Jehovah`s Witness/Johannes Greber?

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Question
Hi Brenton,
  I have been studying with (JW's) on and off now for at least 5 years and am convinced it is the truth, however I feel very troubled when an unexpected subject is brought to my attention that I feel unable to explain to someone elses satisfaction, such as this Johannes Greber thing.
I'm hoping you might be familiar with this issue.
If you are, can you offer some sensible clarity?
If you're not, please let me know in your response and I'll try to get the question to you in a more descriptive way. No rush Brenton, and thank you for your valuable time.

                            Sincerely,
                                  Joshua

Answer
Hello Joshua,

The Johannes Greber controvesy does disturb some people,

The claim is made that the WTBTS was influenced by him in the way the NWT has rendered John 1:1 and the rendering of Matt. 27:51-53.

The NWT committee were not influenced by him at all, but for a while they quoted the way he rendered those texts to sho that they were not the only ones that had that understanding oh them.

For a discussion on John 1:1 see my web site http://homepages.picknowl.com.ai/hepburn

The society has many different writters prparing publications.  It appears to me as if earlier evidence of Johannes Greber being a spiritulist was overlooked by later writters. Eventually all WTBTS writters were informed of who he was and they stopped using his bible to show that others agreed with the NWT.  There are many other Bibles transations that agree with the NWT.

But for me the imprtant point is that they were not influenced by him as some suggest.

If you need more information please ask.

brenton

Jehovah`s Witness

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Brenton Hepburn

Expertise

I AM one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I am always learning. I am NOT an expert in the full sense of the word but I can answer questions on the reliability of the NWT,, the so called mind control problems,,so called prophecies,,,,how being a JW affects the individual and relatives and general practices and history of Jehovah’s Witnesses. >>WARNING<< Please be aware that as at 31 December 2011 there are at least 4 people here who ARE NOT practicing JWs. By all means ask these ones questions. Depending on the question you will get an honest answer, but generally the answer you get will mislead you often because they do not give ALL the relevant details. The following men are not practising JWS ..Derrick Holland ..Ben Erdman..Robert Jones>..Ken the Apostate These ones will, at times, may appear to not have an agenda against JWs., and will at times give answers that are not correct in regard to JW teachings and practices. If you are after a answer from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, please read some of the answers that the various experts have published before choosing someone. If you want to ask one of the NON JWs a question, that is fine, BUT if you want a balancing view after asking one of the NON JWs, ask a JW the same question.PLEASE ALSO NOTE: Some experts are NOT always the most courteous, and their answers may offend, so it IS IMPORTANT to chose an "expert" that YOU feel will best suit YOU . . . . .

Experience

I have been a publisher since 1964. When I first went on the internet I found a lot of negative information dealing with Jehovah’s Witnesses covering prophecy, mind control and what many said was a very bad translation of the Bible known as the NWT. It shook my faith. After may hours researching these topics I could see why some felt that way, but, I was also able to explain why there were these misleading views. I can now set matters straight for anyone that has negative information about Jehovah’s Witness to show them that such information is at best misleading and at worst dangerous lies.

Education/Credentials
I have been a student of the Bible for many years, am trying to teach myself Biblical Greek. Was a public tax accountant for many years untill SEP 2009 when I gave it up due to health problems.

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