NWT - Criticism by Zondervan's So Many Versions? - Sharp's Rule

Criticism by Zondervan's So Many Versions?

Zondervan, the respected trinitarian publishing, company prints a book which examines most twentieth century English versions of the Bible: So Many Versions? (SMV), by trinitarian Bible scholars Dr. S. Kubo and Dr. W. Albrecht. They have published this book since 1975. I purchased my copy new in 1991 from a "Christian" book store. So, for over 15 years this popular trinitarian publishing company has been printing the following criticisms of the NWT. We will examine them in the order they appear in my copy of this book (1983 revised edition.).

Sharp's Rule

Although, as with "Colwell's Rule", SMV does not name the "rule," it describes the trinitarian-concocted "rule" known as "Sharp's Rule" on pp. 100-101. "Sharp's rule" tells us that if two person-referring nouns are put together with an "and" in between, and the first noun has the word "the" and the second does not (e.g., "the servant and master"), then both nouns must refer to the same person. This is obviously ridiculous and shows the desperation of certain trinitarians who want to prove the trinity doctrine is actually taught in the Bible.

Many of the most-respected trinitarian scholars themselves refuse to accept this modern "rule," and many (if not most) trinitarian Bible translations ignore this "rule" in some or all of their renderings where it is supposed to apply. (See the SHARP study paper.) The authors of SMV know all this and yet criticize the NWT for not following this discredited "rule" in the selected few instances where such a rule would "prove" that God and Jesus are the same person. They, of course, do not criticize the many trinitarian Bibles they review in this book which also ignore this "rule."