The Deity of Christ in Modern Translations: A Response to the Claims of Jason BeDuhn and A Defense of the Biblical Testimony that Jesus is God

Since the founding of the first Christian church in Jerusalem, there have been those who have argued that Jesus Christ is not God. This attack on the Person of Jesus has been a part of history throughout the life of the church. In recent years, a prominent group consistently denying the deity of Christ has been the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In their effort to promote their views, and to appeal to the New Testament to deny that Jesus is God, they produced their own translation of the Bible known as the New World Translation. Arguments have raged back and forth about the faithfulness of the New World Translation to the Greek text. Recently, a voice has been raised in support of the New World Translation. That voice is Jason BeDuhn. In his book, Truth in Translation, BeDuhn examines several modern translations of the New Testament focusing on several passages that touch on the deity of Christ. In each of these passages, BeDuhn comes out in favor of the New World Translation over all the modern translations he considers. Indeed, his final conclusion is that the New World Translation is the best of these modern translations. In this critical evaluation, BeDuhn’s arguments are challenged and his conclusions called into question. Ultimately the reader will find that modern translations of the New Testament do not distort or mishandle these important passages, which consistently teach that Jesus is God in the flesh.