For years as a Christian I wondered if "this was it". Surely there must be "more". For the last year, God has taken me on a journey, discovering who he is, and who the Holy Spirit is. This is my summary of what God has been teaching me, and doing with me.
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Simply, the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4) living within believers today. We receive the Holy Spirit when we become Christians (Galatians 3:2).
What does the Holy Spirit do?
In the world, the Spirit convicts us of our sin, and God's righteousness (John 16:8). In believers He is God's presence within us (John 14:16-17). He gives us spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1 and 1 Corinthians 12:7). These gifts range from tongues to healing and prophecy.
For a long time I was suspicious of the charismatic movement, and still have issues with some of it, namely the "Prosperity Gospel". But as I studied Scripture I realised that there is a massive difference between the experience of the first Christians, and many of us today. As I researched my own Church (the Metropolitan Community Church) I found that there is a large charismatic movement within my own denomination as well - this is true of many Churches. In fact the first Church to recognise the charismatic movement was the Roman Catholic Church.
The more I studied the Bible, the more I realised that there is more! So I asked God to fill me with the Spirit (some people call it being baptised in the Spirit - don't get hung up on the terminology!). Nothing happened at first until I was challenged to ask for, and use the gift of tongues. Well, I wasn't doing that in public!
At home, I prayed again, and I opened my mouth to worship Jesus, and asked the Holy Spirit to speak through me, and sure enough, I did not understand the words coming out of my mouth!
I recently went to see a Christian who has the gift of prophecy. I do not know her at all, I went on a friend's recommendation. This is not all about the future, prophecy is being able to hear what God says, and speak it. She knew about my life, what I prayed as a child, the kind of work I do, as well as what I would not accept as true! And it wasn't vague, it was specific things only God would have known.
What about you?
Maybe you are wondering if "this is all there is" to the Christian life. I'm learning that there is more! I'm stepping out in faith into a new adventure with Jesus, and it's proving to be very exciting.
Image: Google Images
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) have released a revision of the New World Translation. I'll refer to it as the NWT2013.
I've previously written about the JW "Bible", but this new edition calls for a review. As I've only recently downloaded it, this post will be a work in progress (check last update date below).
The first thing I notice is the additional articles and book introductions in the NWT2013, which reminds me of the Gideon Bibles we were given at school. One of the most surprising things is that this new edition neatly co-incides with the doctrinal change over the year 1914. In fact, on p1767 (in the PDF) 1914 becomes "About 1914". They are obviously moving away from such a strong emphasis. They used to teach that the world would end before the generation alive in 1914 died out. As 2014 marks 100 years since 1914, this is obviously looking to become another false prophecy. So, they're sidelining it now.
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| NWT2013 - brackets gone! |
The text of the NWT has also been altered. In my last article on the NWT1984 I commented on use of square brackets in Colossians 1 and how misleading it is to add the word "other", even in brackets. In the NWT2013 the brackets have disappeared completely.
If you can, get your hands on the Kingdom Interlinear Translation (KIT) which was published by the Watchtower - it clearly shows that the word "other" is not in the text. (The book is hard to come by, however it is available on the JW app) The NWT2013 has gone to extreme lengths to hide the obvious teaching that Jesus is in fact God.
Having said that, there has also been a substantial change (or admission?) on John 1:1. The main text reads as it did in the 1984 edition. However, the Watchtower has always argued that it should never be translated as "the Word was God", and barely conceded that "divine" was correct. However in the NWT2013 there is a footnote to John 1:1. It acknowledges that "divine" is possible.
Of course, any world-class Bible scholar will still tell you that John 1:1 should read, "the Word was God".
There does seem to be more in the line of alternate translations in the footnotes, which can only be an attempt to make the NWT2013 seem more scholarly.
On a more positive note, John 17:3 has now been translated correctly with the incorrect translation relegated to a footnote. But I wonder how many "rank and file" JW's expect a real relationship with God?
One other interesting thing to note is that the 2013 edition is much easier to read. Comparing verses with the NIV and ESV, I would say it's like reading a combination of them - in fact a few of the verses are rendered the same way as the ESV which suggests it was used as source material (or perhaps the RSV or NRSV which are the same "family" of translations as the ESV).
The NWT2013 is as deceptive (or more in some places) as its predecessors as a translation of the Bible. It is still to be avoided as a Bible for any serious student of the Scriptures.
Last update: 13 May 2014
Images: Google Images, screen shots of my PDF copy
Source: http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/new-world-translation-accurate/ (Accessed May 2014)
For years as a Christian I wondered if "this was it". Surely there must be "more". For the last year, God has taken me on a journey, discovering who he is, and who the Holy Spirit is. This is my summary of what God has been teaching me, and doing with me.
