press, 1951.

Jehovahs Witnesses English Translation
The New World Translation scored Best
against 52 other translations.


Where did The King James Version rank with Colwell?


According to Colwell,

"No scholar today employs this text for any scholarly purpose except as he may use it in writing the history of the Greek New Testament. The King James version is undoubtably the most inaccurate English New Testament in common use today...The King James stands at the bottom of the list also in regard to three spurious passages selected as tests (Mk 16:9-20; Jn 7:53-8:11 and 1 John 5:7-8)." pp. 99, 100



Below are the 64 scriptures that Colwell uses to determine accuracy in a New Testament.


TR = Textus Receptus
WH = Westcott and Hort [used by Jehovahs Witnesses]




:15 TR This was he of whom I spake
WH For it was he who said it

1:18 TR the only begotten Son
WH the only begotten God

1:27 TR He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me
WH He is to come after me

1:28 TR Bethabara
WH Bethany

1:39 TR Come and see
WH Come and you will see

1:49 TR Nathanael answered and saith unto him
WH Nathanael answered

1:51 TR Hereafter ye shall see heaven
WH you will see heaven

3:15 TR That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life
WH That whoever believes in him may have eternal life

3:25 TR between John's disciples and the Jews
WH between John's disciples and a Jew

4:15 TR come hither to draw
WH come all this way to draw

4:35-36 TR they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth
WH they are white for harvesting. The reaper is already

4:42 TR is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world
WH is indeed the Saviour of the world

4:43 TR departed thence, and went into Galilee
WH went on to Galilee

5:2 TR Bethasda
WH Bethzatha

5:3 TR a great multitude
WH a multitude

5:3-4 TR waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a
certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever
disease he had.
WH omitted

5:12 TR Take up thy bed, and walk?
WH pick it up and walk?

5:16 TR persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because
WH persecute Jesus because

5:30 TR of the Father which hath sent me
WH him who hath sent me

6:11 TR he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were
set down
WH he distributed to them that were set down

6:17 TR Jesus was not come to them
WH Jesus had not yet come to them

6:22 TR none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were
entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat
WH no other boat there except one and that Jesus had not gone into the boat
with his disciples

6:39 TR of the Father who has sent me
WH of him who has sent me

6:40 TR of him who has sent me
WH of may Father

6:47 TR He that believeth on me hath everlasting life
WH He that believeth hath everlasting life

6:51 TR and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world
WH and the bread that I will give is my flesh, on behalf of the life of the
world.

6:58 TR not as your fathers did eat manna
WH not as your fathers ate and died

6:63 TR the words which I speak
WH the words which I have spoken

6:69 TR thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God
WH you are the Holy One of God

7:20 TR the crowd answered and said
WH the crowd answered

7:26 TR Do the rulers know truly that this is truly the Christ?
WH Do the rulers know that this is the Christ?

7:39 TR for not yet was the Holy Spirit
WH for not yet was the Spirit

7:40 TR many of the crowd
WH some of the crowd

7:53-8:11 TR Pericope Adulterae
WH omits (or in appendix)

8:59 TR and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so
passed by.
WH and went out of the temple

9:4 TR it is necessary for me to work
WH it is necessary for us to work

9:11 TR to the pool of Siloam
WH to Siloam

10:4 TR whenever he puts out his own sheep
WH whenever he puts out all his own

10:26 TR because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you
WH because ye are not of my sheep

10:29 TR he who gives to me is greater than all
WH that which he gives me is greater than all

11:30 TR but he was in the place
WH but he was still in the place

11:41 TR Then they took away the stone from the place where the corpse was
lying
WH Then they took away the stone

12:4 TR Judas Iscariot, Simon's son
Judas Iscariot

12:22 TR and again Andrew and Philip
WH Andrew and Philip went

12:41 TR These things said Isaiah, when he saw his glory
WH These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory

12:47 TR my words, and believe not
WH my words, and does not keep them

13:18 TR the one who eats bread with me
WH the one who eats my bread

14:4 TR you know where I am going and you know the way
WH you know where I am going

14:28 TR because I said I am going
because I am going

16:4 TR whenever the time comes
WH whenever their time comes

16:16 TR and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father
WH and ye shall see me

16:27 TR I came out from God
WH I came out from the Father

17:11 TR keep those whom you gave me in your name
WH keep them in your name which you gave me

17:21 TR let them be one in us
WH let them be "in us"

18:20 TR where the Jews always meet together
WH where all the Jews meet together

18:40 TR and they all cried out again
WH and they cried out again

19:3 TR and they said
WH and they marched up to him saying

19:29 TR and they filled a sponge with the wine
WH a sponge soaked with wine

19:39 TR a mixture of myrrh and aloes
WH a roll of myrrh and aloes

20:16 TR she said to him Rabbouni
WH she said to him in Hebrew Rabbouni

20:29 TR Is it because you have seen me, Thomas, that you believe
WH Is it because you have seen me that you believe

21:3 TR they went out and embarked in the boat immediately
WH they went out and embarked in the boat

21:15 TR Simon son of Jonah
WH Simon son of John




Translation Agrees with the Critical Text

Agrees with the later Textus Receptus Other

New World Translation 64 0 0
21st Century NT* 64 0 0
Goodspeed* 64 0 0
Rotherham 62 2 0
Byington/BLE 61 3 0
New Revised Standard 60 3 1
20th Century NT 59 4 1
Lattimore 59 5 0
New American Standard 59 5 0
Westminster 58 6 0
American Standard Ver. 58 6 0
Revised Version 1885 57 7 0
Beck's An American Trans 56 8 0
New Jerusalem Bible 56 8 0
Revised Standard Version 56 8 0
New American Bible 56 7 1
Moffatt 56 7 1
New Berkeley Version 56 7 1
Riverside New Testament 55 9 0
Barclay's New Testament 55 8 1
Kleist & Lilly New Test. 55 9 0
Wuest's Expanded Trans. 54 10 0
New English Bible 53 9 2
Holman Christian Standard 53 11 0
God's Word Translation 53 11 0
Weymouth's New Test. 53 11 0
Williams New Testament 52 12 0
English Standard Version 52 10 2
Spencer 51 13 0
New International Version 51 10 3
Basic English Bible 51 12 1
New Century Version 51 12 1
International Standard Ver 50 14 0
Ferrar Fenton 50 14 0
Good News Bible 50 12 2
Jerusalem Bible 49 15 0
Recovery NT 49 15 0
NET Bible 49 13 2
Jewish NT 49 13 2
The Message 48 13 3
Centenary Version 47 16 1
Contemporary English Ver 46 15 3
JB Phillips 45 17 2
Living Bible 42 15 7
New Living Translation 41 19 4
Amplified Bible 37 27 0
Confraternity Version 35 27 2
Concordant Literal NT 25 28 1
Knox Version 33 29 2
Challoner 25 27 2
Hebrew Names Version 8 55 1
New King James Version 0 63 1
Revised Webster 0 64 0
King James Version 0 64 0


the New World Translation stands as the best stand alone version of the New Testament in English by Jehovahs Witnesses


You have to understand and know the the word of God in scriptures has enemies who tampred with and changed the intent,another blantant example is this;

Habakkuk 1:12 (King James Version)

12Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die.



Reading this passage from the Hebrew you get the thought of what? is it that God is eternal?
but it says we shall not die.

The correct translation :

(Habakkuk 1:12) . . .Are you not from long ago, O Jehovah? O my God, my Holy One, you do not die.. 

Do you see the deception?Translators who copied from manuscripts saw a problem with this in its orginal form.

Some translations, such as the King James Version, render Habakkuk 1:12 in accord with the Masoretic Hebrew text as changed by the sopherim. Thus, they read, “we shall not die.” But the New World Bible Translation Committee conscientiously restored the original reading, which states in address to Jehovah, “you do not die.” This rendition is also consistent with the rest of the verse.Repeated reference is made to God, but with this fact the words “we shall not die,” a reference to the people is deceptive because if Jesus is God then he certainly could not die


So it was changed to say instead we will not die,

Other translations:


Darby Translation)

Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die.

Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God?
   My Holy One, You will not die.

Young's Literal Translation)

not Thou of old, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One? We do not die, O Jehovah

How can the reference be to humans who die when it speaks about God as eternal



Other translations of recent times agree with the New World Translation at Habakkuk 1:12. For instance, An American Translation says: “Art not thou from of old, O LORD, my holy God? Thou diest not!” The Emphasised Bible, by J. B. Rotherham, reads there: “Art not thou from of old, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One? Thou diest not!”


The parallelism plainly shows that this is the correct reading. The address in both clauses is to the Lord who is described in the first clause as being from everlasting and in the second clause as never dying or enduring for ever. The introduction, therefore, of a new subject in the plural with the predicate ‘we shall not die’ thus ascribing immortality to the people is contrary to the scope of the passage and thus deceptive