Religion & Spirituality - 3 December 2007

Dear Sirs,


I have a copy of your letter addressed to Caris in Santa Ana, California, and I am writing to express my disagreement with statements made in that letter, as well as in quotations you have made from the Dana-Mantey Greek Grammar.(1) Your statement: "their work allows for the rendering found in the Kingdom Inter-linear Translation of the Greek Scriptures at John 1: 1.'' There is no statement in our grammar that was ever meant to imply that "a god" was a permissible translation in John 1:1.

A. We had no "rule" to argue in support of the Trinity.

B. Neither did we state that we did have such intention. We were simply delineating the facts inherent in Biblical language. .

Your quotation from page 148 ( 3 ) was in a paragraph under the heading: "With the Subject in a Copulative Sentence." , Two examples occur there to illustrate that "the article points out the subject in these examples,'' But we made no statement in this paragraph about the predicate except that, "as it stands the other persons of the Trinity may be implied in theos." And isn't that the opposite of what your translation "a god" infers? You quoted me out of context. on pages 139 and 140 (VI) in our grammar we stated: "without the article theos signifies divine essence. . "theos on ho logos" emphasises Christ's participation in the essence of the divine nature.''

0ur interpretation is in agreement with that in NEB and the TEV: "What God was, the Word was": and with that of Barclay: "The nature of the Word was the same as the nature of God'' , which you quoted in your letter to Caris.

(2) Since Colwell's and Harner's articles in JBL, especially that of Harner, it is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1: 1 "The Word was a god" . Word order has made obsolete and incorrect such a rendering .

(3) Your quotation of Colwell 's rule is inadequate because it quotes only a part of his findings. You did not quote this strong assertion: "A predicate nominative which precedes the verb cannot be translated as an indefinite or a ''qualitative'' noun soley because of the absence of the article. ''

(4) Prof. Harner, Vol. 92.1 (1973) in JBL, has gone beyond Colwell's research and has discovered that anarthrous predicate nouns preceding the verb function primarily to express the nature of character of the subject . He found this true in 53 passages in the Gospel of John and 8 in the Gospel of Mark, Both scholars wrote that when indefiniteness was intended, the Gospel writers regularly placed the predicate noun after the verb, and both Colwell and Harner have stated that theos in John l: 1 is not indefinite and should not be translated "a god".

Watchtower writers appear to be the only ones advocating such a translation now. The evidence appears to be 99% against them.

( 5) Your statement in your letter that the sacred text itself should guide one and "not just someone's rule book". We agree with you. But our study proves that Jehovah's Witnesses do the opposite of that whenever the "sacred text" differs with their heretical beliefs. For example, the translation of kolasis as cutting off when punishment is the only meaning cited in the Lexicons for it. The mistranslation of ego eim as "I have been" in John 8:58. The addition of "for all time" in Hebrews 9:27 when nothing in the Greek New Testament supports it.

The attempt to belittle Christ by mistranslating arche tes ktisoos "beginning of the creation" when he is magnified as "the creator of all things" (John 1 :2) , and as "equal with God" (Phil. 2:6) before he humbled himself and lived in a human body here on earth. Your quotation of "The Father is greater than I am" (John 14:28) to prove that Jesus was not equal to God overlooks the fact stated in Phil: 12: 6-8, when Jesus said that he was still in his voluntary state of humiliation. That state ended when he ascended to heaven.

Why the attempt to deliberately deceive people by mispunctuation by placing a comma after "today" in Luke 23:43 when in the Greek, Latin, German and all English translations except yours, in the Greek in even your KIT, the comma occurs after lego (I say)?-- "Today you will be with me, in Paradise". 2 Cor. 5:8, "to be out of the body and at home with the lord'' These passages teach that the redeemed go immediately to heaven after death , which does not agree with your teachings that death ends all life until the resurrection (Ps. 23:6 and Heb. 1: 10 ) .

The above are only a few examples of Watchtower mistranslations and perversions of God's Word.In view of the preceding facts, especially because you have been quoting me out of context I here with request you not to quote the Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament again, which you have been doing for 24 years. Also, that you not quote it or me in any of your publications from this time on.Also, that you publicly and immediately apologise in the Watchtower magazine, since my words had no relevance to the absence of the article before theos in John 1: 1. And please write to Caris and state that you misused and misquoted my "rule".

On the page before the Preface in the grammar are these words: "All rights reserved no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher". If you have such permission, please send me a photocopy of i t. If you do not heed these requests, you will suffer the consequences .

Regretfully yours ,



Julius R. Mantey

2007-12-03 14:54:24 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous

I'm Islamic, and apparantly I've done a few haraam things. I have dated a girl in my life, I kissed one this pass week, and frequently hug girls. I don't read the quron much, don't know how to read arabic, don't pray very often except on holiday's or death of family members, and I'm not that religeous as you can see. I don't eat pork, and I try to not do what I'm not supossed to do (have sex, that type of stuff) but like i said, i have kissed a girl before marriage.

So... Am i going to hell? Or if I stay like this pattern (just kissing, nothing farther then that, and no drinking alcohol, or drugs or anything like that, and remain basically pure except for dating) until I'm like 40, which is when I want to focus on religeon. Can I still go to Janaah? Or am I just going to go to hell now?

2007-12-03 14:53:29 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous

1. Peep stones. In translating the Book of Mormon, were they used or not?

2. The Kinderhook Plates. Did Joseph's Myth buy them, as sacred relics, or not?

3. Mark Hoffman. Did he, by clever forgeries, successfully dupe the top inspired leaders of the church or not?

4. Has LDS Temple work been done for the Nazi leaders, or not?


5. Will the LDS church abide by ALL government requirements in the future, or not? (Chip implants, DNA swabs, fingerprinting of all family members for the 2010 Census?)

2007-12-03 14:53:25 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous

what i need is like ideas or opinions. this is for a project.

well, thanks

2007-12-03 14:52:05 · 4 answers · asked by Chuck 2

But don't question the existence of god? Isn't that a little... Well, Stupid?

2007-12-03 14:49:21 · 13 answers · asked by punch 7

Just curious

2007-12-03 14:48:47 · 7 answers · asked by Patches 5

A book containing testimonies of your brothers and sisters all over the world? I am starting a business and this is my theme. I want to know though if my fellow Christians will be willing to read it. Maybe even a video containing all of the testimonies of persecution and how God changed them. Please let me know

2007-12-03 14:46:56 · 6 answers · asked by bboyballer112 2

Aside from contemporary issues such as creationism vs. evolution, the Bible contains many other simple scientific errors:Leviticus 11:6 asserts that hares chew the cud like cows; they do not.
Deut 14:8 classifies bats as birds; they are not birds, they are mammals
Leviticus 11:20-23 describes flying insects such as beetles and grasshoppers and locusts as having four legs; they have six.
Not surprisingly, those promoting the Bible as the sole authority on science tend to avoid some of these more embarrassing verses

2007-12-03 14:44:52 · 17 answers · asked by TSIRHC 3

for being such a jackass here on R&S

2007-12-03 14:44:45 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous

in the world today is women over stepping there bounds?
are we men to blame for letting it happen?
we have granted women the right to murder there own children, and to protest rightous laws by there womens rights,
i am married and not at all against women. but women are weaker than a man in strength and emotionally also, and should be led and took care of, are we men becomeing more like women.
what happened to the real men?
we have pushed the women out to take care of men,,, never meant to be ... something is so wrong here

women and men welcome to answer.

2007-12-03 14:42:34 · 19 answers · asked by technician68 3

i want to know about god

2007-12-03 14:42:29 · 19 answers · asked by Anita77 2

The teacher (catholic) told the whole class of children this and now many are really upset. Apparently animals have no souls in the Catholic religion. Would you be upset if this happened to you? Our pet recently passed away and she can't stop crying.

2007-12-03 14:41:50 · 30 answers · asked by Chrissy 3

How do you explain this?

If supposedly God has a "plan" for everyone and people deserve the misfortunes they have as they have "sinned", who are you to help them and undo god's "divine plan"?

2007-12-03 14:40:50 · 15 answers · asked by Jix 1

I was raised Roman Catholic, but it has seemingly been that I have been doing things the Jewish way...

Can't I just say I'm Jewish?

2007-12-03 14:39:13 · 14 answers · asked by Dee 2

to quit smoking after the doctrine was changed?

2007-12-03 14:38:41 · 11 answers · asked by Nina, BaC 7

it sounds weird i know but i was wondering if there was anything like that in the bible and can someone point out where it talks about dinosaurs?

2007-12-03 14:37:03 · 10 answers · asked by 123456 2

"if you don't like what you see, don't look"?

How many people have you come across who interpret it as meaning "if you find something offensive, destroy it."?

2007-12-03 14:35:50 · 20 answers · asked by John's Secret Identity™ 6

That while each are decended from Abraham, and each belives in one God;do we understand and agree that all three do not believe in the same God?

Christians believe Jesus is God,Muslims refuse to define and put a definite/main name on God and Jesus is just a prophet,but not God. The Jews like the muslims dont believe Jesus is God&if my understanding is correct,their still waiting on the messiah.

Again,while all three have the same general origin,do we agree that the three do not worship the same God?

As far as I'm concerned you cant say we worship the same God if we're not in agreement on Who that God is and which text is truely His word.

2007-12-03 14:35:06 · 14 answers · asked by Maurice H 6

Why is Christian School so expensive?
We're Christian but we have to send our son to public school where beginning January 1st 2008 he'll be learning how to be gay because of the new bill Governor Schwarzenegger singed into law in October 2007 in the state of California.
SB777 will make it illegal for my son to call me 'mom' or to call my husband his 'father' and not only that but he'll have to take homosexual awareness classes along with many other things that will change because of this new law.
I want my son to get a good education and learn about Christianity instead of learning about immorality and becoming lost but we cannot afford to send him to Christian School because it's so expensive.
Why I ask must it cost an arm and a leg to afford Christian School you would think that they would make it affordable so every Christian could send their kids instead of just the rich ones.
Is there a reason for this?
And where does all that money go we tithe with if not to the kids?

2007-12-03 14:33:33 · 22 answers · asked by Adelaide B 5

2007-12-03 14:32:34 · 28 answers · asked by Monsieur Recital Vinyliste 6

Does this refer to the Christmas tree?

your opinion please.
sorry Im too lazy to type the verses right now, so get your Bible.

2007-12-03 14:32:34 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-12-03 14:32:12 · 15 answers · asked by Tyrone Biggums 4

2007-12-03 14:31:44 · 32 answers · asked by Sapere Aude 5

2007-12-03 14:30:21 · 16 answers · asked by Doctor Weird 1

2007-12-03 14:29:35 · 8 answers · asked by Sassy one 1

Why or why not ?

2007-12-03 14:29:34 · 12 answers · asked by Lost. at. Sea. 7

2007-12-03 14:29:26 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-12-03 14:23:56 · 10 answers · asked by realchurchhistorian 4

Would anyone actually expect non-Christian friends to go specially hand pick an individual card for them that said "Christmas" instead of one from the boxed set they bought that said "holiday" as not to offend the recipient...

2007-12-03 14:21:32 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

want everyone to believe what they believe? We either believe in Freedom of Religion or we don't....we can't have it both ways.

2007-12-03 14:21:25 · 19 answers · asked by daljack -a girl 7