In order to present the appearance of scholarly backing for their translation of this verse, the Society had to intentionally misquote Dr. Julius R. Mantey and H.E. Dana's Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Both Dana and Mantey firmly held to the historic Christian belief in the Triune God as is evident throughout their Grammar. The late Dr. Mantey had on several occasions issued statements concerning the misquotation of his statements by the Witnesses, even writing a letter to the Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn demanding references and quotes from his book to be removed from their publications. They ignored his request!
They have also misquoted Philip B. Harner: Not only does Harner's article in the Journal of Biblical Literature not support the Watchtower's rendering of John 1:1, he emphatically argues against it! "Because of the word order used by John, the verse can only be interpreted to mean that the Word (Jesus) was God in the same sense as the Father."( Ron Rhodes Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses p.103-105)
Dr. Julius R. Mantey (who is even recognized by the Watchtower as a Greek scholar since they quote his book on page 1158 of their Kingdom Interlinear Translation): calls the Watchtower translation of John 1:1 "A grossly misleading translation. It is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John l:1 'the Word was a god. 'But of all the scholars in the world, so far as we know, none have translated this verse as Jehovah's Witnesses have done." "I was disturbed because they (the Watchtower) had misquoted me in support of their translation. I called their attention to the fact that the whole body of the New Testament was against their view. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is glorified and magnified--yet here they were denigrating Him and making Him into a little god of pagan concept . .
Philip B. Harner: "Perhaps the clause could be translated 'the Word had the same nature as God.' This would be one way of representing John's thought, which is, as I understand it, that ho logos, no less than ho theos, had the nature of theos." ("Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15:39 and John 1:1", Journal of Biblical Literature, 92,1 (March 1973), p. 87)
Charles T. Russell (1852-1916), the first President of the Watchtower Society sued a man named J.J. Ross for "defamatory libel" in March 1913. Ross, in his booklet, Some Facts About the Self-styled Pastor C.T. Russell wrote, "Russell does not know the dead languages." In the court room, Russell proved that Ross was right:
Attorney Staunton: Do you know the Greek Alphabet? Russell: Oh, yes. Attorney Staunton: Can you tell me the correct letters if you see them? Russell: Some of them, I might make a mistake on some of them. Attorney Staunton: Would you tell me the names of those on top of the page, page 447 I have got here? (Wescott & Hort Greek NT) Russell: My way... (he was interrupted at this point and not allowed to explain) Attorney Staunton: Are you familiar with the Greek language? Russell: NO.
Fredrick W. Franz, current President of the Watchtower Society, in a Scottish Court case (Walsh vs. Latham, 1954) said the following: Attorney: Have you also made yourself familiar with Hebrew? Franz: Yes.... Attorney: So that you have a substantial linguistic apparatus at your command? Franz: Yes, for use in my biblical work. Attorney: I think you are able to read and follow the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French? Franz: Yes.... Attorney: You, yourself, read and speak Hebrew, do you? Franz: I do not speak Hebrew. Attorney: You do not? Franz: No. Attorney: Can you, yourself, translate that into Hebrew? Franz: Which? Attorney: That fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis? Franz: You mean here? Attorney: Yes. Franz: No. I wouldn't attempt to do that... (Pursuer's Proof, p. 7)
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