Thursday, June 18, 2009

Hell Diminished or missing from the NIV

Hell Diminished or MissingThe doctrine of eternal hell is a fearful Bible truth. The word itself has, from the beginnings of the English language, always had a fixed and established meaning. "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God" (Psalms 9:17) is very plain. In fact, for many (including preachers and Bible translators) it is apparently too plain. Many people today do not mind using the word in their daily conversation, but do not like seeing it in the Bible.
Modern translations have tried to make the Bible more palatable and socially acceptable by taking some of the terror out of the fact that a man or woman who dies outside of faith in Jesus Christ goes to an eternal and conscious hell. Translators do this in two ways. First, the word is often left in its untranslated Hebrew or Greek form (Sheol or Hades), thus greatly diminishing its impact upon an English reader. The New American Standard version frequently reverts to this practice. Secondly, some simply translate sheol as "death" or "grave". The Jehovahs Witness "Bible" does this and (if you can believe it!) the New International Version is guilty of the same stratagem.
In the previous lists, the point at issue has been the underlying Greek text of the New Testament. Nearly all modern versions are founded on a radically different text from the KJB. This is the reason for the many omissions which we have noted in appendices AÑC. Here, though, it is a question of the philosophy of the translators. In the case of the NIV, this philosophy has led to their having completely removed "hell" from the Old Testament!

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