by godsgurl 48 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
"Possible flip side: one might also argue that the extant NWT (which will be difficult to revise substantially for some time after the death of its main author, F.W. Franz) may well limit the WT opportunities for doctrinal changes..."
Could the Watchtower even attempt such a project today? Or are all the people with Biblical language knowledge sufficiently required long gone?
The problem at Bethel is, too many lawyers and not enough Bible scholars!
--VM44
VM44,
They could still hire Furuli (better qualified in Bible scholarship than FW Franz ever was) and perhaps a few others -- if they trust them enough, that is.
Otoh, I can't think of any necessarychange (from the org's pov) that would require a change in Bible translation. Can you?
I can't think of any necessary change (from the org's pov) that would require a change in Bible translation. Can you?
Ditto.
Much of the teachings that could change (i.e. chronology and eschatology) don't really depend upon the original Bible translation. Instead they depend upon looking "deeper" into an English definition of a word, or by simply ignoring the cultural context of the passage.
And let us not forget that they have a knack for connecting two completely unrelated things and then turning into a belief. At the end of the day they will just publish a statement that is authoritative about the topic at hand and that will be it. No proof necessary.
The only change I could ever see, and that I noticed the first time I picked up the translation in the mid '80s, is it doesn't read smoothly. Also, though arguments about inclusive language rage on in the current translation realm of Scripture, some use of horizontal inclusivity might seem warranted as it has become common place, even among Witnesses (i.e., many of the epistles use of "brothers" to occassionally mean "brothers and sisters" as we tend to use the phrase today). That the entire inclusive thing has even come up for them is a case in point that they are out of touch with what is occuring in current Bible translation.
P.S.: Just in case someone hasn't learned this about me yet (because some people might get irrate and say I am for or against "inclusive language'), I'm just making statements that don't necessarily reflect my personal views. Unlike some people who only adhere to statements they believe in, there can often be a great difference between what I say, know, and write about, and what I adopt as ideology. I say this because I know that "inclusive language" is still a hot bed in current translation circles.
it doesn't read smoothly.
No problem, it is not meant to be read.
JWs by and large devote very little time, if any, to cursory reading of the Bible. They use individual verses as prooftexts on topics wildly remote from the context. To the average JW, Ezekiel 18:4 is about the definition of "soul," not about individual vs. collective retribution. Romans 10:13 is about using the name "Jehovah," not about why confessing Jesus as "Lord" saves (hence they never realise that the NWT doesn't make any contextual sense in this particular case). For this kind ofuse a painfully overtechnical translation doesn't harm. On the contrary, it comforts the reader in the belief that s/he (inclusive) would never understand the Bible apart from the WT material.
Btw, I'm afraid that the WT has shown its ability to resist social (aka worldly) pressure on far tougher issues than "inclusive language," but who knows which straw will break the (male or female) camel's back?
Since no one can show you the source (the original) of course it isn't.
Same applies to all other translations too of course. Logically they are all just a long chain letter with each claiming to be the authentic translation.
My response will also be it is not the most accurate translation of the Bible. I personally stick to KJV and if something isn't too clear I read the same thing in the NKJV or NIV (which I don't prefer too much because of the similarities to NWT; ie missing verses which I have heard that "earlier manuscripts didn't include them" yeah, but my KJV did so I'm following that.
Question here, I've heard (JW's) call people who are not a JW or not into the "Truth" they are called "wordly" I was even called that too. Go figure. lol .. but in reguards to their bible shouldn't it be THE NEW WORLDLY translation? :-) since it was written by man.
The motor which drove the Watchtower Society from its inception was the "great man" in charge. Under Russell it was intellect, writing skill, business acumen and the money and organizational skills to create something of a buffet meal for disaffected religious people with an adventist bent.
When Russell and his Russellites danced, it was Pastor Russell who was leading.
Russell died.
Rutherford had to use "triage" to maintain a viable core group of believers on which he could build his own empire. This amounted playing Russell's tune and adding some "clarifying" lyrics.
But, from about the time of Rutherford, a "great man" arose who really became the rudder to the prophetic and interpretive arm of Jehovah's Witnesses. That man was Fred Franz.
Franz culled his ideas from Studies in the Scriptures again and again. But, at some point there came a juncture where Franz made a dramatic transition.
Just as Russell had used the "tools" and "skillset" of 2nd Adventists like William Miller to create a new template for understanding End Times and orthodoxy, so too, Franz jumped off on his own.
Franz started from scratch and worked up his "absolute dates" theoretical chronology which he worked off of. This replaced Archbishop Ussher's chronology so accepted in Christendom.
At a certain point Franz felt up to the task of taking on translating the bible itself into a more easily manipulated text. He took night classes! He used the lexicons, concordances and grammar's in the Bethel library and applied himself a little at a time.
I'd compare this to deciding to become a brain surgeon without going to Medical school or passing surgical reviews!
The New World Translation is not so much a "translation" at all as it is a cribbing and rewording of already existing translations from other sources! Franz cherry-picked scholars and interpretations as it suited his purposes.
Freddy Franz could take troublesome texts and surround his version with argumentation which, to the layman, appeared to be justifiable. But, to an actual scholar with a P.h.d. the ruse was transparent!
The New World Translation Committee was hardly more than Franz himself doing the hermeneutic chores and members of the Watchtower writing committe fleshing out his notes and directions.
So great was Franz reputation as a genius that no one would dare question his ability, expertise or motivations!
The chief purpose of remaining anonymous was due to the embarassment over his credentials!! There is no way Franz could justify his core educational limitations and conversancy with Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek!
You or I, if so motivated, could take a copy of War and Peace (already translated) and simply reword the sentences without changing the meaning. But, should we so desire; we could change the meaning at any point in our paraphrasing.
Only an actual Russian scholar or literary critic would be wise what we were on about.
The NWT is a hoax.
It ranks right up there with the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon has been continually and exhaustively revised for good reason. It was an awful mess of grammatical and spelling errors, poor or awkward syntax and outright plagarisms. Better trained persons with strong motivation have ironed out these flaws over time and a presentable text now is represented as what Joseph Smith translated from hierglyphs.
The NWT has been likewise revised and smoothed over as heaping criticisms have launced volley after volley into the JW camp.
Regarding this "translation" as a bible is granting it too much status!
According to the Governing Body and their literature, the last people to be "INSPIRED" were the
Bible writers. That indicates that, according to their chronology, John finished writing and died, leaving
no further humans to be "INSPIRED" since then.
So the WTS admits that their writers and researchers are not inspired, therefore that any TRANSLATION
of the scriptures from them (or anyone who did more than exactly copy the originals) would not be
the INSPIRED BIBLE.
I can go on to discuss how they are no better than the rest of "Christendom" in that they let the Jews
decide what books to include in the OT, and let the Protestants decide what books to include in the NT.
So the WTS admits that their writers and researchers are not inspired, therefore that any TRANSLATION
of the scriptures from them (or anyone who did more than exactly copy the originals) would not be
the INSPIRED BIBLE.
It wouldn't be amiss to mention the myth we are working around here.
Either God wants information of a particular specificity preserved for human eyes to perceive or he doesn't.
If he doesn't you might expect chaos and opinion to be the rule of thumb.
This is exactly what history demonstrates.
Let us face facts. Tens of thousands of equally intelligent and sincere believers have beat their collective brains out trying to make sense of this accumulation of "inspired" writings with wildly varying results!
Now, are these faithful believers really stupid, crazy, insincere hucksters? Or, is there some reason why they can all separately look at the same book and come up with such divergent dissonances?
It simply HAS TO BE the fault of the book itself!
Look at the difference between the bible and, say, geometry. Euclid's book of collected writings on geometry has been translated for thousands of years. Yet, no matter what language it appears in or what part of the world it is taught in--the results are IDENTICAL!! Euclid was not inspired and his results win by a landslide over the Bible's results.
Too many contradictory beliefs about the same book indicate the book has no substance. It is analogous to Modern Art spatter painting where a hundred eyes interpret what they will and there is no way to make anybody right or wrong.
The chief reason for the bible's crazy ability to seem to say something profound and yet say nothing much at all is the fact there is no ONE GREAT MIND OF GENIUS behind it. The pages creep and crawl with a thousand minds nibbling and gnawing away at crumbs and leaving behind only piles and piles of turds.
Translating the bible is like polishing turds and stringing them into a necklace to be worn as jewelry.
The New World Translation is a rearrangement of turds with a few mouse droppings substituted along the way and a cheap clasp on the ends.
