What is the New World Translation and how is it flawed?

What is it?

The new world translation is a version of the bible that is used by Jehovahs witnesses. It is the anonymous work of the "New world bible translation committee". No one knows who makes up this group, making it impossible for their credentials to be checked. It's impossible to tell what background they have or understanding of the ancient languages they have.

Th translation is an attempt to create a translation that matches up with Jehovah's witnesses doctrine, rather than start with what the word of God says, and then match their doctrine to it.

It's very hard for Jehovah's witnesses to break free from this, because not many people have a strong grasp of ancient greek or Hebrew, at least enough to understand the rules around sentence structure, as as a result how something should be translated.

The translation aimed to remove references to Jesus Christ being God. But over time, it has been often revised as Christians have pointed out other passages that remained in it that showed that Christ is God.

Flaws

It translates the word for cross as torture stake, as they don't believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross. It wont translate the words for hell into the word hell, as they don't believe in that either.

It is inaccurate in its translation. Sometimes it inserts words that aren't there in the original. An example is:

NWT Colossians 1:16 because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him.

KJV Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

The word other simply isn't there in the original and has been added in. It's there to enable them to deny that Jesus Christ is God, which they refuse to believe.

The most well known miss-translation is:

NWT John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.

KJV John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Now in the original there is no word for a before God in the original. There technically wasn't an indefinite article in the greek so the word that we use in english as 'a'. So when it was needed an indefinite adjective was added which isn't the case here. If John was wanting us to know that Christ was only "a god", then he would have been very careful when he wrote to make clear that Christ wasn't God.

The problems with the way things have been translated become even more clear when you look at the rest of John, and the same word in this verse translated as 'a god' without a definite article before it is translated as God through the rest of the book.

This and many other inconstancies demonstrate the desire to get the bible to fit with their doctrine rather than the other way around.

The bible is very clear that The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He sometimes spoke through His human nature, so appeared human, but at other times clearly spoke through His divine nature so that we would be clear that He is God.

If He isn't God, then we have no hope. There would be no way that He could take an infinite punishment that was deserved for our sins in our place. There would be no way to have a perfect mediator between God and man. We would be left with no hope.

But the bible make it clear who God is so we have hope if we come to Him and trust in Him. We can and will be saved if we do.

For more information on Jehovah's witnesses, read - Is The Jehovah’s Witness Religion Christian?