Who translated the New World Bible and why should I believe it is best?

Question

The JW transaltion has no names attatched... are they secret?
How do we know they are qualified? What texts did they translate from? How did they arrive at Jehovah being a propper way of translating the name of God?

Is this true from http://www.bible-researcher.com/new-world.html
The publisher of this version has never made public the names of the translators. But former members of the Governing Body of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization have identified the members of the committee as Nathan H. Knorr (President of the organization), Frederick W. Franz (Vice-President), George D. Gangas, and Albert D. Schroeder. According to Raymond V. Franz, the "principal translator of the Society's New World Translation" was Frederick W. Franz. (1) According to M. James Penton, "to all intents and purposes the New World Translation is the work of one man, Frederick Franz."

what are his qualifications to say his translation is best?

A related question is why should I trust a translation if it was not made by a qualified translator...or was it? Is this information wrong?

It appears accurate that the translation of the NWT is anonymous... the three JW responders didnt seem to mind but almost every other person says its a red flag.... interesting... can teh Jw clairify why we should trust it and how we know they are qualified.

so people only critisize the NWT because of blind bigotry ... can you cite a secular sourse that feels it is a good or the best translation?

????"...It seems that the vast majority of the criticism against the New World Translation is actually as a proxy for blind hatred against Jehovah's Witnesses. The hatred must be "blind" since secular experts of biblical Hebrew and Greek have consistently refused to condemn any particular verse or phrase as an unacceptable translation. Instead, it is religionists with preconceived theologies who bigotedly insist upon particular wordings, since these are necessary to prop up the shaky tenets of their false worship...." ????

Answer 1

The fact that the "translators" [sic] are left anonymous is a big warning sign. The Watchtower claims that this is because the translators are so "humble" that they didn't want to take credit but this is a weak excuse. Faining piety to cloak bad scholarship only compounds the problem.

Legitimate translators are not afraid to put their name on their work. It is not "humble" to remain anonymous. On the contrary, such anonymity is the height of arrogance because they think that their work is above reproach and they should not be held accountable.

Do not trust the "New World Translation" [sic]

Answer 2

Since the publishing of the NWT, there have been witnesses schooled in Greek and non-witness bible scholars (that know the original languages) that have confirmed the NWT's accuracy. In my case, I left the religion for some time and did my own secular research on many subjects (WITHOUT the aid of the Watchtower or any Watchtower publications. My research directed me right back to the Kingdom Hall. There are others that have had the same experience. We are not a people that sits back in church and just believes what we are told from the pulpit. We are all bible students to the best of our personal abilities (some of us are more academic than others).

Answer 3

There aren't. In fact that version clearly leaves out scriptures found in all other Bible or changes the wording. The JW's don't believe in the Trinity, yes Trinity is a man made word but it's the best wording of a Biblical description, so they have changed wording that speaks of the Spirit, the Son, and God as being separate at all. When ever a few Translate things with no accountability and they are different then EVERYONE Else's-that has to tell you there are lies being told.

Answer 4

Dear Whirlingm,
I have read it and find it to be the UNinspired word of man, and I cannot call it the Bible.

I have many different translations of the Bible and will often compare different versions for a particular verse. I really don't see much difference between most translations and they very definitely ARE the LIVING Word of God.

I actually check the prefaces to various translations to see what the premise is for translating. I also see the credentials for the translators. When I checked the preface of the NWT all I saw was a sales pitch. (I know people. The Watchtower is working on a change as I word-process this.) Huh?!

I read The Daily Walk Bible during the worst period of my life and found great comfort and was able to heal. If I had been reading the NWT I would not have been able to heal.

That is my criteria for determining which is best. Thank you for asking.

Answer 5

The new world translation is a horrible translation.
For example in Exodus ch 3. Moses asked God what he should say when the children of Israel asked him who sent you, God answered I Am that I Am therefore tell them that I Am has sent you. The new world translation says it will be seen what will be seen or some garbage like that. And it is the same way in the New Testament when Jesus said " before Moses was I Am. The Pharisees did not believe him, but they new without a doubt that he was claiming to be God, the new world translation denies that he ever claimed to be God.

Answer 6

If you want the names, just call any kingdom hall or the main headquarters and ask, but why is it important to you? Do you fear that it may be the truth.

Consider John 1:1, most often quoted by Trinidadians. Buy an Interlinear Translations of the New Testament at any Bible Book store and look at the Apostles John's writings. The title word god is spelled four different ways in Greek, and he used all four. What he never did was use the same spelling in reference to both Almighty God and to The Word. He did use the same spelling in reference to The Word as he used in reference to Satan and men as what? God or a god? If you translated it as God in reference to the Word, than Satan and men are also God. John himself makes a very clear distinction, and you don't need a major education to see it.

Another item is the signs of the second coming of Christ. Christendom teaches, along with JWs that these signs are being fulfilled, but JWs say it is the signs of his presence, not that he's on his way, as in "coming". Look up the Greek spelling of the word, than look up the Greek spelling of the word "Presence" in every other reference of the King James or any non-JW Bible. They translate the word as "Presence" every where except in reference to Christ second presence in the last days. There they translate it as "COMING". Why change it, except to do the exact same thing the Pharisees did 2000 years ago. They said that yes, the prophesies were being fulfilled, but it only meant the Messiah was "coming", not actual arrived on Earth. History repeats itself.

So, is this the last days or not? If the signs are being fulfilled than Christ has returned an only a small group has noticed it, just like the first time he came, or religions in general have been lying and these are not the last days.

It does not take a degree to look these things up, just a willingness to seek accurate knowledge, as the Apostle Paul say to do. Yes, JWs have made mistakes, but they learned. And the changes didn't come from one man standing on a pedestal, but from individuals, scattered throughout the congregations, who noticed something in the scriptures and point it out to the society.

You may not like the witness teachings, but they live far closer to the teachings of Christ than any other religion. They are also the only religion that actually observes the memorial on the day Christ said to do it. Even the Muslims have a respect for them.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Al28DPYTuVEFqt_SK.OgKhDsy6IX?qid=20061124004024AAX15MJ

Answer 7

So many people are opposed to the NWT because it does not support the Trinity. That's just pure ignorance. There are many relogious sources that admit the trinity doctrine is not supported by the Bible.

Do the Christian Greek Scriptures ("New Testament") speak clearly of a Trinity?

The Encyclopedia of Religion says: "Theologians agree that the New Testament also does not contain an explicit doctrine of the Trinity."

Jesuit Fortman states: "The New Testament writers . . . give us no formal or formulated doctrine of the Trinity, no explicit teaching that in one God there are three co-equal divine persons. . . . Nowhere do we find any trinitarian doctrine of three distinct subjects of divine life and activity in the same Godhead."

The New Encyclopædia Britannica observes: "Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament."

Bernhard Lohse says in A Short History of Christian Doctrine: "As far as the New Testament is concerned, one does not find in it an actual doctrine of the Trinity."

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology similarly states: "The N[ew] T[estament] does not contain the developed doctrine of the Trinity. 'The Bible lacks the express declaration that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are of equal essence' [said Protestant theologian Karl Barth]."

Yale University professor E. Washburn Hopkins affirmed: "To Jesus and Paul the doctrine of the trinity was apparently unknown; . . . they say nothing about it."—Origin and Evolution of Religion.

Historian Arthur Weigall notes: "Jesus Christ never mentioned such a phenomenon, and nowhere in the New Testament does the word 'Trinity' appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord."—The Paganism in Our Christianity.

Thus, the canon of 27 inspired books of the Christian Greek Scriptures provide any clear teaching of the Trinity.

I doubt if you will ever do your own research on the trinity because you have been exposed to it for so long. But that does not change the fact that the trinity is not a Christian teaching.

Answer 8

The primary work on the New World Translation was completed nearly 50 years ago; it seems likely that most or all of the translation committee has passed on. The committee itself requested anonymity, as several other bible translation committees have done which recognize the primacy of the Divine Author. Theories about who may or may not have been on the committee are simply theoretical.

Since the same manuscripts used by the New World translators are still widely available for study, and since there are dozens of alternate translations for comparison, anyone who chooses to use NWT does so informedly.

Incidentally, "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures" is distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. There are more than 130 million copies of this modern-language bible in print, in dozens of languages.
http://watchtower.org/languages.htm

The entire text of NWT is freely available at the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses, and a personal printed copy can be requested at no charge:
http://watchtower.org/bible/
https://watch002.securesites.net/contact/submit.htm
http://watchtower.org/how_to_contact_us.htm


Jehovah's Witnesses certainly like NWT, but they are happy to use any translation which an interested person may prefer, and in fact Jehovah's Witnesses themselves distribute other translations besides NWT. Jehovah's Witnesses attach no particular infallibility or inspiration to NWT.

It seems that the vast majority of the criticism against the New World Translation is actually as a proxy for blind hatred against Jehovah's Witnesses. The hatred must be "blind" since secular experts of biblical Hebrew and Greek have consistently refused to condemn any particular verse or phrase as an unacceptable translation. Instead, it is religionists with preconceived theologies who bigotedly insist upon particular wordings, since these are necessary to prop up the shaky tenets of their false worship.

(2 Timothy 4:3-5) For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, whereas they will be turned aside to false stories. You, though, keep your senses in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.

It seems significant that the relatively small religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are the ones best known for their worldwide preaching work. Yet Jesus commanded that ALL who would call themselves "Christian" perform this public work:

(Matthew 28:19,20) Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/library/pr/article_04.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/na/
http://watchtower.org/e/20020915/article_01.htm
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20050715/article_02.htm

Answer 9

New Testament, 1950. Frederick W. Franz, ed., New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures Rendered from the Original Language by the New World Translation Committee. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1950.
The publisher of this version has never made public the names of the translators.

Until they tell us of their scholarship it is fair to say they have none. This is a poor translation and doesn't deserve respect.... Jim

Answer 10

I only read the Holy Bible, the reason for that is because,the things it says, are the things I see going on, in the word today. I know my daughter reads a different Bible, but I worry that some words may have been changed, and if you read in Revelations, it say not to add, or take away from the words in that book,and it tells what will happen if you do. some people say they have trouble understanding the KJV or Holy Bible, but maybe thats because they are babes in Christ, and their not ready for anything more then the very simple understanding, but with time God will help them, when their ready, to understand more, as they grow in Christ.