by coldfish 20 Replies latest watchtower bible
Hi I'm new to this site. I was raised a JW, I'm now 28, and left about a year ago. The only bible I've ever looked at is the New World Translation.
Objectively.. how good do you think the NWT is?
What are other well renound accurate translations? Are there any that use the name Jehovah at all?
Thanks
Debbie
Don't go with one, use a bunch. My church uses the New International Version (NIV) most of the time, but we certainly aren't limited to it. The New English Bible is also good. I have a comprehensive Bible that is four translations side by side that is very useful.
There is a translation of the New Testament called "The Message" that is great for getting the flavor of the original language.
There's a website called "The Bible Gateway" that will give you access to about twenty translations.
Hi there
I agree, go with maybe 2 or 3 different versions. The New International is fine for starters and widely available.
Objectively speaking & IMO, the NWT is ok, yet does contain quirks & errors and some would say that the name Jehovah has been forced into the Christian Greek scriptures , along with the rendering of John of course (that old indefinite article thingy).
Just make comparisons and make your own mind up.
Cheers
Welcome, Debbie/coldfish--
For more info on the merits of the New World Translation try www.freeminds.org/doctrine/nwtontrial.htm
and a site a couple posters here told me about for free downloads of Strong's Concordance and several different translations of the Bible is www.e-sword.net
--Merry
Personally I love the NWT
It comes in handy for swatting flies, propping up a table leg, holding papers down on a windy day and it's also alot of fun finding all the contradictions the dimwitted writers made while they wrote it.
If I had to choose a bible it would probably be the NIV, mind you I would still swat flies with it...occasionally.
Naughty Shotgun!
You wouldn't have broken table legs to prop up if you would stop using the Bible to swat flies...
New Jeruslaem verison
I use this website when I need to look something up at work or to compare translations. It allows you to search by word, phrase, book or verse.
It depends what you want from a Bible translation. As a piece of literature the KJ has that shakesperean feel that many enjoy. It first must be understood that the JW indoctrination has influenced us in even this area. The very concept of an "accurate, word for word translation" was a deception. There is no such thing. Every translation is an interpretation. Further the Greek and Latin manuscripts contain many thousands of variations. Supposedly using the "oldest and best" manuscripts is another deception. There is no "best". ( Critical texts are available like "The Greek New Testament by Kurt Aland etal. ) The oldest means it went thru only 2 hundred years of rediting rather than 3 or 4. Not a big deal once you come to understand that the greatest editing and redaction took place in the first 2 hundred. Focus upon threads by knowledgeable posters like Narkissos and Leolaia. They have taught me a great deal. The NWT is really not any worse than many others, the deliberate biases are obvious after a while of comparing with others yet the others are often likwised interpretive.. However as part of your recovery from the cult it may be best to use a translation that is free of the terminolgy and phrasing that was part of the indoctrination process.
I would urge you to examine your premise. You are starting out with the idea that the Bible needs no investigation as to its merits as an historical and divine work. You've swallowed that one whole.
That is a mighty big lump! It has stuck in many a throat.
Remember, the same people who gave us the Apostle's Creed, immortality of the soul, hellfire, the Trinity, etc. were the "experts' who gave us the Bible Canon as far as New Testment.
You have a similar problem with Old Testament.
At least read scholarly works that deal with HOW those books were compiled from oral traditions, redacted and chosen.
WHO WROTE THE BIBLE is a good place to start (Friedman)http://www.drury.edu/ess/values/friedman.html
If it turns out you are able to discover that there is little in the way of evidence for anything "divine" about all these writings; then, it becomes less important which version you read.
http://ggreenberg.tripod.com/101myths-book.htm
At least read that page on the above link. Save yourself years of wasted toil.
