Posted by Steve Turner on March 17, 1999 at 13:42:19 {MWfZlKV6ncg82}:
Having read the posts below regarding Rolf Furuli's new book, The Role of Theology and Bias in Bible Translation: With A Special Look at the New World Translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses (Huntington Beach, CA: Elihu Books, 1999), I must say I was rather surprised.
What I could not understand was how anyone, especially someone like J. H., could even offer comment on a book that they have not yet read. I would also like to know what exactly an "old fashioned M.A." is. For as often as J.H. and others hammer away at the WTS for suppressing truth and not allowing their members to read certain literature (issues with which I agree), I find it odd that J.H. would do anything other than inform a person who inquires about a particular book to simply read it and determine for themselves if its contents are meritorious or not. Especially since he himself has not read the book in question.
I appreciated how Practicus simply gave data from the back of the book and noted that he/she was reading through it. But since I have just finished the entire book, I would like to give a complete review.
I myself once studied with the JWs, but I could not bring myself to get baptized as a member as I could not accept the authoritarian structure of the movement, and I could not bring myself to adhere to their requirements concerning blood, holidays, and the like.
I also did not understand why they did not allow their writers to identify themselves, and why are so secretive when it comes to such matters. But my sister is a practicing Witness, and because of this I once studied with them. I have nothing against them that I would not submit is also a problem for almost any other religion, including atheism, as I believe is evidenced on this board all the time.
In this light, my interest has been aroused by the release of the Stafford and Furuli books, both of which I have read from cover to cover. I am glad to see that some JWs are not sticking with the usual policy and have decided to address some of the critical issues that are a bone of contention between JWs and others. I applaud these gentlemen for having their books published, with their names, as I know this must not have been met with approval by the WTS or their respective congregations.
While Stafford's book is more an apologetic than the Furuli book, both of these men clearly evidence excellent skills and scholarly ability. I only wonder why the Society itself has not seen fit to produce this kind of information, especially if they are indeed God's sole channel.
Below I will give a review of the Furuli book, and once the second edition of Stafford's book is out I will then give my thoughts on its content. I am particularly interested to see what he could possibly have to say about the WTS and the blood issue.
But while I disagree with the JWs on several key issues, I am not about to sit by and watch others, like J. H., give some half-baked review of a book he has not even read, so that the minds of others are unnecessarily poisoned.
My name is Steve Turner, and for what it's worth I have a BA in Computer Science and an MA in Communications from Long Beach State College.
THE ROLE OF THEOLOGY AND BIAS IN BIBLE TRANSLATION, by Rolf Furuli.
PRESENTATION - The book itself is laid out in an easy-to-red
format, with chapters, sections, and sub-sections. It has a complete Table of Contents listing the chapters and sections, as well as a Preface, Acknowledgements, list of Abbreviations, and Introduction by the author. Copious footnotes
abound throughout the publication, and it is nearly complete with Author and Scripture indexes, though it does not have a Subject index. However, it does have an Explanation of Terms and Expressions, which is most helpful. There are also a
number of illustrations that serve to simplify some of the more technical points.
CONTENT ANALYSIS - There are 7 Chapters and 1 Excursus. The Excursus on Greek and Hebrew verbs is practically an 8th Chapter, containing 10 sections
and 38 pages.
Chapter 1 deals with Words and Meaning, and discusses the characteristics of words and their "fuzzy edges." Furuli addresses the differences between a literal and an idiomatic translation of the Bible, and how their renderings of different words affect the reader. There is also an important discussion of an often overlooked topic, and that is the difference between the "presupposition pools" of the ancient and modern reader, and how the message of the original writer was understood by ancient readers, versus how the message of the modern translation is understood by modern readers.
Chapter 2 was probably my second favorite chapter (Chapter 3 being my favorite), dealing with "Words as Translation Units." Furuli focuses on three Greek words in particular, agape ("love"), sarx ("flesh"), and aion ("age"). He considers and compares NWT's translation of these words with other versions, particularly the Today's English Version. He also employs and reviews N. Chomsky's syntactical theory on kernals as translation units. Though acknowledging the value of kernals (page 42), Furuli believes that the "word" should be considered the basic unit of translation, and this makes good sense since it minimizes the number of unbiblical concepts that are usually added to kernals.
Chapter 3 considers in detail the entire process of Bible translation. It discusses and defines the true meaning of
"bias" as follows: "Bias in Bible translation is characterized by renderings that either 1) contradict lexicon, grammar or syntax; or 2) definitely weaken or distort the meaning by addition or subtraction of unwarranted semantic elements
in order to promote the translator�s own theology." (page 60) He also has a very good discussion of the Greek word stauros (translated "torture stake" in NWT but "cross" in other Bibles) and explains how the translators' theology plays a
part in every Bible version.
Next is the Excursus on Greek and Hebrew Verbs, which is by far the most technical section of the book, but which is simplified in part by some useful illustrations. Because of the technical nature of this section, and having only read it through once myself, I recommend that those interested read it for themselves to determine this section's value for translation.
Chapter 4 is called, "The Trinity Doctrine as a Translation Problem,"
and in addition to exploring the history and development of the Trinity doctrine, in a much more balanced manner than the WTS's Trinity brochure, Furuli makes it clear that many of the differences of opinion regarding NWT have to do with
Trinitarian scholars preference for translations that support their belief in the Trinity. Through his historical review Furuli demonstrates that it is not legitimate to use a doctrine that came into being after the Bible was written to
determine the accuracy of a Bible translation, which is often done.
Chapter 5 deals with the question of whether or not the NWT Committee followed their own translation principles, and the use of the Divine Name in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures is considered at length. Indeed, Furuli spends over 40 pages dealing with a number of questions relating to the Tetragrammaton, including its use in pre-exilic and post-exilic times, as well as in the New Testament and Rabbinic literature.
Chapter 6 is entitled, "An Analysis of Disputed Passages," where Furuli examines claims of bias against NWT's renderings of John 1:1, John 8:58, Titus 2:13, Philippians 2:6, Colossians 1:15-17, "Coming versus Presence," the holy spirit as an "It" or "He," 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, Acts 20:28, and 1 Corinthians 15:29.
Chapter 7 is a summary of the points discussed, and also talks about the readers' "informed choice," and the essential qualities that should be a part of every Bible translation. He also gives some practical suggestions on how to become more familiar with the original language of the Bible, and provides some recommended reading. Finally, Furuli considers criticisms made by anti-Witness apologists Robert Countess, Robert Bowman, S. Kubo, and Walter Specht.
While I was disappointed that there was no discussion of the Gentile Times or the issue of blood transfusions, I can see where these topics might not fit in with the theme of this book, so we will have to wait for another JW to effectively address these issues.
All in all, this is a fantastic book. I not only highly recommend it, but it is hard for me to think of any future books on the Witnesses that could afford to ignore Furuli's contribution to this ongoing discussion of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Steve Turner