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86-676: It is not the first Bible to be published by the Watch Tower Society, but it is its first translation into English. Commentators have noted that scholarly effort went into producing the translation but many have described it as " biased ". Until the release of the New World Translation , Jehovah's Witnesses in English-speaking countries primarily used the King James Version . According to

172-569: A leave of absence from the world headquarters for health reasons and moved to Alabama , where he took up laboring work on a property owned by a fellow Witness. The following month, a committee of the Governing Body raised concerns about "wrong teachings" being spread by headquarters staff and began questioning staff about their beliefs. Staff were also questioned about comments Franz had made that may have contradicted Watch Tower doctrine. The March 15, 1980 Issue of The Watchtower, released

258-399: A cheap quality of paper enables the publishers to cut the price below the already low price of the" Revised Standard Version . Byington concludes: "the book does not give enjoyable continuous reading; but if you are digging for excellent or suggestive renderings, this is among the richer mines." In 1952, religious writer Alexander Thomson wrote of the New World Translation : "The translation

344-541: A critical information is apparent". Metzger noted that the consistency in the decision to translate "the same Greek word by the same word in English has a specious show of faithfulness to the original tends to produce a certain woodnness, resulting in the distortion of the effect of the original". Metzger considered the rendering of Κύριος as Jehovah in the New World Translation to be indefensible: "Some of

430-614: A digital edition of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References was released on floppy disk . Since 1994, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References has been included in the Watchtower Library on CD-ROM . Both editions of the New World Translation are available online in various languages and digital formats. Since 2015, a Study Edition of the New World Translation has been gradually released online starting with

516-639: A hostile atmosphere in which every representative of that mainstream theology charges that any variation in the NW from more familiar translation must serve the ulterior motives of distorting the 'truth'". In 2004, Anthony Byatt and Hal Flemings published their anthology ' Your Word is Truth', Essays in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (1950, 1953) . They included essays responding to criticism of

602-442: A letter of disassociation from Jehovah's Witnesses. The September 15, 1981, issue of The Watchtower announced a change of policy on disassociation, directing that those who formally withdrew from the group were to be shunned by Witnesses in the same manner as those who have been disfellowshipped. Franz, who continued to socialize with his employer, was summoned to a judicial hearing on November 25 and disfellowshipped for disobeying

688-751: A literal word-for-word translation. In 1978, the Watch Tower Society began producing recordings of the New World Translation on audio cassette , with the New Testament released by 1981 and the Old Testament in three albums released by 1990. In 2004, the NWT was released on compact disc in MP3 format in major languages. Since 2008, audio downloads of the NWT have been made available in 18 languages in MP3 and AAC formats, including support for podcasts . In 1983,

774-507: A measure of what I had based my entire adult life course on was just that, a myth—persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. He began to be frustrated by what he mentioned as the Governing Body's dogmatism and overemphasis on traditional views rather than reliance on the Bible in reaching doctrinal decisions. This led Franz and his wife’s decision to leave the international headquarters in the late 1979. In March 1980, Franz and his wife took

860-630: A member of the "Infirm Special Pioneers". The Governing Body investigation resulted in the disfellowshipping of several other headquarters staff. On September 1, 1980, the Governing Body distributed a letter to all Circuit and District overseers stating that apostates need not be promoting doctrines to be disfellowshipped. The letter stated that individuals who persisted in "believing other doctrine despite scriptural reproof" were also apostatizing and therefore warranted "appropriate judicial action". On March 18, 1981, Franz' employer in Alabama submitted

946-446: A member of the Governing Body of the religious organization. In his personal memoir , Franz said that at the end of 1979 he reached a personal crossroad: I had spent nearly forty years as a full time representative, serving at every level of the organizational structure. The last fifteen years I had spent at the international headquarters, and the final nine of those as a member of the worldwide Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. It

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1032-685: A missionary assignment and transferred to Puerto Rico in 1946. Franz became a representative of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the Caribbean , traveling to the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic , until at least 1957 when Jehovah's Witnesses were banned in the Dominican Republic by dictator Rafael Trujillo . At the age of 37, Franz married his wife, Cynthia, who joined him on missionary work. Both returned to

1118-474: A statement of regret where its assertions of the probability of Armageddon arriving before 1975 had "apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of expectation already initiated." It told disappointed Jehovah's Witnesses, "including persons having to do with the publication of the information that contributed to the buildup of hopes centred on that date" to "concentrate on adjusting his viewpoint". This statement, which placed blame for

1204-414: Is peer reviewed through various methods. The scholarly method includes the subcategories of the scientific method , with which scientists bolster their claims, and the historical method , with which historians verify their claims. The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians research primary sources and other evidence, and then write history . The question of

1290-575: Is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated." He added in a subsequent review that "the second volume shows the same faults as the first." While a member of the denomination, Rolf Furuli —a former professor in Semitic languages—said that a literal translation that follows the sentence structure of the source language rather than target language must be somewhat wooden and unidiomatic. Furuli added that Rowley's assessment based on his own preference for idiomatic translations ignores

1376-680: Is a translation of the Tetragrammaton ( Hebrew : יהוה , transliterated as YHWH , though the original pronunciation is unknown). The New World Translation uses the name Jehovah 6,979 times in the Old Testament. According to the Watch Tower Society, the Tetragrammaton appears in "the oldest fragments of the Greek Septuagint". In reference to the Septuagint , biblical scholar Paul E. Kahle stated, "We now know that

1462-618: Is evidently the work of skilled and clever scholars, who have sought to bring out as much of the true sense of the Greek text as the English language is capable of expressing. ... We heartily recommend the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures , published in 1950 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society." In 1959, Thomson added that on the whole the version was quite a good one, even though it

1548-589: Is in order." In 1963, theologian Anthony A. Hoekema wrote, "Their New World Translation of the Bible is by no means an objective rendering of the sacred text into modern English, but is a biased translation in which many of the peculiar teachings of the Watchtower Society are smuggled into the text of the Bible itself." Samuel MacLean Gilmour said in 1966: "in 1950 the Jehovah's Witnesses published their New World Translation of The New Testament, and

1634-479: Is more in the original wording, then you could use RSV or NWT or NASV ". In October 1996, James B. Parkinson compared various translations and gave scores for accuracy for 30 Old Testament translations and 51 New Testament translations. Parkinson gave a score of 76 to the NWT Old Testament (1960). For the New Testament he gave the NWT (1950) overall: 75, manuscripts: 99 and translation: 66.5. He scored

1720-606: Is out of print as of the release of the 2013 revision of the New World Translation . The New World Bible Translation Committee included the English text from the New World Translation in its 1969 and 1985 editions of The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures . It also incorporates the Greek text published by Westcott and Hort in The New Testament in the Original Greek and

1806-437: Is part of the scientific method , but is often mistakenly assumed to be synonymous with other methods. The empirical method is not sharply defined and is often contrasted with the precision of experiments, where data emerges from the systematic manipulation of variables. The experimental method investigates causal relationships among variables . An experiment is a cornerstone of the empirical approach to acquiring data about

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1892-467: Is seen in their New Testament translations. John 1:1 is translated: '...the Word was a god,' a translation which is grammatically impossible... It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest". In 1954, Unitarian theologian Charles Francis Potter stated about the New World Translation : "Apart from a few semantic peculiarities like translating

1978-559: Is sometimes made to new translations on the ground that to abolish archaic phrases tends to cheapen the Scripture". Referring to the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures he added: "it is a translation that has its own peculiarities, and its own excellences too. The Witnesses, who are enthusiastic in the spread of their tenets, regard this as one of their most effective devices". Theologian William Barclay concluded in 1953, "the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect

2064-475: Is the body of principles and practices used by scholars and academics to make their claims about their subjects of expertise as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public. It comprises the methods that systemically advance the teaching , research , and practice of a scholarly or academic field of study through rigorous inquiry. Scholarship is creative, can be documented, can be replicated or elaborated, and can be and

2150-580: Is then composed. A database of Greek and Hebrew terms is available where a translator has difficulty rendering a verse. The vernacular terms are then applied to the text in the target language. Further editing and translation are then performed to produce a final version. The layout resembles the 1901 edition of the American Standard Version . The translators use the terms "Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures" and "Christian Greek Scriptures" rather than "Old Testament" and "New Testament", stating that

2236-696: Is to be regretted that religious bias was allowed to colour many passages." In 1960, Frederick William Danker wrote, "not to be snubbed is the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Rendered from the Original by the New World Translation Committee ... 'the orthodox' do not possess all the truth, yet one does well to 'test the spirits'." In 1981, biblical scholar Benjamin Kedar-Kopfstein stated that

2322-498: Is well supplied with faults and merits." Byington reports that he agrees with the translation of some words and not others. Regarding the introduction of the name Jehovah instead of lord, Byington says: "fifteen pages of the preface present the arguments to justify this. I think the justification insufficient; but the 'Jehovah' does not shock a reader". He also says that the arrangement of the verse numbers escapes confusion "by making its verse numbers much lighter" and adds that "the use of

2408-539: The Kingdom Interlinear Translation (1985) overall: 80, manuscripts: 99 and translation: 73.5. Parkinson stated, "the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation (NWT, 1950) offers a relatively accurate translation from a different theological perspective. Like Rotherham, though, it is often not smooth reading." Jason BeDuhn stated in 2003 that the differences between Jehovah's Witnesses' theology and that of mainstream denominations, "creates

2494-825: The Armenian Version , Coptic Versions , the Latin Vulgate, Sistine and Clementine Revised Latin Texts , Textus Receptus , the Johann Jakob Griesbach 's Greek text, the Emphatic Diaglott , and various papyri . Translation into other languages is based on the English text, supplemented by comparison with the Hebrew and Greek text. The complete New World Translation has been published in more than one hundred languages or scripts , with

2580-461: The Bible Student movement (from which Jehovah's Witnesses developed) and was baptized in 1913. Franz joined the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1938, and became a baptized member in 1939. In 1944, Franz graduated from Gilead , the group's school for training missionaries , and temporarily served the organization as a traveling representative in the continental United States until he received

2666-568: The Christian Greek Scriptures , was proposed in October 1946 by the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr . Work began on December 2, 1947, when the "New World Bible Translation Committee" was formed, composed of Jehovah's Witnesses who professed to be anointed . The Watch Tower Society is said to have "become aware" of the committee's existence a year later. The committee agreed to turn over its translation to

New World Translation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-434: The New World Translation ' s use of English in the first volume of the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures ( Genesis to Ruth , 1953), biblical scholar Harold Henry Rowley was critical of what he called "wooden literalism" and "harsh construction". He characterized these as "an insult to the Word of God", citing various verses of Genesis as examples. Rowley concluded, "From beginning to end this [first] volume

2838-411: The New World Translation among the major modern translations. In 1982, Pentecostal theologian Gordon Fee and Douglas K. Stuart in their How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth refer to the New World Translation as being an "extremely literal translation" filled with "heretical doctrines". In 1985, Alan Stewart Duthie responded to the assertion by Fee & Stuart that the NWT is "filled with

2924-399: The New World Translation from non-Witnesses, and a bibliography of reviews of the work. George D. Chryssides stated in 2019 that the unfavourable criticisms by Harold Henry Rowley (1953), Julius R. Mantey (1974) and William Barclay (1953) "were extremely vague", but that Bruce M. Metzger (1953) "mentioned a few specific passages which he believed were wrongly translated." Regarding

3010-506: The New World Translation was released in addition to a revision of the regular volume. The regular edition includes several appendices containing arguments for various translation decisions, maps, diagrams and other information; and over 125,000 cross references. The reference edition contains the cross references and adds footnotes about translation decisions and additional appendices that provide further detail relating to certain translation decisions and doctrinal views. The Reference edition

3096-546: The 'New World Translation' any biased intent to read something into the text that it does not contain." In 1993 Kedar-Kopfstein said that the NWT is one of his occasionally quoted reference works. Edgar J. Goodspeed , translator of the New Testament in An American Translation , positively evaluated the New World translation. According to the October 15, 1999 issue of The Watchtower , Goodspeed wrote to

3182-598: The 2006 printing. Double brackets were used to indicate text considered doubtful. The pronoun "you" was printed in small capitals (i.e., YOU ) to indicate plurality, as were some verbs when plurality may be unclear. These features were discontinued in the 2013 release. The New World Translation attempts to indicate progressive rather than completed actions, such as "proceeded to rest" in Genesis 2:2 instead of "rested". The 2013 release indicates progressive verbs only where considered contextually important. The name Jehovah

3268-462: The Dominican Republic in 1961, to evangelize for four more years and were then assigned to Watch Tower headquarters in Brooklyn , New York . According to Franz, he began working in the organization's writing department and was assigned to collaboratively write Aid to Bible Understanding , the first religious encyclopedia published by Jehovah's Witnesses. On October 20, 1971, he was appointed as

3354-614: The English Braille edition of the New World Translation ' s New Testament was released; the complete English Braille edition was released by 1988. NWT editions have since become available in several additional Braille scripts . Production of the NWT in American Sign Language began in 2006; the New Testament was made available by 2010, and the complete ASL edition was released in February 2020. In 1992,

3440-641: The German Magdeburger Bibel ("Magdeburg Bible"), formally called Die heiligen Schriften ("The Holy Scriptures"). The New World Translation was produced by the New World Bible Translation Committee, formed in 1947. This committee is said to have comprised unnamed members of multinational backgrounds. The committee requested that the Watch Tower Society not publish the names of its members, stating that they did not want to "advertise themselves but let all

3526-611: The Greek Bible text as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did not translate the Divine name by Kyrios , but the Tetragrammaton written with Hebrew or Greek letters was retained in such MSS (manuscripts). It was the Christians who replaced the Tetragrammaton by Kyrios when the divine name written in Hebrew letters was not understood any more." However, according to professor Albert Pietersma, since pre-Christian times Adonai and

New World Translation - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-466: The Greek word stauros as 'stake' instead of 'cross' , and the often startling use of the colloquial and the vernacular, the anonymous translators have certainly rendered the best manuscript texts, both Greek and Hebrew, with scholarly ability and acumen." Frederick E. Mayer wrote in 1954: "It is a version that lends support to denial of doctrines which the Christian churches consider basic, such as

3698-476: The Hebrew and Greek languages had become available. According to the publishers, better manuscript evidence had made it possible to determine with greater accuracy what the original writers intended, particularly in more obscure passages, allowing linguists to better understand certain aspects of the original languages. A fresh translation of the New Testament , which Jehovah's Witnesses usually refer to as

3784-421: The Holy Scriptures was released as a single volume in 1961, and has since undergone various revisions. Cross references that had appeared in the six separate volumes were updated and included in the complete volume in the 1984 revision. In 1961, the Watch Tower Society began to translate the New World Translation into Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; the New Testament in these languages

3870-500: The NWT's stated objective of being as literal as possible. Samuel Haas, in his 1955 review of the first volume of the NWT in the Journal of Biblical Literature , stated that he did not agree with the introduction of the name Jehovah: "religious bias is shown most clearly in the policy of translating the tetragrammaton as Jehovah." He concluded, "this work indicates a great deal of effort and thought as well as considerable scholarship, it

3956-624: The New Testament available in more than fifty additional languages. When the Writing Committee approves the translation of the Bible into a new language, it appoints a group of baptized Jehovah's Witnesses to serve as a translation team. Translators are given a list of words and expressions commonly used in the English New World Translation with related English words grouped together (e.g. atone , atonement , or propitiation ). A list of vernacular equivalents

4042-534: The New Testament into English. The committee also referred to the Novum Testamentum Graece (18th edition, 1948) and to works by Jesuit scholars José M. Bover (1943), and Augustinus Merk (1948). The United Bible Societies ' text (1975) and the Nestle - Aland text (1979) were used to update the footnotes in the 1984 version. Additional works consulted in preparing the New World Translation include

4128-615: The New Testament: the translation of the word Kyrios (Greek: Κύριος) as " Jehovah " —usually translated as "Lord" by classical translators, its rendering of passages related to the doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ such as John 1:1 , and for its difficult-to-understand formal equivalence . Critics of the movement claim that the NWT is scholastically dishonest. In its review of Bible translations released from 1955 to 1985, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary listed

4214-468: The Old Testament work is largely based on the formal structure of biblical Hebrew. In 1989, Kedar-Kopfstein said, "In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translations, I often refer to the English edition of what is known as the 'New World Translation.' In so doing, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this work reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of

4300-464: The Society for publication and on September 3, 1949, Knorr convened a joint meeting of the board of directors of both the Watch Tower Society's New York and Pennsylvania corporations where he again announced to the directors the existence of the committee and that it was now able to print its new modern English translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Several chapters of the translation were read to

4386-418: The Tetragrammaton were considered equivalent to the Greek term kyrios . Pietersma stated, "The translators felt no more bound to retain the tetragram in written form than they felt compelled to render distinctively Hebrew el, Elohim or Shaddai." He also considers that old manuscripts containing the tetragram, like the papyrus Fouad 266 , "is evidence of a secondary stage." The New World Translation also uses

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4472-421: The Watch Tower Society in 1950 stating, "I am interested in the mission work of your people, and its world wide scope, and much pleased with the free, frank and vigorous translation. It exhibits a vast array of sound serious learning, as I can testify." Steven T. Byington said in 1950, "Jehovah's Witnesses have made their own translation of the book for which they consider 'New Testament' an illegitimate name. It

4558-401: The Watch Tower Society that may have constituted apostasy. On May 21, 1980, Franz was called to a Governing Body session where he was questioned for three hours about his biblical viewpoints and commitment to Watch Tower doctrines. Consequently, he agreed to a request to resign from the Governing Body and headquarters staff. Franz refused the Watch Tower Society's offer of a monthly stipend as

4644-494: The Writing Committee of the Governing Body. The goal of the Translation Services Department was to accelerate Bible translation with the aid of computer technology. Previously, some Bible translation projects lasted twenty years or more. Under the direction of the Translation Services Department, translation of the Old Testament in a particular language may be completed in as little as two years. During

4730-400: The books of the New Testament, based on the 2013 revision with additional reference material. Biblical scholars have noted the New World Translation's attempts at accurate conservative translation, its critical apparatus , and its use of modern critical editions of the biblical manuscripts . Criticism of the New World Translation focuses mainly on Christological issues in its rendering of

4816-549: The co-equality of Jesus Christ with the Father, the personhood of the Holy Spirit, and the survival of the human person after physical death. It teaches the annihilation of the wicked, the non-existence of hell, and the purely animal nature of man's soul." In 1961 F. F. Bruce stated: "some of its distinctive renderings reflect the biblical interpretations which we have come to associate with Jehovah's Witnesses (e. g. 'the Word

4902-491: The collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. Raymond Franz Raymond Victor Franz (May 8, 1922 – June 2, 2010) was a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses from October 20, 1971, until his removal on May 22, 1980, and served at the organization's world headquarters for fifteen years, from 1965 until 1980. Franz stated that

4988-413: The deity of Jesus Christ." He concludes: "The translation of the New Testament is evidence of the presence in the movement of scholars qualified to deal intelligently with the many problems of Biblical translation. This translation, as J. Carter Swaim observes, has its peculiarities and its excellences. All in all, it would seem that a reconsideration of the challenge of this movement to the historic churches

5074-553: The directors, who then voted to accept it as a gift. The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released at a Jehovah's Witness convention at Yankee Stadium , New York , on August 2, 1950. The translation of the Old Testament , which Jehovah's Witnesses refer to as the Hebrew Scriptures , was released in five volumes in 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1960. The complete New World Translation of

5160-500: The disappointment about 1975 on Raymond Franz as the former chairman of the writing committee, precipitated a purge of that committee. On May 8, 1980, Franz was told that he had been implicated as an apostate . He was called back to Brooklyn on May 20 for two days of questioning by the Chairman's Committee. According to Franz, the discussion involved allegations that some Witnesses were meeting privately to discuss various teachings of

5246-518: The edict. Determined to present his point of view, not only with respect to his having been disfellowshipped, but with respect to broader doctrinal issues, in 1982 he sent Heather and Gary Botting proofs of his book Crisis of Conscience so that they could chronicle the more widespread discord within the Watch Tower Society. They wrote regarding Franz' contribution to their exposé on the Witnesses that his recommendations "undoubtedly strengthened

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5332-648: The glory go to the Author of the Scriptures, God," adding that the translation, "should direct the reader, not to the translators, but to the Bible’s Author, Jehovah God". The publishers stated that "the particulars of [the New World Bible Translation Committee's members] university or other educational training are not the important thing" and that "the translation testifies to their qualification". Former high-ranking Watch Tower staff have identified various members of

5418-417: The heretical doctrines of this cult", stating that although "there are some heretical doctrines to be found ... [it] does not reach even 0.1% of the whole, which is very far from 'full'". Duthie adds "if your purpose is to study the Bible in detail [...] then you can be recommended to use NJB or NAB for their accessibility and commentary features, or study edition of other translations. If your study interest

5504-658: The main text in earlier editions—were removed. The new revision was also released as part of an app called JW Library . As of August 2024, the 2013 edition of the New World Translation has been translated, in whole or in part, into 300 languages. According to the Watch Tower Society, the New World Translation attempts to convey the intended sense of original-language words according to the context. The original New World Translation employs nearly 16,000 English expressions to translate about 5,500 biblical Greek terms, and over 27,000 English expressions to translate about 8,500 Hebrew terms. The translators state that, where possible in

5590-494: The name Jehovah 237 times in the New Testament where the extant texts use only the Greek words kyrios ( Lord ) and theos ( God ). The use of Jehovah in the New Testament is very rare, but not unique to the New World Translation . Walter Martin , an evangelical minister, wrote, "It can be shown from literally thousands of copies of the Greek New Testament that not once does the tetragrammaton appear." However,

5676-414: The nature, and indeed the possibility, of sound historical method is raised in the philosophy of history , as a question of epistemology . History guidelines commonly used by historians in their work require external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis . The empirical method is generally taken to mean the collection of data on which to base a hypothesis or derive a conclusion in science . It

5762-400: The period from 1963 to 1989, the New World Translation became available in ten additional languages. Since the formation of the Translation Services Department in 1989, there has been a significant increase in the number of languages in which the New World Translation has been made available. At the Watch Tower Society's annual meeting on October 5, 2013, a significantly revised translation

5848-641: The preparation of the New World Old Testament translation is now far advanced. The New Testament translation was made by a committee whose membership has never been revealed —a committee that possessed an unusual competence in Greek and that made the Westcott and Hort Greek text basic to their translation. It is clear that doctrinal considerations influenced many turns of phrase, but the work is no crack-pot or pseudo-historical fraud". Scholarly method The scholarly method or scholarship

5934-543: The publishers, one of the main reasons for producing a new translation was that most Bible versions in common use, including the Authorized Version (King James), employed archaic language. The stated intention was to produce a fresh translation, free of archaisms . Additionally, over the centuries since the King James Version was produced, more copies of earlier manuscripts of the original texts in

6020-518: The request for his resignation and his subsequent disfellowshipping resulted from allegations of apostasy . Following his removal, Franz wrote two books that shared his personal experiences with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and his views on Jehovah's Witnesses teachings. Franz was born in 1922. His uncle, Frederick Franz , was influential in the denomination's development, practices and doctrines. His father associated with

6106-399: The target language, the New World Translation prefers literal renderings and does not paraphrase the original text. The master text used for translating the Old Testament into English was Kittel's Biblia Hebraica . The Hebrew texts, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Biblia Hebraica Quinta were used for preparing the latest version of this translation. Other works consulted in preparing

6192-438: The text that is as accurate as possible. Giving evidence of a broad command of the original language, it renders the original words into a second language understandably without deviating unnecessarily from the specific structure of the Hebrew. ... Every statement of language allows for a certain latitude in interpreting or translating. So the linguistic solution in any given case may be open to debate. But I have never discovered in

6278-986: The translation include Aramaic Targums , the Dead Sea Scrolls , the Samaritan Torah , the Greek Septuagint , the Latin Vulgate , the Masoretic Text , the Cairo Codex , the Aleppo Codex , Christian David Ginsburg 's Hebrew Text, and the Leningrad Codex . The Greek master text by the Cambridge University scholars B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort (1881) was used as the basis for translating

6364-714: The translation team. In 1983 former Governing Body member Raymond Franz listed Nathan H. Knorr , Fredrick W. Franz , Albert D. Schroeder, George D. Gangas, and Milton G. Henschel as members of the translation team, adding that only Frederick Franz had sufficient knowledge in biblical languages. Referring to the identified members, evangelical minister Walter Ralston Martin said in 1997, "The New World Bible translation committee had no known translators with recognized degrees in Greek or Hebrew exegesis or translation... None of these men had any university education except Franz, who left school after two years, never completing even an undergraduate degree." Fredrick Franz had stated that he

6450-525: The translation was written to support Jehovah's Witness doctrines, with "several quite erroneous renderings of the Greek", and cited 6 examples (John 1:1, Col. 1:15-17, Phil. 2:6, Titus 2:13, 2 Pet. 1:1, and Rev. 3:14). In 1964, Metzger again reviewed the NWT and concluded, "on the whole, one gains a tolerably good impression of the scholarly equipment of the translators (their names are not divulged). They refer not only to modern translations [...] but to ancient translations as well. Frequently an intelligent use of

6536-460: The translations which are simply indefensible include the following. The introduction of the word 'Jehovah' into the New Testament text". He added, "it is entirely without critical significance to be told that modern translations of the New Testament" render 'Lord' by the Tetragrammaton. Metzger also criticized the NWT's renderings of 3 verses: John 1:1 and Colossians 1:16, as in 1953, and adds Jude 11–15. J. Carter Swaim in 1953 wrote that "objection

6622-404: The translators of the New World Translation believed that the name Jehovah was present in the original manuscripts of the New Testament when quoting from the Old Testament, but replaced with the other terms by later copyists. Based on this reasoning, the translators consider to have "restored the divine name", though it is not present in any extant manuscripts. In 1984, a Reference edition of

6708-411: The use of "testament" was based on a misunderstanding of 2 Corinthians 3:14. Headings were included at the top of each page to assist in locating texts; these have been replaced in the 2013 revision by an "Outline of Contents" introducing each Bible book. There is also an index listing scriptures by subject. Square brackets [ ] were added around words that were inserted editorially, but were removed as of

6794-451: The veracity of the text; we were impressed by his insistence on both fairness and frankness with respect to representing the view of the Watch Tower Society." After he was disfellowshipped, Franz published two books— Crisis of Conscience (1983) and In Search of Christian Freedom (1991)—presenting detailed accounts of his experiences as a Jehovah's Witness, a Governing Body member, and his experiences throughout various levels of

6880-551: The world and is used in both natural sciences and social sciences . An experiment can be used to help solve practical problems and to support or negate theoretical assumptions. The scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena , acquiring new knowledge , or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable , empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning . A scientific method consists of

6966-558: Was a god" in John 1:1)". He also stated that "some of the renderings which are free from a theological tendency strike one as quite good". In his review in Andover Newton Quarterly Robert M. McCoy reported in 1963: "in not a few instances the New World Translation contains passages which must be considered as 'theological translations.' This fact is particularly evident in those passages which express or imply

7052-535: Was familiar with not only Hebrew, but with Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French for the purpose of biblical translation. In 2003, Jason BeDuhn noted, "the members of the translation team remain anonymous, just as they do for the NKJB and the Lockman Foundation 's NASB ". In 1989, a Translation Services Department was established at the world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, overseen by

7138-641: Was padded with many English words which had no equivalent in the Greek or Hebrew. Allen Wikgren (member of the New Revised Standard Version committee, as well as the committee which produced the USB Greek text) said in 1952, "independent readings of merit often occur in other modern speech versions, such as Verkyl's New Testament (1945) and the Jehovah's Witnesses' edition of the New Testament (1950)". In 1953, former American Bible Society board member Bruce M. Metzger stated that

7224-512: Was released simultaneously in July 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By 1989, the New World Translation was translated into eleven languages, with more than 56,000,000 copies printed. For many years, the New World Translation was thought to be the Watch Tower Society's first original translation of ancient Biblical Hebrew , Koine Greek , and Old Aramaic biblical texts, until the re-discovery of

7310-462: Was released. Referring to the new revision, the publishers stated, "There are now about 10 percent fewer English words in the translation. Some key Biblical terms were revised. Certain chapters were changed to poetic format, and clarifying footnotes were added to the regular edition." The Pericope Adulterae ( John 7:53 – 8:11) and the Short and Long Conclusions of Mark 16 ( Mark 16:8–20)—offset from

7396-417: Was those final years that were the crucial period for me. Illusions there met up with reality. I have since come to appreciate the rightness of a quotation I recently read, one made by a statesman , now dead, who said: "The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." I now began to realize how large

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