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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Is BeDuhn correct on John 8:58? | John 8:58 | fellow worker | 145177 | ||
Your quote is correct. He also states: "I am not claiming that Jesus' remark in John 8:58 is without theological significance, nor that it has nothing to do with to OT background." There is something here for a prideful Jew to kill Jesus over - he is claiming to have been alive before Abraham! BeDuhn does not see the NW as the best translation of the verse, but the LB: "I was in existence before Abraham was ever born!" He concludes: "The average Bible reader might never guess that there was something wrong with the other translations, and might even assume that the error was to be found in the LB and NW. When all you can do is compare the English translations, and count them up like votes, the LB and NW stick out as different in John 8:58. It is natural to assume that the majority are correct and the odd ones at fault. It is only when translations are checked against the original Greek, as they should be, that a fair assessment can be made, and the initial assumption can be seen to be wrong." Tim, you say that Jesus is not addressing the question of identity. Exactly. It’s about how long he’s existed. So you agree this verse has been abused as a trinity proof. Since I know no one will actually read this book, at least not with an open mind, I’ll spoil the ending. How does one explain how Jehovah’s Witnesses could have published the most accurate and least biased of the modern translations compared? “The Jehovah’s Witness movement was and is a more radical break with the dominant Christian tradition of the previous millennium than most kinds of Protestantism. This movement has, unlike the Protestant Reformation, really sought to re-invent Christianity from scratch. Whether you regard that as a good or a bad thing, you can probably understand that it resulted in the Jehovah’s Witnesses approaching the Bible with a kind of innocence, and building their system of belief and practice from the raw material of the Bible without predetermining what was to be found there.” On the other hand, he boldly declares that “when the Protestant Reformation occurred just five hundred years ago, it did not re-invent Christianity from scratch, but carried over many of the doctrines that had developed within Catholicism over the course of the previous thousand years and more. In this sense, one might argue that the Protestant Reformation is incomplete, that it did not fully realize the high ideals that were set for it.” Amen to that. |
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2 | Is BeDuhn correct on John 8:58? | John 8:58 | Morant61 | 145179 | ||
Greetings Ben! Thanks for the response my friend! First of all, allow me to touch upon John 8:58. I would disagree that 'I am' is a mistranslation. It is by far the most accurate and literal. To say, "I was in existence" instead is to engage in interpretation, not translation. :-) Finally, I don't know Mr. BeDuhn, so I won't try to speak to his motives or character. However, his statement is nothing more than his opinion, not fact. There are many, including myself, who would disagree with his assesment of the NWT. My personal opinion is that the NWT is nothing more than a paraphrase of the KJV. Since the 'translators' will not identify themselves, one cannot even be sure that they are qualified to translate or that they did in fact translate anything. :-( Finally, I would not agree that John 8:58 has been abused as a Trinity support. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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3 | Is BeDuhn correct on John 8:58? | John 8:58 | fellow worker | 145264 | ||
Qualifications may be necessary, but the proof is in the results. If not qualified, why have unbiased scholars praised this translation? Also, isn't it possible that highly qualified Greek scholars might succumb to bias and waste their talents, even misleading readers? That's what BeDuhn has found and documented. Why is it that Luke 10:21,22 is true? This is the way approved by God. Good motive, a pure heart - wouldn't you agree that this is what will cause God to bless one's efforts. "Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth." Who are those that He sanctifies by revealing truth? Those that are true disciples of Jesus - "no part of the world." (Jo 17:16,17) This is the form of worship that God accepts. (James 1:27; 4:4) This is how you identify true Christians, not by the number of letters behind one's name or the amount of money he's made off religion. |
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4 | Is BeDuhn correct on John 8:58? | John 8:58 | Morant61 | 145274 | ||
Greetings Ben! The fact remains though that translation is a learned skill. One must be trained to do it. Since the 'translators' of the NWT will not identify themselves, no one knows whether or not they have this skill or not. Further, no one even knows if they translated anything. As I've said, my impression of the NWT is that it is nothing more than a paraphrase of the KJV, not a translation at all. I believe that the real reason for their silence is that they do not have the qualifications to translate at all. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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