Q: Is the New World Translation of John 1 right or wrong?

A: The New World Translation is recognized by every Greek scholar I know of as biased and inaccurate. In terms of the trinity, particularly John 1:1-4, the JW position is that Jesus is "a" God, because the Greek text does not have a definite article "the". The problem is that in the Greek language, the definite article does not function the same way it does in English. In the Greek, the presence of the definite article indicates a "specific" thing = "that one." Whereas the absence of the definite article does NOT mean "a" but it indicates the "category" or "characteristics" of the object under discussion. Thus when John 1:1 says "The word was God" it is describing the characteristics of the word -- it was God, it shared the nature and characteristics of God. And Jesus certainly believed that he shared God's characteristics, status, and roles (cf. Jn 6:38; 8:42; 16:27; 17:5; as did Paul, 1 Cor 8:6; 10:3-4; Philippians 2:6; Col 1:16; and John, 1 Jn 1:1). This particular construction ("anarthrous" -- without a definite article) is also found in John 1:12, 18 and 4:24 where it would never be translated, even in the NWT as they suggest it should be in verse 1.

For further reading on this, see my Chronological Life of Christ, vol. 1, p. 18-19; E. L. Miller "The Logos was God," Evangelical Quarterly 53/2 (1981): 65-77; C. H. Dodd, "New Testament Translation Problems II," Bible Translator 28/1 (Jan 1977): 101-104, and P.B. Harner, "Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1," Journal of Biblical Literature 92 (1973): 75ff.

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