1 John 4:16
Matt 24:14
2 Tim 3:16-17
Rev 16:16
Psa 37
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Who Really Is Bible Illiterate?
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A response to Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service: I read with interest an article under your byline entitled " Vatican newspaper:Biblical illiteracy can lead to easy manipulation", prompting this reply. Realizing that you have a limited amount of space to utilize in your reporting, and the fact that this can lead to an unintended appearance of bias, I am addressing the unsubstantiated claims made regarding Valerio Polidori's comments about the literacy or factualness of scriptural information as it is disseminated in the publications of the Watch Tower Society, including the accuracy of the translation of Holy Scripture as represented by the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. In analyzing the main points Valerio makes, one must use the Bible as the ultimate authority to answer the claims made. First, as to the divinity of the Christ: Among denominations of Christianity that teach this, there is considerable confusion and sometimes extreme thinking on the matter. Some religious leaders make the claim that Jesus Christ was only a mere human, while those believing in the trinitarian view say that he has always existed and was always divine. The Truth as expounded in Holy Scripture inspired by Almighty God lies somewhere in between these two extreme attitudes. The Word of God shows that Jesus Christ was at one time, in his prehuman existence, a spirit, that he became wholly human upon coming to earth, and that upon his resurrection he again became a spirit, now endowed with an incorruptible organism and receiving immortal life. Jesus Christ himself explicitly and repeatedly testified to the fact of his prehuman existence and to his having come down from heaven: “And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven”-John 3:13 (Dy) “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.”-John 6:51 (Dy) “Jesus said, 'In very truth I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am.”-John 8:58 (REB) "And now, Father, reveal my glory as I stand in your presence, the glory we shared before the world began.”-John 17:5 (LB) “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.”—Rev. 3:14 (KJV) The disciples and Apostles also testified to this: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.."-Phil 2:5-7 (KJV) "..who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist."-Col 1:13-17 (ASV) "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour: that, through the grace of God, he might taste death for all."-Heb 2:9- (Dy) Consider this: Both the disciples and Jesus Christ himself testify to his humanity, as seen in the previous scripture quotes. If we consider the thought contained in John 1:18 in many translations which states that no man has seen God, then how can a Christian claim that Jesus is God, since many men, women and children saw him while he was on earth? The scriptural fact that Jesus was a spirit creature at his creation, had his life force transferred in the Miraculous Conception and was born of Mary as a human, was crucified and resurrected back to life as a spirit creature is well established in Holy scripture inspired of God. It is the politics of man that has allowed tradition and dogma to replace the Truth with other thoughts on this matter. The next scripturally logical step from here is that the Holy scriptures do not support the trinitarian viewpoint that God, Jesus and the holy spirit are one. Too many individuals who try to support this nonbiblical teaching are reading into texts more than they say. Many texts that are cited by those who hold that Jesus Christ always has been divine and is, in fact, a member of a trinity, equal in essence, glory and duration with his Father, invariably, when we examine these texts, we find that they are credited with saying far more than they actually do. For example, the texts previously cited proving that Jesus did have a prehuman existence are used as proof that Jesus was God or equal to his Father; yet not one of them even intimates such a thing. In the same way the texts that tell of God using the pronoun “us” are used as an argument for the equality of the prehuman Jesus, the Logos, with his Father. But the mere fact that God uses this pronoun does not prove that he was speaking to an equal. At best, it can merely imply that among all the heavenly creatures there was one that occupied a preferred position in relation to God; and this is exactly how the Scriptures present the matter. The Word, the Logos, was God’s intimate, his chief Deputy, Spokesman or Messenger before he came to earth.—Gen. 1:26; 11:7; Prov. 8:30; Isa. 63:9; John 1:3 The fact that the Father, Son and holy spirit were present at Jesus’ baptism, were mentioned in the commission Jesus gave his followers to “make disciples of all nations” and by Paul in one of his closing benedictions cannot be used to argue that the three must be persons coequal in glory, substance and eternity, as is argued by some trinitarians. Such is reading far more into what was written. Roman Catholic priest F. X. Cronin, preaching at St. Patrick’s Cathedral claimed that because Bible texts tell of Jesus performing miracles and being raised from the dead they prove that “Christ is God,” Also, in a Knights of Columbus advertisement appearing in The New York Times, February 1, 1960, it stated Jesus was either “God . . . or the greatest fraud that ever lived!” based on the aforementioned miracles, etc. It was not at all necessary for Jesus to be divine or God to perform the miracles he did. Moses and many other prophets of old performed amazing miracles without being God, and so did Jesus’ disciples. So Jesus’ miracles and his resurrection from the dead cannot be used as proof that he was God. As for his being a fraud if he were not God, let it be noted that at no time did Jesus claim to be God, to be the same as his Father. The most he ever claimed for himself was that he was the Son of God; in a unique sense, it is true, but not God himself, only the Son of God.—John 10:36. Micah 5:2 is another text into which too much is read by those believing in the trinity. According to the King James Version it prophetically speaks of Jesus as the one “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Because only God is from everlasting it is argued that Jesus is God. But again, not so. The Hebrew word here rendered “everlasting,” is olám, and simply means an indefinite period of time. It is used at Numbers 25:13 to apply to the Levitical priesthood, which did last for an indefinite period of time, coming to its end more than 1900 years ago. Other translations of Micah 5:2 therefore read: “Whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.” (RS) In particular does the apostle Paul show the distinction between God and Jesus Christ. He did not teach that God and Christ are equals, but clearly reiterated time and again that Jesus occupies an inferior position: “Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by him.”.—1 Cor. 8:6 (Dy) Further, he shows that even as “all things are yours,” so “you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”.—1 Cor. 3:21, 23 (Dy) Yes, even as Christians belong to their Head and Master, Jesus Christ, so Jesus Christ belongs to his Head and Master, Almighty God. Referring to the same thing, the apostle farther on states: “...that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.”.”—1 Cor. 11:3 (Dy) What could be clearer than that? And that this relationship will continue throughout eternity is apparent from the apostle Paul’s further words: “Then comes the end, when he delivers up the kingdom to God the Father, after deposing every sovereignty, authority, and power."; "...and when all things are subject to him, then the Son himself will also be made subject to God who made all things subject to him, and thus God will be all in all."—1 Cor 15:24, 28 (REB) So, then, as to the proper Biblical view of the divinity of Christ, we can say the Bible says there was a time when Jesus was not; that before he was born of Mary he had an existence in heaven as a glorious spirit creature, the Word, a god; that upon coming to earth he was wholly a human, not more, not less than perfect Adam as far as his nature was concerned; and that since his resurrection he is a mighty, glorious divine spirit, incorruptible and immortal; that never at any time has Jesus been equal to his Father but is ever subordinate to him.
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On the second point about the immortality of the soul: Titus Flavius Clemens, known as Clement of Alexandria, is quoted as writing: "All souls are immortal, even those of the wicked...Punished with the endless vengeance of quenchless fire, and not dying, it is impossible for them to have [an end] put to their misery." Many who believe as he did about an eternal hell as a place of torment assume that the human soul is immortal, thus the eternal torment for the wicked. To understand the biblical viewpoint we need to look at what was said about whether the first man, Adam, was given an immortal soul upon his creation. At Gen. 2:7 we read: "The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."(KJV) "And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth : and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." (Dy) "The Lord God formed a human being from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living creature." (REB) Notice what is absent here. The scriptures do not say that God gave Adam a soul. They are explicit in saying that he became a soul. Ezekiel was told by God, at Ezekiel 18:4b: "...the soul who sins is the one who will die." (NIV) "...the soul that sinneth, the same shall die." (Dy) "It is the person who sins that will die." (REB) "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (KJV) If the soul is immortal, then is Ezekiel lying when he wrote under inspiration the above? Or could it be that individuals claiming immortality of the soul are inserting their own thoughts above God's? Further, at Ecc 9:5, 10: "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten." "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." (KJV) " For the living at least know that they will die! But the dead know nothing ; they don't even have their memories." " Whatever you do, do well, for in death, where you are going, there is no working or planning, or knowing, or understanding." (LB) “For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing more, neither have they a reward anymore ; for the memory of them is forgotten.” “Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly : for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening.” (Dy) If the soul were separate and immortal, then the scriptures should say there would be consciousness after death. As noted, they do not. They are clear as to the fact that at death there is no activity, both of mind and spirit. Immortality of a soul far predates Christianity. The book The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria states “In the ancient world, Egypt, Persia, and Greece felt the influence of the Babylonian religion.” This book goes on to explain: “In view of the early contact between Egypt and Babylonia, as revealed by the El-Amarna tablets, there were certainly abundant opportunities for the infusion of Babylonian views and customs into Egyptian cults. In Persia, the Mithra cult reveals the unmistakable influence of Babylonian conceptions . . . The strong admixture of Semitic elements both in early Greek mythology and in Grecian cults is now so generally admitted by scholars as to require no further comment. These Semitic elements are to a large extent more specifically Babylonian.” The teaching of the immortality of the soul goes back to ancient Babylon. According to the Bible, the city of Babel, or Babylon, was founded by Nimrod, a great-grandson of Noah. After the global Flood in Noah’s day, there was only one language and one religion. By founding the city and constructing a tower there, Nimrod started another religion. The Bible record shows that after the confusion of languages at Babel, the unsuccessful tower builders scattered and made new beginnings, taking along their religion. (Genesis 10:6-10; 11:4-9) Babylonian religious teachings thus spread across the face of the earth. Tradition has it that Nimrod died a violent death. After his death the Babylonians reasonably would have been inclined to hold him in high regard as the founder, builder, and first king of their city. Since the god Marduk (Merodach) was regarded as the founder of Babylon, some scholars have suggested that Marduk represents the deified Nimrod. If this is so, then the idea that a person has a soul that survives death must have been current at least by the time of Nimrod’s death. In any case, following the Flood, the birthplace of the teaching of the immortality of the soul was Babel, or Babylon. How, then, did this Babylonian teaching become central to Judaism and Christendom? Socrates, renowned Greek philosopher of the fifth century B.C. and his student Plato are credited with advancing the idea that the soul is immortal. But as we already stated above about ancient Babylon, they were not the originators of this teaching. Since the idea of human immortality came from much earlier times, it was Socrates and Plato who took the concept and transformed it into a philosophical teaching, thus making it more appealing to the cultured classes of their day and beyond. The Greeks prior to Socrates and Plato also believed that the soul lived on after death. Pythagoras, the famous Greek mathematician of the sixth century B.C., held that the soul was immortal and subject to transmigration. Before him, Thales of Miletus, thought to be the earliest known Greek philosopher, felt that an immortal soul existed not only in men, animals, and plants but also in such objects as magnets, since they can move iron. The ancient Greeks claimed that the souls of the dead were ferried across the river Styx to a vast underground realm called the netherworld. There, judges sentenced the souls either to torment in a high-walled prison or to bliss in Elysium. Judaism's exposure to this Greek way of thinking came when. in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great conquered much of the Middle East. Upon his arrival in Jerusalem, the Jews welcomed him with open arms. According to first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, they even showed him the prophecy from the book of Daniel, written over 200 years earlier, that clearly described Alexander’s conquests in the role of “the king of Greece.” (Daniel 8:5-8, 21) Alexander’s successors continued his plan of Hellenization, imbuing all parts of the empire with Greek language, culture, and philosophy. A blending of the two cultures—the Greek and the Jewish—was inevitable. In the third century B.C., the first translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, called the Septuagint, was begun. Because of this, many gentiles became familiar with and had respect for Judaism, and, in like manner, too, many Jews were becoming conversant with Greek thought, and some became philosophers, something entirely new to them. Philo of Alexandria, of the first century A.D., was one such Jewish philosopher. Philo revered Plato and endeavored to explain Judaism in terms of Greek philosophy. In the book Heaven—A History we read: “By creating a unique synthesis of Platonic philosophy and biblical tradition, Philo paved the way for later Christian thinkers.” And what was Philo’s belief about the soul? The book continues: “For him, death restores the soul to its original, pre-birth state. Since the soul belongs to the spiritual world, life in the body becomes nothing but a brief, often unfortunate, episode.”. The sacred Hebrew writings began to be written in the 16th century B.C. and were completed by the time Socrates and Plato gave shape to the theory of the immortality of the soul. According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica: “Only in the post-biblical period, did a clear and firm belief in the immortality of the soul take hold . . . and become one of the cornerstones of the Jewish and Christian faiths.” It also states: “The personality was considered as a whole in the biblical period. Thus the soul was not sharply distinguished from the body.” The early Jews believed in the resurrection of the dead, and this “is to be distinguished from the belief in . . . the immortality of the soul,” points out that encyclopedia. So, as a direct result of Alexander's desire to “Hellenize” the world, the belief in an immortal soul became stronger. Nowhere in the Hebrew text of the Bible is the thought of an immortal soul. The Hebrew word translated “soul” is ne´phesh, and it occurs 754 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. What does ne´phesh mean? According to The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, it “usually refers to the entire living being, to the whole individual.” This understanding is supported throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The word translated “soul” more than a hundred times in the Christian Greek Scriptures is psy·khe´. Psy·khe´, like ne´phesh, clearly refers to the whole person. According to scholar Nigel Turner, this word “signifies what is characteristically human, the self, the material body having God’s rûaḥ [spirit] breathed into it. . . . The emphasis is on the whole self.”
On the third point about Jesus being the mediator between God and men, the discussion revolves around the two main classes defined in scripture, those who are the Chosen Ones, the Anointed, and those of the Multitude. We will save that discussion for another time.
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The last point is that of acknowledging the Divine Name properly when translating Holy Scripture. While it is true that the actual pronunciation of God's personal Name as represented by the tetragrammaton, the four Hebrew letters as they appear in scripture, has been lost to time it still is proper to acknowledge the fact that Adonai and Elohim are not the Name, that they are substitutes which gained usage due to an over exuberance of caution and superstition in applying the third commandment not to take up God's Name in vain. Note what Sir Godfrey Driver in Introduction to the Old Testament of the New English Bible had to say- “...special notice as affecting the divine name. This, written YHWH, was normally replaced by 'God' or 'Lord' as too sacred for common use (Exodus 20.7 and Leviticus 24.16), being uttered only by the priest in the temple giving the priestly benediction (Numbers 6.24–27). The true pronunciation was already passing into oblivion before A.D. 70; but Christian writers between A.D. 150 and A.D. 450 have Yaouai and Yabe (Yave) in Greek characters, and early magical texts have Yhbyh (Yahveh) in Aramaic characters, all pointing to Yahweh as the original pronunciation. The Massoretes, however, never vocalized the divine name as Yahweh; instead, to the consonants YHWH they added the vowels of adonay, 'my Lord' (replacing a by e as required by Hebrew phonetic laws), or of elohim, 'God', thus warning the reader to use one or other of these words in place of the divine name; and the early translators generally substituted 'Lord' for it. The Massoretes, however, did not intend the vowels of either of these words to be attached to the consonants of the divine name as though it was Yehowah or Yehowih, both grammatically impossible and meaningless forms; this uncouth combination, written Ieoa in Greek letters in Hellenistic magical texts, did not become effective until Yehova or Jehova or Johova appeared in two Latin works dated in A.D. 1278 and A.D. 1303; the shortened Jova (declined like a Latin noun) came into use in the sixteenth century. The Reformers preferred Jehovah, which first appeared as Iehouah in A.D. 1530 in Tyndale's translation of the Pentateuch (Exodus 6.3), from which it passed into other Protestant Bibles. The present translators have retained the incorrect but now customary 'JEHOVAH' in the text of passages where it is explained in a note (Exodus 3.15 and 6.3; cp. Genesis 4.26) and in four place-names (Genesis 22.14, Exodus 17.15, Judges 6.24, Ezekiel 48.35); elsewhere they have put 'LORD' or 'GOD' in capital letters.”
The introduction to the New World Translation states the following: “METHOD: Since the Bible sets forth the sacred will of the Sovereign Lord of the universe, it would be a great indignity, indeed an affront to his majesty and authority, to omit or hide his unique divine name, which plainly occurs in the Hebrew text nearly 7,000 times as יהוה (YHWH). Therefore, the foremost feature of this translation is the restoration of the divine name to its rightful place in the English text. It has been done, using the commonly accepted English form “Jehovah” 6,973 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and 237 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures.”
From the New World Translation Appendix – 1A ““Jehovah” (Heb., יהוה, YHWH), God’s personal name, first occurs in Ge 2:4. The divine name is a verb, the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb הוה (ha·wah´, “to become”). Therefore, the divine name means “He Causes to Become.” This reveals Jehovah as the One who, with progressive action, causes himself to become the Fulfiller of promises, the One who always brings his purposes to realization. See Ge 2:4 ftn, “Jehovah”; App 3C. Compare Ex 3:14 ftn. The greatest indignity that modern translators render to the Divine Author of the Holy Scriptures is the removal or the concealing of his peculiar personal name. Actually his name occurs in the Hebrew text 6,828 times as יהוה (YHWH or JHVH), generally referred to as the Tetragrammaton (literally meaning “having four letters”). By using the name “Jehovah,” we have held closely to the original-language texts and have not followed the practice of substituting titles such as “Lord,” “the Lord,” “Adonai” or “God” for the divine name, the Tetragrammaton.” From the New World Translation Appendix – 1D “RESTORING THE DIVINE NAME” “Throughout the centuries many translations of parts or of all the Christian Greek Scriptures have been made into Hebrew. Such translations, designated in this work by “J” with a superior number, have restored the divine name to the inspired Christian Greek Scriptures in various places. They have restored the divine name not only when coming upon quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures but also in other places where the texts called for such restoration. To know where the divine name was replaced by the Greek words Κύριος and Θεός, we have determined where the inspired Christian writers have quoted verses, passages and expressions from the Hebrew Scriptures and then we have referred back to the Hebrew text to ascertain whether the divine name appears there. In this way we determined the identity to give Ky´ri·os and The·os´ and the personality with which to clothe them. To avoid overstepping the bounds of a translator into the field of exegesis, we have been most cautious about rendering the divine name in the Christian Greek Scriptures, always carefully considering the Hebrew Scriptures as a background. We have looked for agreement from the Hebrew versions to confirm our rendering. Thus, out of the 237 times that we have rendered the divine name in the body of our translation, there is only one instance where we have no agreement from the Hebrew versions. But in this one instance, namely, 1Co 7:17, the context and related texts strongly support rendering the divine name.—See 1Co 7:17 ftn, “Jehovah.” “ If a Church and its people claim to be representatives of God's Kingdom on earth, they then must live up to what God represents. We identify that by our knowledge of scripture and the correlation of His personality as identified in those scriptures to His personal name. I notice that your articles at CNS aren't bylined with “A female reporter of CNS”. Your style of writing is identified by your name, Carol Glatz, as your byline. In your personal life you are remembered by those people you have contact with by your personal name and not some title. So, too, it should be with God. His Name has meaning as an identifier, the Sovereign of all the Universe and the One to whom all creation should acknowledge as the One who will fulfill His purposes completely. It is, therefore, incumbent on us to recognise that Name. The Watch Tower Society has chosen to do so by restoring the Name in the New World Translation as well as to identify each member in good standing as “one of Jehovah's Witnesses”.
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One thing that Valerio Polidori should consider is what Matt 7:1-5 states: "JUDGE NOT, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” (RSV) The fact that he states Biblical culture has been declining is a judgement against his church and her teachings. Why? Because the Church of Rome has influence over one fifth of the earth's population. Since the strength of the church is her congregations of worshippers, if there is a decline then the faith must be weak. If the faith is weak, then the message taught must have no power. If the message is Truth, it is from God and cannot fail, for as Heb 4:12-13 states: “For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and [their] marrow, and [is] able to discern thoughts and intentions of [the] heart. And there is not a creation that is not manifest to his sight, but all things are naked and openly exposed to the eyes of him with whom we have an accounting.” (NWT) An individual proves themselves by the way they accept that Word of God, the inspired Holy Scriptures. If they compromise that Word with dogma, traditions of men or philosophies, then they are exposed by that Word. As 2 Tim 3:16-17 states: “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.” (NWT) All religions, Catholic as well as others, have their critics. Unlike them, however, I am not here trying to imitate their way of thinking. I, as an ordained minister of Jehovah God, am tasked only to teach and preach the Good News according to the Christ in the way that Jehovah God proscribed. It is up to you, the individual, to make the choice of whether or not to accept or reject what you hear. If you are a sincere person, caring about your spirituality, then your quest for Truth will be fulfilled. God promised that He would see to that. It remains for all to act in harmony with that Truth once they find it.
I hope you do..... Questions? Send to: Andnowthetruth1@yahoo.com Please put "YHWH" in subject line or mail will be deleted as spam
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