Great insight on the Good Shepherd from my friend John.

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that their New World Translation, put together by “translators” without any legitimate credentials (the lead translator dropped out of college in his second year), is superior to other translations. The NWT almost completely eliminates references to the deity of Christ. If they are correct and the original Greek text does not show that Jesus is God, then why does the Greek Orthodox Church believe that Jesus is God? Presumably these people are native speakers of Greek (granted, the language has no doubt changed since the New Testament was written, but at least the early Greek Christians would have known something was fishy). If the deity of Christ is not to be found in the original Greek text, why would native Greek speakers be convinced otherwise? Could it be that the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ twisting of the meaning will not hold water where the language is actually spoken?

I’ve been having a long chat with a Jehovah’s Witness lately. (I’ve also been busy with work, which is why I’ve not been around much lately.) Anyway, he asked me why I do not worship God the Father only and pointed to John 4:23 (”Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him.” –New World Translation).

I replied, “The verse you have cited does not say worship the Father only. Where are you getting ‘only’ from?” He responded with Matthew 4:10 (”Then Jesus said to him: “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’”–NWT). So I answered, “Yes, and Jehovah is a triune God, so this verse does not prove that we should worship only God the Father and not God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.”

I also pointed out that Jesus is worshipped many times in the New Testament, and God commands the angels to worship him using the same Greek word that was used in John 4:23. So he then tells me that the Greek word, proskuneo, is also used to mean “give obeisance to” and points to Revelation 3:9.

So I took it upon myself to look up the passages where the word is used in the New Testament. It apparently is used a total of 54 times (Mat. 2:2, Mat. 2:8, Mat. 2:11, Mat. 4:9. Mat. 4:10, Mat. 8:2, Mat. 9:18, Mat. 14:33, Mat. 15:25, Mat. 18:26, Mat. 20:20, Mat. 28:9, Mat. 28:17; Mark 5:6, Mark 15:19; Luke 4:7, Luke 4:8, Luke 24:52; John 4:20, John 4:21, John 4:22, John 4:23, John 4:24; Acts 7:43, Acts 8:27, Acts 10:25, Acts 24:11; 1 Cor. 14:25; Heb. 1:6, Heb. 11:21; Rev. 3:9, Rev. 4:10, Rev. 5:14, Rev. 7:11, Rev. 9:20, Rev. 11:1, Rev. 11:16, Rev. 13:4, Rev. 13:8, Rev. 13:12, Rev. 13:15, Rev. 14:7, Rev. 14:9, Rev. 14:11, Rev. 15:4, Rev. 16:2, Rev. 19:4, Rev. 19:10, Rev. 19:20, Rev. 20:4, Rev. 22:8, Rev. 22:9). Now, the only possible place where the word is used for an action performed for someone other than Jesus and could mean “give obeisance to” instead of “worship” is Revelation 3:9. All the others clearly refer to worship, including Acts 10:25-26 where Cornelius worshiped Peter and Peter said, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.”

Revelation 3:9 reads, “Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.” (The New World Translation says “obeisance” instead of “worship.”) However, is it not likely that this is referring to the same type of situation as in 1 Corinthians 14:25 where the object of the worship is God and other humans are present (before the worshippers)? In other words, could the passage not just as easily read “Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship [me] before your feet, and to know that I have loved you,” since there is no object specified? I mean, isn’t that the whole point, anyway, to show that the synagogue of Satan was worshipping a false god (said they were Jews and were not)?

So, ultimately, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are saying that proskuneo should be translated as “obeisance” when referring to Jesus because the word means “obeisance” when used for actions directed at persons other than God and worship when it refers to actions directed at God, but they cannot provide any examples of such usage from the New Testament other than a single questionable one. I think the internal evidence is on the side of the Orthodox Christians.

McCain is now being more vocal about his pro-life views, presumably because he wants the social conservative vote. If he’d come out against ESC research it would be much easier for me to vote for him. How can people claim to be pro-life and still support research that kills the unborn? It makes no sense to me.

Back on July 2, Barack Obama reportedly made the following statement while in Colorado Springs:

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

Could he be talking about a police state? Do we really need a civilian national security force like the one he is quoted as describing? I agree with Joseph Farah that we definitely need some clarification.

16:43 in the video

Interestingly enough, the part of the speech in question has been removed from transcripts of the speech. Why would they do that?

I just got an e-mail from the Center for Bioethical Reform, and they provided two interesting facts about abortion in the United States:

-Did you know that since 1973, more than twice as many blacks have died from abortion than from heart disease, cancer, accidents, violent crimes and AIDS combined?

-Did you know that Blacks make up about 12 percent of the population in the United States but account for 37 percent of the abortions?

Bret Stephens answers this question in the Wall Street Journal:

Socialism may have failed as an economic theory, but global warming alarmism, with its dire warnings about the consequences of industry and consumerism, is equally a rebuke to capitalism. Take just about any other discredited leftist nostrum of yore – population control, higher taxes, a vast new regulatory regime, global economic redistribution, an enhanced role for the United Nations – and global warming provides a justification.

Randy Alcorn posted a great piece on his blog, Eternal Perspectives, the other day. It deals with same sex marriage and the reasons we should oppose it.

A few excerpts:

…Marriage has been the societal building block for millennia; it has developed as the method by which cultures pass on, from generation to generation, who and what they are. Since cultures are made up of men, women and children, to effectively pass on cultural values the family should reflect the cultural makeup of one man, one woman (an equal number), and their natural children where possible.

…”Homophobia” and discrimination have nothing to do with opposition to same-sex marriage. Opposition to it is not an attack on homosexuality or homosexuals; it is simply the belief that marriage should remain between a man and a woman, based on practical cultural and social reasons as the list above makes clear.

Also, “discrimination” necessarily involves infringement of a basic human right. A marriage license is not a basic human right. It is a privilege which has always required the government’s permission, as do many other parts of life, such as getting a driver’s license or a business license (to sell food, for example). Just as the ability to freely move about on roads and the ability to pursue the occupation of one’s choice both require certain preconditions, so it must be true of marriage. One of those preconditions for the granting of this privilege (in addition to age and health based considerations) is that the participants must be one man and one woman, for all the reasons listed in Bill’s talking points.