How Jehovah’s Witnesses Twist the Scriptures

By: Lorri MacGregor; ©March 2000

By now, many people know what the Jehovah’s Witnesses do with John 1:1. But are there other Scripture verses that they twist to suit their theology? Lorri MacGregor, herself a former Witness, points to some examples in this article.

Twisting and Distorting the Bible

Of all the cult groups, Jehovah’s Witnesses are the ones that are the most deceitful and clever when it comes to the twisting and distorting of the Bible. The ones at your door are not responsible, but are deceived by those at headquarters. I was formerly a Jehovah’s Witness for fifteen years, and understand that organization from the inside out. Those in control are so clever in their distortions that members are convinced that they are continu­ally receiving “truth.” They even inquire, “How long have you been in the truth?” (meaning the Jehovah’s Witness Organization).

At my very first encounter with Jehovah’s Witnesses, they put the twist on John 14:28, where Jesus said, “…the Father is greater than I,” and told me the Trinity was a doctrine of Satan, Jesus was inferior to his Father, and an archangel named Michael to boot. How proficient they seemed flipping all over the Bible from one (unrelated) Scripture to another! I was impressed. As our “bible studies” progressed, I was warned, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…,” quoting only a portion of the thought in Philippians 2:12. I was told this consisted of “publishing the good news of God’s kingdom” by asking for contributions for their publications door-to-door, attending five meetings a week, and mak­ing numerous other quotas. Of course, I was never directed to the following verse, which continued the same sentence, “…for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

The Jehovah’s Witnesses at headquarters want to make sure their members know nothing of the indwelling Christ (“for it is God who is at work IN YOU…”), and they have removed this truth from numerous scriptures in their “bible.” Everywhere it says “Christ IN YOU,” they have altered the text to read, “IN UNION WITH YOU.” However, worse distor­tions are yet to be discussed.

How Reliable is the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Many scholars will not even apply the term “translation” to this “bible.” The Watchtower Society needed a bible to conform to their strange doctrines, and so they created one. The “translation” was done by a five-member committee in Brooklyn, New York. Four of these men had a high school education only, with no Hebrew or Greek knowledge at all. The fifth man, the late Fred W. Franz, although claiming to know Hebrew and Greek (without cre­dentials), while under oath in a Scottish Court of Law, failed a simple Hebrew test. He was a college sophomore dropout, and lied about being offered a Rhodes Scholarship. No wonder the Society refuses to name their translators, and prefers to be anonymous and “humble!” No reputable scholar will endorse this “translation,” and no one suffers more in this distortion than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Distorting John 1:1

“In (the) beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god” (New World Translation).

Since the Jehovah’s Witnesses portray Jesus as a lesser god, the archangel Michael, and merely a man on earth, they needed a Bible to suit their misrepresentations. They resorted to quoting a spirit medium, Johannes Greber, and referring to an altered transla­tion by the Unitarians (who also deny Christ’s Deity). Then they used the Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson, a Christadelphian, a cult which also denies the Deity of Christ. Last, but not least, they bent the rules for Greek grammar.

Why would the Watchtower Society CHOOSE sources that are false and even de­monic? Why do they further CHOOSE to ignore Greek scholars who are reputable? Every Jehovah’s Witness needs to get satisfactory answers to these important questions.

John 1:1 correctly reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Misrepresenting Christ Goes on in the New World Translation

A most revealing publication of the Watchtower Society is a purple interlinear translation called “The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures,” published in 1969. In this book their scripture distortions can be clearly seen, especially the altering of the text in places where Jesus is called “God.” So successful has this publication been in setting Jehovah’s Witnesses free from the Watchtower Society that they have taken it out of print and substituted one in which the distortions are masked much more successfully. We recommend the original, if you can find one from marketers of old Watchtower Publications.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Distortion of Colossians 2:9

“because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily” (New World Translation).

Notice the words, “divine quality”. They are found nowhere in the Greek text. Why then are they inserted in the New World Translation? Obviously because the Jehovah’s Witness leaders could not have their membership know that “all the fullness of Deity” is dwelling in Christ bodily! Notice the Greek/English side of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation, “be­cause in him is dwelling down all the fullness of the godship bodily.”

Looking up the word “godship” in any reputable Bible Dictionary, we find it also reads, “Godhead” or “Deity.” It can never be honestly translated “divine quality.” Why would the Watchtower Translators be so dishonest to insert extra words in the text, and at the same time, ignore the truth about Jesus? The correct reading of Colossians 2:9 should be, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (NAS).

Yes, all is all, and full is full, and Jesus is Deity (God), even in the flesh! No wonder the verse just previous is a warning to watch out for those who would misrepresent Christ!

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been duped by their leadership into accepting a counterfeit Jesus Christ, counterfeit salvation, and yes—an altered bible with dishonest or missing scholarship. Next time we will continue on with our examination of the twisting of the Scrip­tures by the Jehovah’s Witnesses in their New World Translation.

MacGregor Ministries