The NWT translates John 17:3 as "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."Other translations (in this case, the NIV) translate it as "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."
The difference is "knowing" which is personal and intimate vs. merely "taking in knowledge".
Exactly. And the KIT exposes this difference. The literal, interlinear translation of the Greek reads, "in order that they may be knowing you the only true God". There's a big difference between knowing a person and taking in knowledge of them. I've been a Bob Dylan fan for 40 years, have read all sorts of books about him, can recite the lyrics to scores of his songs. But I've never met the man. I have taken in knowledge of him, but I don't know him. Christians don't get saved by "taking in knowledge," but through a personal relationship with God. The idea that knowledge saves us is far more characteristic of Gnostic thinking than orthodox Christianity.