Jason BeDuhn & New World Translation

Jason BeDuhn & New World Translation

The Watch Tower Society has reassured you as below that the New World Translation is endorsed by Jason BeDuhn (photo), a university instructor who is not a Jehovah's Witness and yet has opined that the New World Translation is "remarkably good" and "one of the most accurate English translation of the New Testament":

The first thing to notice about this endorsement is that it is unique. Non-fiction books that seek general acceptance usually cite many endorsements from famous experts in the field. The Watch Tower Society is eager to have the New World Translation accepted as a legitimate translation of the Bible, yet the only endorsement it can come up with is the one above.

Secondly, Jason BeDuhn is not qualified to judge the accuracy of any translation from Greek. According to his own CV, he received his Bachelor of Arts from University of Illinois, which is a secular school, in Religious Studies, which is a major that does not require Greek and whose courses are stacked with religions other than Christianity (source). He then attended Harvard University, another secular school, where he received his Masters in Theological Studies (MTS), which has no language prerequisite and requires for graduation only an "intermediate proficiency" in any one of the following languages: Arabic, French, Hebrew, German, Greek or Pali (source). He then received his PhD from Indiana University, another secular school, in Comparative Studies of Religions, which has no language requirement. So Jason BeDuhn was at best trained to "intermediate proficiency" in Greek, has himself admitted that he is not an expert in Greek, and therefore has no business opining on the accuracy of a translation that has been ignored, dismissed, and even ridiculed by those who are actual Greek scholars.

Then why did BeDuhn so glowingly endorse the New World Translation?

Jason BeDuhn is a leader in Gnosticism, the Satanic cult that denies the deity, death and resurrection of Jesus. At his school, he teaches pagan courses like Ancient Gods and Goddesses, and the capstone 400 level course that he teaches is on Gnosticism (source). In fact, he is one of the editors of the book The Gnostic World (below), so Jason BeDuhn literally wrote the book on Gnosticism.

He should have simply admitted that he endorses the New World Translation because it denies the deity of Jesus as he does. Instead, Jason BeDuhn committed academic fraud by falsely claiming that he endorses it because he judges it to be an accurate translation of the original Greek, a language in which he lacks the expertise to make such a judgment.

Then why does Northern Arizona University continue to employ him?

Northern Arizona University is a sports-focused diploma mill that in 2023 offered admission to 91% of all applicants (34,838 of 37,803), only 16% (5,473) of whom accepted the offer and enrolled (source). Its claim to fame is having expensive sports facilities that NFL, NBA and WNBA teams use for off-season training. Northern Arizona University is also a Satanic stronghold. It is located in northern Arizona, which borders Utah, and its campus features an institute of Mormonism, the Satanic cult that denies the deity of Jesus and blasphemes Him by calling Him the brother of Satan.