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John: Good morning, Chris.

Chris: Hi, John.

John: We’re in the neighborhood again today sharing the good news of God’s kingdom. A lot of people today believe the world was formed from a big bang in outer space. Have you ever wondered how the world came into existence?

Chris: Sure, I have. I believe that Jesus created the whole universe out of nothing.

John: Great, that’s what we believe. Jehovah used Jesus as His master worker to create all other things in existence.

Chris: What do you mean by master worker?

John: In Proverbs 8, it says that Jehovah produced Jesus as the beginning of His ways, and later Jesus came beside Jehovah as a master worker helping Him to create all things.

Chris: I thought you said you believed Jesus was the creator?

John: I do. Jesus created all other things after Jehovah created him. In Colossians 1:15-16, it says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him, all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth”. It’s right here in the bible, Chris. Take a look.

Chris: John, why does your bible insert the word “other” four times into Colossians chapter 1?

John: What do you mean, Chris?

Chris: You see here, the word “other” has brackets around it. This word isn’t in my bible. Did you ever look at an interlinear Greek text to see if it belongs there?

John: Actually, I have the Watchtower’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures right here in my bag. This is an excellent work. It not only has the New World Translation, but also the Greek words and their English counterpart right on top of each other. This is the same exact Greek text that the Watchtower used to translate its Bible.

Chris: That sound impressive. Why don’t you look up Colossians 1 in it and read the English under the Greek words?

John: Okay, it says, “because in him it was created the all things in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether thrones or lordships or governments or authorities; the all things through him and into him it has been created; and he is before all things and the all things in him it has stood together”.

Chris: How come the word other is inserted into your bible four times here when it isn’t in the Greek text at all?

John: Well, Chris, sometimes you have to insert words in the bible so it will read more smoothly. Your bible probably does the same thing. It just helps us to understand it better. It doesn’t change the meaning of what’s being said. The translators of the New World Translation were very careful to keep the bible accurate for us.

Chris: In reality, John, the insertion of the word “other” completely changes the entire meaning of Colossians 1. The Greek text here is exalting Jesus as the preeminent creator of all things. Your bible reduces him to a mere master worker who only helped Jehovah in creation.

John: Again, Chris, we believe that Jesus did play a role in creation along side of Jehovah.

Chris: Then you have two creators; Jesus and Jehovah. Is this right?

John: Well....yeah, in a sense.

Chris: John, look at Isaiah 44:24. Can you read that?

John: “This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser and the Former of you from the belly: ‘I, Jehovah, am doing everything, stretching out the heavens by myself, laying out the earth. Who was with me?’”

Chris: Did you see that, John? Jehovah said that He created everything all alone, by Himself. Since Colossians teaches that Jesus is the Creator, is Jesus Jehovah?

John: No, Chris! Jesus was God’s helper. It’s like this. Let’s say that you are the president of a corporation. You write a letter and have your secretary type it up for you and send it to the vice-president. Now, when you see the vice-president, you might ask him if he got the letter you sent him. You wouldn’t have to say that it was actually your secretary who typed it and sent it to him to make it true, would you?

Chris: No, but if I said to the vice-president that I sent that letter to him all alone, or by myself and there was no one else with me, I would be lying. Don’t you think that if Jesus really was God’s helper in creation, Jehovah would have said it here in Isaiah instead of saying that there was no one else with Him?

John: Well, Jehovah did say Jesus was His master worker in Proverbs 8, remember?

Chris: Can you show me the reference to Jesus in that passage, John?

John: I already did. In verse 30, it clearly says that Jesus came beside Jehovah as a master worker.

Chris: Where is Jesus’ name here?

John: Well, his name isn’t in Proverbs. But it has to be him. Who else could it be?

Chris: Well, it’s clearly wisdom that’s spoken of throughout the whole chapter. Look at verse 1, “Does not wisdom keep calling out”, verse 12, “I, wisdom, I have resided with shrewdness”. The whole first 9 chapters of Proverbs is metaphorically speaking about the attribute wisdom. It never mentions Jesus once. In fact, my bible refers to wisdom as a she, not a he like Jesus is. Why does the Watchtower teach you that this is Jesus spoken of here? And again, why does the New World Translation change the meaning of Colossians 1 by inserting the word other into the text 4 times?

John: I don’t know, Chris. I’ll have to research that and get back to you next week.

Go to part 2

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