117. JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, the TRINITY and THE ... - Answers

15. Salvation - although giving lip service to salvation by faith in Christ, JWs believe that
salvation only comes by full obedience to the WT Society, and by their zealous door-todoor
works program. Those JWs who enter the 1000 year paradise must maintain their
good works for 1000 years before they can be sealed for life. Eph.2:8,9 ‘Not of works’.
9. ‘DEITY OF CHRIST’ VERSES THAT THE NWT CHANGES.
Greek linguists, both Christian and non-Christian, universally reject the NWT as biased and
inaccurate. Dr Julius Mantey, one of the world’s leading Greek experts, publicly demanded
that the Watchtower Society stop misquoting his Greek Grammar to support the NWT.
He says: ‘I have never read any New Testament so badly translated as the Kingdom
Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. It is a distortion of the NT.’ (Vantage Press,
1980, p.136)
Our purpose is to show how the New World Translation mistranslates key verses which for
the last 1900 years have been understood as Deity of Christ proof texts.
1. Colossians 1:17
Ask: Why does the NWT insert ‘OTHER’ four times, when it is not in any New
Testament Greek manuscript?
Answer: Because they do not want it to appear that Christ is the Creator and that He
existed before all things.
The NWT makes it appear that Jesus was created first, and then He was used by Jehovah
to create all other things in the Universe. The JW Kingdom Interlinear Translation (KIT),
p 880 shows that the Greek word ‘panta’ means ‘all things’ not ‘all other things’. Here,
by adding ‘other’ they change the meaning of the text from Christ being the Creator, to
being a created being on a par with all other created things.
JW Objection: The WT says that Christ played a junior role in creation since I Cor.
8:6 says that God made the world by or through (Greek ‘δια’ ie: ‘dia’) Christ.
Answer:
1) This is unacceptable because, while it is true that the Greek word ‘δια’ is used of
Christ’s role as Creator (John 1:3, I Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2),
‘dia’ is also used of God as Creator in Romans 11:36 which states that the universe
was created ‘through’ (Greek ‘δια’) God:
‘For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things.’
Hebrews 2:10 also states that the universe was created ‘through or by’ (Greek ‘δια’)
the Father: ‘by ( δι) whom are all things.’
‘ δια’ (by/through) used of God/Father/Christ as CREATOR
God Romans 11:36 For of him, and ‘δια’ him, and to him, are all things.
Father Hebrews 2:10 And ‘δια’ whom are all things
Christ John 1:2,3 The same was in the beginning with God. And all things
were made ‘δια’ him
I Corinthians 8:6 One Lord Jesus Christ, ‘δια’ whom are all things.
Colossians 1:15,16 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of
every creature: For ‘δια’ him were all things created
Hebrews 1:2 His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, ‘δια’
’ whom also he made the worlds.
Ask: Since the Greek word ‘δια’, is used of both the Father and the Son, how can it be
taken to indicate a lesser role for Christ?
2) Isaiah 44:24 states that ONLY God is the Creator:
‘I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens ALONE, that
spreadeth abroad the earth by MYSELF’.
Because Jehovah is the maker of all things ‘alone’, ‘by myself’, and that
Christ is the maker of all things (‘All things were made by him’ (John 1:3),
this proves that Christ is God Almighty.
3) All things were created FOR Christ (Colossians 1:16), means that Christ is the end
for which all things exist. All things are to serve His will and contribute to His glory.
(‘All things were created BY him and FOR him’. Col. 1:16).
4) Christ as sole Creator is seen in John 1:3:
‘All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made’
‘by whom also he made the worlds’. (Hebrews 1:2,10)
5) Christ is the Preserver of the universe.
He sustains it: ‘by him all things consist (hold together).’ (Colossians 1:17)
6) Christ ‘is before all things.’ (Colossians 1:17). Jesus Christ is the great FIRST cause.
7) Christ ‘IS before all things.’ Were Christ merely pre-existent, we would say that
Christ ‘WAS before all things’. The present tense ‘IS’ indicates eternal, unending
existence, just as does ‘I AM’ in John 8:24, 58.
2. Philippians 2:9
The NWT (1961 Edition) deceptively adds the word ‘other’ in Philippians 2:9 without
parentheses or brackets, where ‘other’ appears in no New Testament manuscript. It has
been deliberately added by the WT to change the meaning from Christ having the greatest
name, to Christ having the second greatest name other than God. Realising their
dishonesty, they bracket ‘other’ in the KIT and NWT 1984 edition as seen below: