Johannes Greber

Catholic Priest who attended a seance, renounced the church & became a spiritist. (medium)
Married a medium.
Used spirit channeling to write his version of the new testament 
The Watchtower quotes him up until 1983. (28 years)

The Watchtower (1955) What Do the Scriptures Say About “Survival After Death”?

Johannes Greber, a former Catholic clergyman, has become a spiritualist and has published the book entitled “Communication with the Spirit World, Its laws and Its Purpose.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1955726?q=Johannes+Greber&p=doc

The Watchtower (1956) Triumphing over Wicked Spirit Forces

 Says Johannes Greber in the introduction of his translation of The New Testament, copyrighted in 1937: “I myself was a Catholic priest, and until I was forty-eight years old had never as much as believed in the possibility of communicating with the world of God’s spirits. The day came, however, when I involuntarily took my first step toward such communication, and experienced things that shook me to the depths of my soul. . . . My experiences are related in a book that has appeared in both German and English and bears the title, Communication with the Spirit-World: Its Laws and Its Purpose.” (Page 15, ¶ 2, 3) In keeping with his Roman Catholic extraction Greber’s translation is bound with a gold-leaf cross on its stiff front cover. In the Foreword of his aforementioned book ex-priest Greber says: “The most significant spiritualistic book is the Bible.” Under this impression Greber endeavors to make his New Testament translation read very spiritualistic.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1956126?q=Johannes+Greber&p=doc

Watchtower 1959 October 1 p.607 Questions from Readers 
Questions from Readers
• Who are the writers of the publications of the Watch Tower Society, and what are their educational qualifications?-M.D., U.S.A.

The literature published by the Watch Tower Society is published in the name of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Regardless of who may write certain articles, they are checked carefully by members of the governing body before they are published; so they are properly viewed as coming from the Society."


The Watchtower (1962)
Similar is the reading by a former Roman Catholic priest: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. 
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1962682?q=Johannes+Greber&p=doc

The Watchtower (1976) Insight on the News

Johannes Greber, says that when Jesus died, “the earth quaked, and the rocks were shattered. Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried there were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city.” Hence, rather than a resurrection, as some Bible translations imply, there appears to have been merely an exposure of the dead to observers, as in Guatemala.—Matt. 27:51-53.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1976282?q=Johannes+Greber&p=doc

The Watchtower (1975) Questions From Readers

Thus the translation by Johannes Greber (1937) renders these verses: “Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried there were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city.”​ 
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1975767?q=Johannes+Greber&p=doc

Aid to Bible Understanding Memorial Tomb

The translation by Johannes Greber (1937) of these verses reads as follows: “Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city.” 
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200012906?q=Johannes+Greber&p=doc

Aid to Bible Understanding Word, The

A translation by a former Roman Catholic priest, Johannes Greber (1937 ed.) renders the second appearance of the word “god” in the sentence as “a god.” 
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200014519?q=Johannes+Greber&p=doc 

Not still available to link to on JW.ORG

Watchtower 1961 January 1 p.30 Was There a Resurrection? [Johannes Greber cited for support for Matthew 27:52-53.]

Nor is the New World Translation alone in rendering these verses thus. A modern German translation reads quite similarly: "Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city."-Matt. 27:52, 53.

 

Make Sure of All Things: Hold Fast to What is Fine (1965) page 489- Johannes Greber cited for support