By Tony Nungesser and Gary Amirault
The entire concept of eternal or everlasting punishment hinges primarily on a single verse of Scripture-- Matthew 25:46. This is the only place in the entire Bible where we find these two words together AND only in some Bibles. There are over a dozen English translations which do NOT contain the concept of "eternal punishment" on ANY of their pages, NOR the pagan concept of Hell.
The Greek form for "everlasting punishment" in Matthew 25:46 is ”kolasin aionion." Kolasin is a noun in the accusative form, singular voice, feminine gender and means "punishment, chastening, correction, to cut-off as in pruning a tree to bare more fruit." "Aionion" is the adjective form of "aion," in the singular form and means "pertaining to an eon or age, an indeterminate period of time." (Note: the two words in many, not all translations become reversed when bringing the Greek into English, that is, "kolasin aionion" literally punishment everlasting is reversed to everlasting punishment so as to make better sense in English.)
"Aionion," as shown above, is the singular form of the adjective of the Greek noun "aion." Many people unfamiliar with the Greek do not realize that the endings of the same word change (inflection) to indicate its mood, case, gender, etc. Therefore, "aionion" may appear with different endings. "Aionion, aioniou, aionios," for example, are all different inflections of the adjective form of the noun "aion."
The noun "aion" in Greek literature has always meant "an indeterminate period of time. It could be as short as the time Jonah spent in the belly of a fish (three days or nights even though the KJV has him in the "belly of Hell" "forever," obviously a mistranslation; see Jonah 2:2, 2:6.), the length of a man's life, or as long as an age.
The Bible speaks of at least 5 "aions" and perhaps many more. If there were "aions" in the past, then aions must have an end. The New Testament writers spoke of "the present wicked aion" which ended during that very generation. Obviously, it was followed by another "aion"-- the "aion" in which we presently live. If there are "aions" to come, it must mean that this one we live in will also end.
There is a verse which says "the consummation of the aions" proving that each "aion" ends. So how can they be eternal?
There is "the coming eon" (Matt.10:30, Luke 18:30 There is "the present wicked eon" (Gal.1:4) There is "the oncoming eons (future)(Eph.2:7) There is "the conclusion of the eon (present) (Mt.13:39,40) There is "the secret concealed from the eons (past) (Eph.3:9)
Plainly, the Greek word "aion" transliterated "eon" cannot mean "eternal." A study into the Greek of the Biblical period and before will bear this out.
"Aionion" is the adjective of the noun "aion."
Since grammar rules mandate an adjective CANNOT take on a greater force than its noun form, it is evident that "aionion" in any of its adjective forms (ios, ou, on) CANNOT possible mean "everlasting" or anything remotely indicating eternity or unending time.
For example, "hourly" cannot mean "pertaining to days, weeks, months, or years. The word MUST mean "pertaining to an hour." Therefore, "aionion," the adjective form of the noun "aion" which clearly means a period of indeterminate TIME, CANNOT mean, "forever and ever, eternal, everlasting, eternity, etc." or other words which connote timelessness or unending ages.
Therefore, those many Bibles which do NOT contain the teaching of everlasting punishment or Hell are true to the original languages of Greek and Hebrew. Those which teach everlasting punishment or Hell are false. Scholars are just as easily subjected to the "traditions of the elders" as the rest of us. It's time to let the original Greek and Hebrew languages of the Bible break down the traditions of men.
Here is a list of Bibles which have taken major steps towards correcting many of the corruptions found in the King James Bible, NIV, NASB, NRSV, Amplified, as well as other leading selling Bibles:
Some of them are published by leading Evangelical Christian publishers like Baker Book House, Kregal and Eerdman's Publishing. Here's a partial list of some English Bible translations that do NOT contain Hell nor the concept of everlasting punishment: Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (Kregal Publishers), Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (Baker Book House Publishers; Robert Young is author of the famous Young's Concordance), Concordant Literal Translation of the N.T. (Concordant Publishing Concern), Scarlet's New Testament (Nathaniel Scarlett, 1798), The New Testament (Abner Kneeland, 1823) Emphatic Diaglott (Greek/English Interlinear), The New Covenant (J.W. Hanson, 1884), New Testament in Modern Speech (Weymouth, 1910), The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible (1976), The Twentieth Century New Testament (1900), The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed (James L. Tomanek)1958), The Western New Testament (1926), The New Testament, a Translation (Rev. Edgar Lewis Clementson, 1938), The People's New Testament (Arthur Overbury), The New Testament, A New Translation based upon the Oldest Manuscripts (Johannes Greber, 1980) Jonathan Mitchell New Testament (2009) Far Above All New Testament (2009).
There are other translations like the Companion Bible King James Version, American Standard Version (1901), the Newberry Reference Bible (Still published by Kregal Publications), and the Riverside New Testament by Ballantine (1934) which contain footnotes, marginal readings and appendages which point out that several key Greek and Hebrew words have been MIStranslated by such Bible versions as the King James Bible.
For much more information on how this word as well as words have been mistranslated in many leading selling Bibles, write to the address below or visit our internet site. http://www.tentmaker.org
Bible Translations That Do Not Teach Eternal Torment
By Gary Amirault
And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.(Matthew 16:18 KJV) It would seem that if, according to Christendom's doctrines, 90% or more of mankind will end up in eternal torment that the gates of hell will prevail, and mightily! Do you believe the Bible, or what most churches tell us about the fate of the wicked? If you say, "I believe in the Bible," then you are faced with the question of "which Bible?" You see, as translators have received more and more understanding of the original languages of the Bible, "hell" and it's "eternal" status are rapidly fading right off the pages of most Bible translations, including the conservative ones!
Recently, we received a copy of the Holy Scriptures produced by the Jewish Publication Society. Of course, being the Jewish Bible, it did not contain the New Testament. In reviewing it, we discovered some interesting things. One shocking observation was discovering hundreds of footnotes as the following: Exact meaning of Hebrew uncertain, syntax of Hebrew unclear, the traditional reading madhebah is of unknown meaning, grammar of Hebrew unclear, meaning of first line uncertain, meaning of verse uncertain in part, force of Hebrew uncertain, construction of the verses uncertain, etc.. This was very shocking. Those of us coming from a conservative Christian background are usually told the Bible is inerrant. The Jews were the guardians of the Old Testament who were extremely diligent to preserve the text that not one jot or tittle was added or removed. Nearly all Christian Bibles rely on the Jewish Masoretic Hebrew text for translating the Old Testament into current languages. How was it possible for the translators to produce an "inerrant" Bible, when the "guardians of the so called 'inerrant' Hebrew text", did not know the meaning of many words and passages?
Unfortunately, the problem does not lie with the Jews lack of understanding of their own language, but with a false doctrine perpetuated by fundamentalists for many years. The Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy. This doctrine has caused Christian leaders to have to outright lie to maintain their position. They have to take plain facts and hide them from their followers. Because they have locked themselves into the teaching that the King James Bible is "the inerrant" translation of the "so-called" original texts, they have locked themselves into a position where lying, distorting, and name calling are the only options left to maintain their ground. They say the 66 books of the present King James Bible are inerrant, but they don't tell you it lacks 14 entire books which were in the original King James of 1611. They don't tell you the King James Bible has been changed many times in the last 350 years and there have been thousands of corrections! They don't tell you the King James Bible was never authorized by anyone. They don't tell you the original KJV had a calendar of annual Holy days which all believers were to follow such as: Purification of the virgin Mary, annunciation of our Lady, Innocents day, etc.. They don't tell you the Greek text used by the King James translators produced by Erasmus, a Roman Catholic humanist monk, did not have manuscripts that contained all 27 books of the New Testament, so he borrowed out of the Latin Catholic Vulgate! No, they can't tell you these things because that would be the end of the lie which has kept them in business.
As we browsed through this excellent Old Testament translation, marvelling that these Jewish scholars were not ashamed to tell the world they were not perfect and therefore could not produce an inerrant translation, we noticed something else even more startling than the footnotes. We couldn't find the word "hell," even once! This was incredible! The very foundation of Christianity, the Old Testament, three quarters of the Bible, and the word "hell" could not be found. In searching dozens of English translations of the Old Testament, to our absolute amazement, the word "hell" could not be found in most of the leading translations. Abraham, Moses, David, and all the rest of the peoples of the Old Testament only knew one place where all people went, good or bad . . . Sheol, the grave, the place of the departed. This information aroused our curiosity. The thought occurred: how many times is the word "hell" used in the Christian Bible. Surely, with as much as is taught about the subject in most present day churches, one would think this word would appear hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times in the Bible. The word "heaven(s)" occurs 603 times in the leading Christian English Bible translation, the New International Version. The New American Standard has the word heaven(s) 635 times. To our absolute amazement, the word "hell" in the New International occurred only 14 times! The New American Standard had it 13 times! What was even more astounding was that, like the Jewish Old Testament, neither of these leading Bibles has the word "hell" in the Old Testament! The creator, according to these top selling Bibles, agreed with the Jewish Old Testament that the concept of the place of eternal torment for the unrighteous could not be found in the first three quarters of the Bible. Adam was not warned of "hell." Abraham never heard of "hell." Moses, who brought the Creator's Law into the world warned that "the wages of sin is death," Sheol, the grave. He never ever warned about being roasted, toasted, and endlessly tortured. David, when chasing after Bathsheba, suffered the consequences of his sin, but eternal torment was not on his mind. How could the Creator be so thoughtless, and not warn millions of people of a fate they did not even know awaited them? Could this be just? Could this be loving?
Having several thousand dollars of Bible research software and dozens of English Bible translations, we wanted to see if these top respected English Bibles (NIV, NASB, etc.) just made a serious mistake or whether we stumbled on to something which should cause us to reevaluate what we have just accepted because we heard it so many times and just assumed was correct. Most of us picture an apple tree as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but you won't find it in any Bible, none of them! Most of us, I am sure, when thinking of the Passover, think of a lamb, but a goat was equally acceptable. Our minds have been doctrinally contaminated by traditions much more than perhaps we are willing to admit.
Of the many English Bible translations we searched, the King James Bible had the most number of cases where we found the word "hell" in the Old Testament. It translated the Hebrew word "Sheol" as "grave" 31 times, "hell" 31 times, and "pit" 3 times. Almost without exception, all the other leading Protestant Bibles didn't have the nerve to do what the King's translators did, that is, take the Hebrew word "Sheol" where everyone went, according to the Old Testament teachings, and divide it into "hell," a place for the unrighteous, and "grave" or "pit," presumably the place for the righteous. They translated this word according to their theology, and not according to the Hebrew. Most of the translations did not have the word "hell" in any part of the Old Testament. The ones that did, have mentioned it only a handfull of times, always from the Hebrew word "Sheol" which they translated the vast majority of times "grave, underworld, etc.." Those translations that use the word "hell" are so inconsistent with it, that it is impossible to determine which Scriptures clearly refers to "hell" and which refers to "grave." Where one translation had "hell," another had "grave." In other words, those translations that tried to put "hell" into the Old Testament couldn't agree with each other as to which verses spoke of "hell" and which spoke of the "grave."
People, if the love of Christ is in your hearts, this should cause you to really look into this. This world needs to be set free of false images and concepts of our wonderful Father. Please meditate on this very thoughtfully and prayerfully. If eternal torment is the penalty for sin and the Creator did not want anyone ending up there, then it should stand to reason that He would make the warning as absolutely clear as He could make it. If He is not a respecter of persons, as He claims in the New Testament, then that warning should be loud and clear to all mankind, past, present, and future. But the fact of the matter is that Adam was never warned, he was warned the penalty would be death, not eternal torment. Thousands upon thousands were born after Adam and they were never warned. Moses came along and gave to Israel His Law, which was binding only to Israel, and it mentioned that the wages of sin was death, not eternal torment. He wrote about blessings and cursing in this lifetime, not of some pending judgment which would set one's course for all eternity. He destroyed Sodom for great sin and promised to restore them one day and give them to Jerusalem as a daughter. (Ezekiel chapter 16) According to the Mosaic Law, the blessings and cursings dealing with the Law dealt with this lifetime, not with eternity. The consequence of breaking Moses Law was cursings in this lifetime, the greatest of which was a shortened life through an early death. Period!
David, the man with a heart after the heavenly Father, also had a heart after married women. He got one of them pregnant, and had her husband killed in one of his wars so that he wouldn't get caught. See how David paid the price for his sin in this lifetime. He does not warn you in His prophetic Psalms of the place he is going because of his sins. Read the Prophets and you will not find a place of eternal torment for the wicked after death and a place of paradise for the righteous. If the Creator loved us and created such a horrible place for most of mankind, he would surely have plastered the warning everywhere. Yet the Old Testament in most English translations which is three quarters of the Bible, is silent. The handfull of translations that occasionally use the word do not agree with each other as to which verses speak of "hell" as a place of eternal punishment. Is God the author of confusion? No, Sheol is the grave. Very simple and very plain.
Compare Jonah 2:2 from various translations:
Original King James Version: 1611 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction vnto the LORD, and hee heard mee; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voyce.
The spelling is exactly as in the original. English has changed much since 1611. The original has a note in the margins about the word "hell." It says "or, the grave." Later editions took the marginal readings out to conform to the mythical standard of an "inerrant Bible." Marginal alternative renderings showed that translators were uncertain of the meaning. This did not conform to the "inerrant" idea so the marginal readings, which sometimes were more correct than the text, were taken out in later editions. Please note if Jonah was in "hell," as the KJV has it, then Jonah escaped from a place where, according to modern theologians, there is no escape.
The New American Standard Bible: 1977
and he said, "I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; Thou didst hear my voice."
The New International Version: 1973
He said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depthes of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
The Living Bible: 1971
"In my great trouble I cried to the Lord and he answerd me; from the depths of death I called, and Lord, you heard me!"
The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts (Lamsa): 1957
I cried to the Lord in my distress and he answered me; out of the depths of Sheol cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Good News Bible: 1976
"In my distress, O Lord, I called to you, and you answered me. From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me."
The Holy Bible an American Translation: 1976
...and said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From the belly of the underworld I cried, and You heard my voice."
New Catholic Liturgical Bible: 1963
Jona 2:3 Out of my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me; from the midst of the nether world I cried for help, and you heard my voice.
New Revised Standard Version: 1989
...saying, "I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice."
The Amplified Bible: 1965
And said, I cried out of my distress to the Lord, and He heard me; out of the belly of Sheol cried I, and You heard my voice.
The New King James Version: 1985
And he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.
As we can see, after 350 years of saying Jonah was in "hell," the New King James finally admitted he wasn't there after all. He was in Sheol, like everyone else who has died. Many people have come out of the grave. The Bible is full of examples.
These are just some of the popular translations that have done the Old Testament a bit of justice when translating "Sheol." "Hell" cannot even be found in the Old Testament in dozens of English translations, many of which are accepted by mainstream conservative churches. This should cause them to study this issue out, but so far it seems they are oblivious to the facts. Perhaps in the next century the latest popular translations will see fit to give the New Testament the same treatment with Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus. Many are now realizing that they have been in error translating these words "hell" as well. More and more Bibles are sorting things out and discovering the pagan concept of "hell" doesn't belong in the Bible at all. We believe as we get closer to the original languages of the Bible, that that awful word "hell" will totally disappear from the pages of Scripture.
In the Old Testament, good and evil men both went to "Sheol" at death. One Sheol, one place of death for all men.
In the New Testament, three words were translated into "hell" by the King James translators: Hades (unseen), Gehenna (Jerusalem's city dump), and Tartarus (Greek mythology's prison for the Titans). None of these words is the "lake of fire" in Revelation. Most Bibles since the KJV have abandoned the poor translating of all these words into "hell." The many different ways each translation handles these words is beyond the scope of this booklet. It would require a full size book to document it all. We will just say, almost all Bibles have abandoned the KJV's handling of these words. Search it out for yourself. It will be a most enlightening study.
The concept of evil men going to a place of torment after death first appeared in Jewish apocryphal writings of 3 to 1 B.C. These writings came from the thoughts of the Babylonian religions which the Jews brought back with them from Babylon. It was these books which spoke of eternal separation of good and evil and equating it to man's ultimate fate. Many Jews mixed these teachings with Judaism which brought about great problems. These writings, found their way into the Greek Septuagint. The Septuagint was used by the early Church. From there these writings got into the Latin Vulgate. Early English translations relied heavily on the Latin Vulgate. Those that used the Greek, also relied heavily upon the Septuagint. The early English translations were either translated from the Latin with the Apocrypha, or the Septuagint, which also contained the Apocrypha. Each translation also relied heavily on other translations. Tyndale, for example, borrowed greatly from Martin Luther. The King James directly copied much from previous translations that came directly from the Latin Vulgate. Many of the early Common Language Bibles contained the Apocryphal writings. These writings had a great effect on their view of things and on how to translate other portions of the Bible. Jewish Bibles of today do not contain them. They do not belong in the Scriptures! But the Roman Catholic Bibles, Orthodox Bibles, and the original King James Bible as well as many early Common language Bibles contained them. As the Roman Catholic church and Protestant denominations begin to hold hands again, Protestant translations are beginning to add the Apocryphal Writings to the Bible again. This is not wise.
As I mentioned earlier, a loving Creator would trumpet the warning very loud, clear, and often, if eternal punishment was the fate of the unrighteous. English Bible translations generally have between 600,000 and 700,000 words. Question. If the Old Testament is basically void of warnings of eternal torment, how many times would you expect a loving Father to warn you in the New Testament if such a horrible fate was His plan for the "unrighteous." The New Testament contains 27 books. Would you expect Him to mention the word "hell" a thousand times? Would 500 times be enough. He used the word "heaven" over 600 times. Would you be surprised if He mentioned it only 100 times? Could He be so cold hearted as to only mention it 50 times? Surely, He would most definitely mention it at least once in each New Testament Book! Right? Wrong! Most translations that mention it at all, mention it only 12 to 14 times, the King James being the King of Hell mentioning only it 22 times in the New Testament, not even once per book! Many translations don't even mention the word "hell" even once! Now if the Creator is the All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Sovereign One, surely He did a terrible job of warning mankind of their terrible fate. . .if eternal punishment awaited them.
Think of it, He gave a commission to Paul the Apostle to write almost half the New Testament. Paul was to declare the Gospel of the uncircumcision to the whole world. Would you believe it if we told you Paul, the apostle to the nations, never used the word "hell" once? King James didn't put the word in Paul's mouth, NIV didn't do it, NASB didn't have the nerve. Check them out. Check every Bible you can get your hands on. The one responsible to warn the nations of the whole world. . .and he forgot to use that nasty little word "hell." Either Paul was very irresponsible or His boss was. . .or maybe our theology is very irresponsible. Who do you think missed it? Perhaps we should look into our own backyard before we accuse the Creator, or Paul, of being irresponsible. But one thing is certain, if one's eternal future is determined in this lifetime, and Paul, as a bondservant to Christ, was to make plain the truth, he plainly forgot to mention that "hell" was part of the deal.
For many of you this information may come as a shock. You have been so preconditioned through tradition that the tree in the garden was an apple tree, the Passover animal was only a lamb, and that hell was plastered all over the Bible, that this article is probably a bit unnerving. It was extremely painful for me (Gary Amirault) when researching Bible translations to come across the fact that in 1851 the American Bible Society compared six different editions of the King James Bible and discovered over 24,000 variations between the editions of the same Bible translation! How could there be an inerrant King James Bible when even the different editions of the King James Bible had ten's of thousands of variant readings!? I was told by tradition not to question the inerrant King James Bible. No one ever told me that even in the very first year of the King James Bible, two different printings of the very same King James were not the same. No one ever told me that the editions of the KJV up until the 19th century contained 14 additional books not in today's editions. We have an exact reprint of one of the 1611 printings that contains books such as: The idole Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, The prayer of Manasseh, Tobit, Judith, the Song of the Three Children, Baruch, etc.. Can you find these books in a present edition of the King James Bible? If the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy is a true doctrine, which of the many editions of the KJV is the inerrant one? The original one contained books no longer in the present editions. Have these publishers "taken away from the Word?" Will the plagues of Revelation be on your head because you are using a KJV missing 14 books?
The Bible Inerrancy Camp and the King James Only Camp teach that we have a perfect Greek text or imply it. It is called the "Textus Receptus" by the KJV camp which is Latin for "Received Text." They teach this text was available to the King James translators which allowed them to produce an inerrant English translation. Historical records regarding this "Textus Receptus" proves their view to be totally false.
First of all, the term "Textus Receptus" first appears in a second edition of Stephanus Greek text produced by the Elzevire Brothers in 1633, twenty two years after the King James Bible was printed! It was an advertising pitch as false as most commercials are today. The so-called Textus Receptus began it's debut in 1516. It started as a work which took a self-proclaimed "humanist" Roman Catholic monk only several months to, in his own words "throw together rather than edit." One critic in England called it the "least carefully printed book ever published." Erasmus in trying to be the first to get a Greek text in print, threw together in a few months what it took his competitors at Alcala de Henares University many years to assemble. The University's text came to be known as the Complutensian Polyglott. Erasmus only had a handful of very late manuscripts to work from, none of which contained the complete Greek New Testament, so he filled in the gaps from the Latin Vulgate. That is why the Textus Receptus has words that do not agree with any known Greek text. He corrected his text in 4 subsequent editions. In the mid 1500's a man named Stephanus took Erasmus text, and combined it with the Complutensian Text. He produced several editions making changes along the way. The Stephanus text, which the King James translators used differed from the self-proclaimed "Textus Receptus" in 287 places. There are no known Greek manuscripts that agree "inerrantly" with either the Textus Receptus or the Stephanus text. Erasmus, the originator of the so-called "inerrant" Greek text later to be called the "Textus Receptus" dedicated his work to Pope Leo X who later would condemn Luther and the Reformation. For a full account of this sad chapter of church deception, read The Text of the New Testament by Bruce Metzger. Foundation Press in Anaheim, California also has some valuable information.
The teaching that the King James translators had a perfect Greek text is denied by the translators themselves. In the original edition of 1611 are marginal notes as follows: Note on Luke 17:36, "This 36th verse is wanting in most of the Greek copies." Note on Acts 25:6 where their text reads: "When he had tarried among them more than ten days," they inserted the following marginal note: "or, as some copies read, 'no more than eight or ten days.'" Unfortunately notes such as these as well as much other information contained in the Original KJV have been removed to support the "Inerrancy" fraud. Enough . . . of this sad chapter of Bible translating. If I got into the personal lives of the people involved here, it would make Hollywood jealous. Often "KJV Only" writers use smear tactics to discredit other translations. They freely use character assination as a screen to throw people off from searching things out for themselves. If we got into the personalities of the people involved in this chapter of Bible productions , we wouldn't have to smear. The truth would shock you! But our desire is not to dishonor anyone, our purpose is to set people free of error which is holding them in bondage to false doctrines and keeping them in bondage to men and women who use the Scriptures deceitfully. Let us go on.
There was a time when Bible writing was strictly in the hands of the church. The end result was the church put the Bible into a "Sacred" language called Latin which common people in latter times could not and were not allowed to read. It was called the Vulgate. The common people could not read the Scriptures in their native tongue of English, German, French, etc.. Getting caught with any portion of the Scriptures in your native language could get one killed by the church! Please believe us. This is true. The Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox churches did not want Christians or non-Christians reading the Scriptures.
When the first Common Language Bibles began to appear in the languages of the world, the state and church still had much control over the wording, who could read it, and which translations one could read. An Anglican Protestant was not allowed to read a Lutheran Bible. King James did not want the people of England to read the English Geneva Bible produced by John Calvin and his associates. Church leaders used the notes in the Geneva Bible as Scriptural support to tell the King how to rule. Before James the first was king of England, he was King James the sixth of Scotland. The Presbyterians caused him much trouble and their favorite Bible was the Geneva Bible. King James commissioned the King James Bible because of political reasons, not because of a love of the Creator. The English were strongly being influenced by the marginal notes in the Geneva Bible which states that the people of a monarchy had the right to overthrow that monarchy if it did not line up with Scripture? King James believed in the "Divine Right of the King." He called the Geneva Bible "seditious." Therefore, he commissioned the King James Bible. He gave the committee 15 rules which they had to abide by while translating his Bible. Several of those selected for the committee resigned because of these stipulations. This list is printed in most well researched Bible translations reference books. We will mention just a couple to show you that this version was not going to be pure nor "inerrant." "1. The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the Truth of the original will permit." (Doesn't sound like a "new" translation , does it?) "3. The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. The word church not be translated Congregation &c." (This was to insure the old Roman Catholic\Anglican rituals, ordinances, and doctrines be not altered. They couldn't change the word baptize into immerse, for example.) "4. When a Word hath divers Significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most of the Ancient Fathers, being agreeable to the Propriety of the Place, and the Analogy of the Faith." (In others words, they must abide by the "traditions of the elders." Remember Jesus' words, "You have made the word of God of none effect by your traditions?)
These examples should be enough to show one that the King James translators were not "anointed by God" to produce an authentically original translation free from political and denominational bias. They were "appointed by James" for political and monetary reasons. King James didn't put a penny into the project, but he could make money out of the project since it was his Bible. Not only were the translators not "anointed," but the King's printers weren't anointed either. The early printings had printers errors which were down right embarrassing for a so-called "inerrant" Bible. In one edition they forgot to put the word not in the 7th commandment!
The translator's have this to their credit. They noted in the preface to the reader that they only took previous men's work and hoped to make a better one, knowing others would follow them and produce even a better one yet. This preface has been also removed from present day King James Bibles because it does not conform to the fundamentalist's "inerrancy" teachings. That is why the translators preface is no longer printed in current King James Bibles. We have made several tapes dealing with the many misconceptions and untruths proclaimed about the KJV. We mention here, only a few points to clearly show that the teaching of an "inerrant" KJV is a pure myth.
In 1611 two separate editions of the KJV were printed. They came to be known as the "Great He Bible" and the "Great She Bible" because one printed Ruth 3:15 as "he went" and the other printed "she went." These two original King James Bibles, printed in the first year this Bible was issued, had several thousands differences. When asked to endorse the KJV, Hugh Broughton, foremost Hebrew scholar of England at that time said he would rather "be rent to pieces by wild horses than have had any part in the urging of such a wretched version of the Bible on the poor people." We have printed a list of material at the back of this booklet which will give one much information about Bible translating and what pastors don't want their congregation to know about it..
It is vital to understand that when the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox church removed the Scriptures from the common people, these churches were then able to bring in hundreds of pagan doctrines, idols, and false religious rites. The mythologies of the Romans, Greeks, Teutons, Norse, Druids etc. were incorporated into church teaching which produced great darkness. Read about the dark ages of Europe which were brought about by Christian leaders, the popes, bishops, cardinals, and kings appointed by the pope.
When the Reformation began, the minds of Christian leaders were so cluttered by superstition and false doctrines that the progress they made in breaking away from the total darkness of Romanism was really only a small step out of darkness. We forget that the Anglican Church began, not because of Godly reasons, but from political and personal ones. Also don't forget, King James was much more interested in a Bible to support his view of the "divine right of the king" than to produce an inerrant Bible. Church historians have glorified the Reformation far beyond what was really accomplished. Today, we still have a long way to go.
Today, most Bibles are produced by merchants. The church proved it only perverted the "Word of God" when she was sole guardian of it. She hid it, then changed it. Now merchants produce most Bible translations which must be sold for a profit which usually means giving the market what they want. Over 350 English translations of the New Testament have been marketed to date. The most popular and accepted translations are, of course, those which can be used to support Christendom's doctrines. Pastors will push those translations which work for them the most.
When a major Bible translation is undertaken by a publisher or some other institution, the directors are not only responsible for getting the text translated; they must also make sure that the resulting work will, over time, pay for the cost of translation and make a profit. In other words, they are under a directive to make sure that the completed Bible supports the majority view of Christendom's doctrines. The market first, accuracy to original texts second. The bottom line of present day Bible translating is: It must sell!
The churches have always used fear to keep the sheep in bondage to them. The fear of eternal punishment in the afterlife has been a doctrine pagan religions used for centuries before Christianity came on the scene. One of the outstanding features of early Judaism and early Christianity was that they did not have a fire breathing dragon who was going to roast his enemies. Their image of the Creator was one who would bless all the nations of the world. Judaism offered sacrifices on behalf of Rome, it's enemy. This put Judaism in a separate class. It was a religion whose Savior said "Love your enemies, pray for them, forgive them!" This was absolutely revolutionary! These early Christians were taught that perfect love casts out fear. Fear was not the answer to controlling people, the answer was love. It worked. And one day it will work again. But the Father, in His sovereignty allowed the church to fall away. The doctrines of fear and demons entered the church in full force when Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. When the political system of Rome merged with the heirarchial structure of the church, the death knoll sounded. The church became full of unconverted pagans who brought their pagan ideas with them. The church absorbed them and it died. Dark ages. . millions of people killed in the name of Christ. Fear and the doctrines of fear and of demons again controlled the world. The pagan doctrine of eternal torment was added to the Latin Vulgate. The early Protestant Bibles were strongly influenced by Kings, Bishops and other rulers who still believed that fear was a powerful force which must be utilized. While many Christians saw the error in this doctrine even at that time in church history, it was not to be removed from the pages of Bibles until after the reformation.
But as early as 1798, English Bibles began to appear which were based upon the Greek and Hebrew texts which did not contain the pollution from the Latin Vulgate nor the Septuagint. The Scarlett's New Testament did not contain the doctrine of a "hell" for the unrighteous and a fate of eternal punishment for those who had not been "born again" in this life time. By correcting a hand full of words and bringing them back to their meaning of the times in which they were written, the idea of a place called "hell" where people were cruelly tortured by a so-called loving God, simply disappeared. Then the Scriptures which declared the "Savior of the whole world" truly shined.
Since then, many Bible translations have rediscovered the Savior of the early believers who loved enough and was powerful enough to save all mankind. When the church had control of Bible translation, she hid the truth from the people. Today merchants basically control Bible production who are controlled by the bottom line which means bowing down to religious leaders who still control our Father's people through fear rather than "agape." In the days ahead and even now, our Father will bring forth many Bible translations which will not be produced for profits sake nor to control the masses through fear of eternal torment. These Bibles will be produced as a labor of love and will declare the Savior of the whole world Who is able to save you even from yourself. They will be easy to understand, not cloaked with archaic or Classical English written for the elite. They will declare the simplicity of the Gospel in plain, simple English. "Jesus loves you, no strings attached, and so does His Father." His is not going to torture you forever as taught by most pagan religions. He is going to melt you with His compassion.
Below are listed several English Bible translations which have either taking very large steps out of the darkness of the paganized church, or have returned almost completely to the fresh bright light and power of the first believers. The vast majority of the early Christians did not believe in the doctrine of fear used by most of the pagan religions of the time, they believed in the Father of all mankind who will have all mankind be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.
Before we get into the Scripture verses of various translations, we just want to insert another interesting point. The Protestant Bible closest to the doctrines of Romanism, the KJV, has the phrase "everlasting punishment" only once, and the phrase "everlasting destruction" only once. Again we ask, if this be the horrible fate of most of mankind, why such a little warning. When looking at these words in the Greek, even these two references turn out to be "age-during correction."
In the section below, two verses which are used to support the doctrine of eternal torment are given for each version: 1) Matthew 25:46, and 2) Revelation 20:10. We selected Matthew 25:46 as one of the Scriptures because that Scripture was the main one used by KJV preachers to bring me (Gary Amirault) into the error of the Doctrine of Eternal Torment." My heart said our Father loved all mankind These preachers used this Scripture and a hand full of others to prove that their God was going to toast most of mankind including millions of Christians who weren't living up to their standards. They used the King James Bible, so that is where we will start. The 1611 King James is given from one of the original printings, not from one of the modern printings. Behold, and see the Glory of a new day. See the image of our Father returning to the Glory He had before His people dragged it through the mud of the dark ages. Rejoice, for He has healing in His wings.
King James Version, 1611 spelled as in the original 1. And these shall goe away into euerlasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternall. 2. And the deuil that deceiued them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night, for euer and euer.
This version had thousands of differences in two printings within the same year. This fact and many others are never revealed by KJV-only preachers. To say the KJV is "inerrant" is to outright lie. Apparently many preachers lie!
(Here comes a little light.)
The Newberry Reference Bible, 1893
1. And these shall_go_away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 2. And the devil that deceived them was_cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false_prophet are, and shall_be_tormented day and night forever and ever.
margin: the ages of the ages.
The Newberry is a KJV. The marginal notes open many doors to see what is behind the English text. A step out of "hell" forever. Hints are dropped that the Greek words which KJV translated "eternal", "forever," etc. really deal with ages, not eternity. The margins also reveal the original Greek and Hebrew words translated "hell." A diligent person could see that "eternal punishment" was a false translation from this KJV Reference Bible. The more we are told, the clearer it becomes that Jesus will save all mankind and do it Scripturally!
( And more light)
Revised Version, 1881
1. And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. 2. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night* for ever and ever.
*Gr. unto the ages of the ages.
A step out of darkness! The footnotes shows forever and ever dealing with time, not eternity. This version does not have the word "hell" in the Old Testament. It also removed the word "hell" in many places in the N.T.. It also broke away from the very errant Steven's text which a later publisher called "Textus Receptus."
American Standard Version
1. And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. 2. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.*
*Gr. unto the ages of the ages.
This is the American version of the Revised version. It does not contain the word "hell" in the O.T.. It cleaned up "hell" is some parts of the N.T. and began to correct readings of the Greek word "aion" to show it was a time word. The KJV "eternal," "forever," etc. were incorrect translations. Many translations are beginning to correct these errors which are eliminating many contradictions in the KJV text.
The Riverside New Testament by Ballantine, 1934
1. These will go away into punishment eternal, but the righteous into life eternal. 2. and the Devil who was misleading them was flung into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the Beast and the False Prophet, and they will be tormented day and night for the ages of the ages.
This Bible points to "ages" in many places as well as eliminate the word "hell." It transliterated the Greek words.
(Light from the original languages)
Emphatic Diaglott, 1942 edition (Greek\English Interlinear)
1. And these shall go forth to the aionian 1cutting-off; but the RIGHTEOUS to aionian Life. 2. And THAT ENEMY who deceived them was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE and Sulphur, where both the BEAST and FALSE-PROPHET [were cast,] and they will be tormented Day and Night for the AGES of the AGES.
Note the correct rendering the "AGES of the AGES" instead of "forever and ever." He translates "aionian Kolasis" {eternal punishment in KJV} as "aionian cutting-off." The "cutting-off" refers to pruning fruit trees to bear more fruit. He has a footnote on the word "hades" which many Bibles translate "hell." It goes as following:)
"Hades-from a, not, and idein, to see; and literally means hidden, obscure, invisible. It is found eleven times in the New Testament. In the Common Version (KJV), it is rendered grave in 1 Cor. 15:55, and in all other places hell; but the latter is now universally admitted to be an incorrect translation. (Much more light!)
The New Covenant, 1884
1. And these shall go away into aeonian chastisement, and the just into aeonian life. 2. And the accuser that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the beast and [the] false prophet [are], and they shall be tormented day and night to the aeons of the aeons.
There is no "hell" nor "eternal punishment" in this New Testament.
Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, 1898
1. And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during. 2. and the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night-to the ages of the ages.
There is no "hell" or "eternal punishment" in entire Bible. He produced Young's Concordance, a Concordance to the KJV and corrected the KJV's mistranslation of the word "aion" and it's adjective "aionios" to read "an age" or "age-during." Bible and Concordance are still in print.
The Holy Bible In Modern English (Fenton), 1903
1. And these He will dismiss into a long correction, but the well-doers to an enduring life. 2. And the Devil who deceived them was hurled into the lake of Divine fire, where also were the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tortured day and night through the ages of the ages.
Note the "long correction" and "ages instead of "forever." He cleaned up many "hell" words and delivered Jonah from hell.
New Testament in Modern Speech, 1910
1. And these shall go away into the Punishment 1of the Ages, but the righteous into the Life* of the Ages.
2. and the Devil,** who had been leading them astray, was thrown into 3the Lake of fire and sulphur where the Wild Beast and the false Prophet were, and day and night they will suffer torture until the Ages of the Ages.
*Of the Ages] Greek 'aeonian.'
(He cleaned up the "hell" words, changed "eternal" etc. to "age" words. It is sad to note, some ministers reprinted this work after the author died and put "eternal torment" back in the text. It seems there is no end to the deviousness of "God's anointed.")
The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible, 1976
1. And these shall go away into age-abiding *correction, but the righteous into **age-abiding life. 2. And the Adversary that had been deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where were both the wild-beast and the false-prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of ages.
* punishment
** everlasting
This Bible was authored by Rotherham. He did not have these footnotes in his original. The Missionary Dispensary Bible Research organization reprinted his Bible making many changes, one of which is to put "punishment" and "everlasting" in the footnotes. This Bible does not contain the word "hell." This is another example of ministers taking dead men's work and altering it to their advantage.
The Twentieth Century New Testament, 1900
1. And these last will go away 'into aeonian punishment,' but the righteous 'into aeonian life.' 2. and the Devil, their deceiver, was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the Beast and the false Prophet already were, and they will be tortured day and night for ever and ever.
This Bible often translated words that KJV called "hell" as "pit" or "place of death." "Eternal was transliterated to "aeonian." In 1961, Moody Press reprinted this fine work, but put "hell" back in it. Another example of hiding the truth from the people.
The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed, 1958
1. And these shall go away into agelasting cutting-off and the just into agelasting life. 2. And the accuser, the one deceiving them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the wild beast and the false prophet were cast; and they will be tormented day and night for the ages of the ages.
There is no "hell" or "eternal torment" in this New Testament.
The Western New Testament, 1926
1. And these will go away into eternal punishment,* but the righteous into life eternal. 2. And the devil, who deceiveth them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the wild beast and the false prophet; and they will be tormented day and night for evermore.
*Or chastisement (I S. John iv.18).
This Bible had a reference on Matthew 21:19 on the word "forever" which said: Literally, for the age (and elsewhere). For the word "hell" he either uses Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, or footnotes such.
The New Testament, a Translation, 1938
1. And these shall go away into eonian correction, but the righteous into eonian life. 2. And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where are also the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of the ages.
No "hell" and no "eternal torment" in this New Testament. It was written by Clementson, President of the Pittsburgh Bible College.
Concordant Literal New Testament, 1983
1. And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian. 2. And the Adversary who is deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur where the wild beast and where the false prophet are also. And they shall be tormented day and night for the eons of the eons.
No "hell" or "eternal torment" in the New Testament, nor in the Old Testament which is still being worked on. This Bible is still in print.
Rotherham Emphasized Bible, 1959
1. And these shall go away into age-abiding correction, but the righteous into age-abiding life. 2. ...and the Adversary that had been deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where [were] both the wild-beast and the false-prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of ages.
No "hell" or "eternal torment" in the Old or New Testament. This Bible is still in print.)
Since the King James Bible was a leading player in keeping us in darkness, we will let a King James Bible lead us out of darkness. The following Bible is one of the best reference bibles available. The appendages and footnotes in this King James Bible undo the damage done by the Original King James Bible. If you are a "King James Only Person," this bible should help open your eyes. Why do you want to stay asleep in the darkness of archaic and mistranslated words. Wake up! Enjoy the new day. The darkness of the night is passing away.
The Companion Bible,1990 A King James Reference Bible
1. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternal. 2. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
This Bible is clearly one of the best reference Bible ever printed. While the text is the KJV which the authors did not tamper with, the footnotes and appendages clear up thousands of places where the KJV translators just missed it. In his very lengthy appendage on the words "aion" and it's adjective "aionios" which JKV translates "eternal," "forever," etc., Bullinger clearly states: Aion which means "age."
Aionios-"of or belonging to an age."
If the KJV-only ministers, who deceived me (Amirault) into thinking our Father was going to roast most of mankind had used this printing of the KJV, they would not have succeeded. This Bible clears up many of the clear errors in the KJV text. Below is the appendage on the four words the KJV translated "hell."
KJV Companion Bible appendage on the word "hell:"
"Hell" is the English rendering of two different Greek words in the New Testament.
The English word is from the Anglo-Saxon hel, Genetive Case helle=a hidden place, form the Anglo-Saxon helan=to hide.
It is in the N.T. used as the translation of two Greek words:
I. Gehenna. geena. This is the transliteration of the Heb. Gai Hinnom, i.e. the Valley of Hinnom or "the Valley" of [the sons of] Hinnom, where were the fires through which children were passed in the worship of Moloch.
In the O.T. Tophet was the Heb. word used, because it was a place in this valley.
In our Lord's day the idolatry had ceased, bur the fires were still continually burning there for the destruction of the refuse of Jerusalem. Hence, geena was used for the dires of destruction associated with the judgment of God. Sometimes, "geena of fire". See 2 Kings 23:10, Isa. 30:33, Jer. 7:31; 19:11-14.
Geenna occurs 12 times, and is always rendered "hell", viz Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33, Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6.
II. Hades. Gr. hades, from a (privative) and idein, to see (Ap. 133. I. i); used by the Greeks for the unseen world.
The meaning which the Greeks put upon it does not concern us; nor have we anything to do with the imaginations of the heathen, or the traditions of Jews or Romanists, or the teachings of demons or evil spirits, or of any who still cling to them.
The Holy Spirit has used it as one of the "words pertaining to the earth", and in so doing has "purified" it, "as silver tried in a furnace" (see notes on Ps. 12:6). From this we learn that His own words "are pure", but words belonging to this earth have to be "purified."
The Old Testament is the fountain-head of the Hebrew language. It has no literature behind it. But the case is entirely different with the Greek language. The Hebrew Sheol is a word Divine in its origin and usage. The Greek Hades is human in its origin and comes down to us laden with centuries of development, in which it has acquired new senses, meanings, and usages.
Seeing that the Holy Spirit has used it in Acts 2:27, 31 as His own equivalent of Sheol in Psalm 16:10, He has settled, once for all, the sense in which we are to understand it. The meaning He has given to sheol in Ps. 16:10 is the one meaning we are to give it wherever it occurs in the N.T., whether we transliterate it or translate it. We have no liberty to do otherwise, and must discard everything outside the Word of God.
The word occurs eleven times (Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16;23; Acts 2:27, 31; 1 Cor. 15:55; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14); and is rendered "hell" in every passage except one, where it is rendered "grave" (1 Cor. 15:55, marg. "hell").
In the R.V. the word is always transliterated "Hades" except in 1 Cor. 15:55 (where "death" is substituted because of the reading, in all the texts, of thanate for hades), and in the American R.V. also.
As Hades is the Divine Scriptural equivalent of Sheol, further light may be gained from Ap. 35, and a reference to the 65 passages there given. It may be well to note that while "Hades" is rendered "hell" in the N.T. (except once, where the rendered "the Grave" could not be avoided), Sheol, its Hebrew equivalent, occurs 65 times, and is rendered "the grave" 31 times (or 54%); "hell" 31 times (4 times is the margin "the grave", reducing it to 41.5%); and "pit" only 3 times (or 4.5%).
"The grave", therefore, is obviously the best rendering, meaning the state of death (Germ. sterbend, for which we have no English equivalent); not the act of dying, as as examination of all the occurrences of both words will show.
1. The rendering "pit" so evidently means "the grave" that it may at once be substituted for it (Num. 16:30,33; Job 17:16).
2. The rendering "the grave" (not "a grave", which is Hebrew keber, or bor) exactly express the meaning of both Sheol and Hades. For, as to direction, it is always down: as to place, it is in the earth: as to relation, it is always in contrast with the state of the living (Deut. 32:22-25 and 1 Sam. 2:6-8), as to association, it is connected with mourning (Gen. 37:34,35), sorrow (Gen. 42:38; 1Sam. 22:6, Ps. 18:5; 116:3), fright and terror (Num. 16:27,34), mourning (Isa. 38:3,10,17,18), silence (Ps. 16:10, 31:17, Ecc. 9:10); no knowledge (Ecc. 9:5,6,10), punishment (Num. 16:29,34; 1 Kings 2:6,9; Job 24:10, Ps. 9:17 (R.V.=re-turned), corruptions (Ps. 16:10, Acts 2:27,31); as to duration , resurrection is the only exit from it (Ps. 16:11, Acts 2:27,31; 13:33-37, 1 Cor. 15:55, Rev 1:18; 20:5, 13, 13).
III Tartaroo (occurs only in 2 Peter 2:4)=to thrust down to Tartarus, Tartarus being a Greek word, not used elsewhere, or at all in the Sept. Homer describes it as subterranean (cp. Deut 32:22, which may refer to this). The Homeric Tartarus is the prison of the Titans, or giants (cp. Heb. Rephaim, Ap. 25), who rebelled against Zeus.
Appendix 35 "Sheol"
The first occurrence of this word is in Gen. 37:35, where it is rendered "grave". It occurs sixty-five time in the Hebrew of the Old Testament; and only by studying each passage by itself can the student hope to gather the Biblical usage of the word. All heathen or traditional usages are not only worthless, but mischievous. (This appendix then list all occurrences of "Sheol" in the O.T. which for space sake, we are not going to do. He continues as follows:)
As the meaning "THE grave," it is to be distinguished from keber,A grave, or burying place (from kabar, to bury, first occurrence Gen. 23:4): and bor, a pit, generally hewn in the rock, hence used of a cistern (Gen. 37:20) or a dungeon. &c., when dry.
Well, as we can see, there wasn't as much "hell" in the "dark age" Bibles as we thought there was, and as Dr. Bullinger, author of the King James Companion Bible shows, the "hell" of "eternal punishment" that is in Bibles doesn't belong there, even in the favorite Bible of hell-fire preachers, the King James Bible.
When the hundreds of scriptures that speak of the all-inclusiveness of salvation, redemption, and Life are considered, it is easily seen that for centuries Christendom has been defining the fate of the wicked by a mere handful of mistranslated scriptures; meanwhile ignoring 66 Holy Spirit-inspired books full of reconciliation, redemption, and loving-kindness to those who are undeserving, into which category you and I fall.
Consider these words prayerfully, and ask our Heavenly Father to quicken your spirit to the truth, even if it means leaving behind an idol of a god whose desire it is to torment for eternity those poor souls who never had the privilege of knowing him.
It seems human beings seem to gravitate toward always thinking the worst of people rather than looking for what is good. I believe we have certainly done this with the Creator of all things. The Scriptures tell us the mind of man cannot conceive the height, length depth, and width of our Father's love for His Creation. His ways are much higher than ours in all areas, including His justice, love, and wisdom. Yet somehow we have managed to conceive Him hating most of mankind and consigning them to a place few humans could consign anyone. These are not high thoughts. This is not glorifying. They are thoughts of fallen man lost in his own hatred which he projects unto the Creator.
When our spirit is right, then the Scriptures plainly show that His Lovingkindness endures forever, that He kills but is able to make alive again and he will (Ezekiel 16, Sodom), He wounds but like a doctor, to bring about healing. He says "Vengeance is mine" knowing only He can return good for evil, an innocent life for a guilty one. He overcomes His enemies with good and tells you to do the same. His Love never fails. Believe it. It will never fail anyone, including you. You can now enter into your rest.
For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:19-20) NAS
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever (Rev. 5:13)NKJV
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. (John 12:32)NRSV
This is good and acceptable, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.(1 Timothy 2:3-6)NIV
Jesus came to do the Father's will.(John5:30) What is the Father's will? Jesus came to save all.(John 12:47) Will He Fail? Jesus led captivity captive.(Eph.4:8-12) Did any get away? Jesus is able to save to the uttermost.(Heb.7:25) Do you believe it? Jesus has all in his hands.(3:35) Will any fall out? Jesus is Savior of All.(1Tim.4:9-11) Savior or potential Savior? Jesus will fill all things.(4:10) What about hell? Jesus is ransom for all(1Tim.2:6) Will some of it be wasted? Jesus tasted death for everyone.(Heb.2:9) With no result for most? Jesus set creation free.(Rm.8:18,20) All of it? Jesus subdues all unto Himself.(Phil.3:21) For what purpose? Jesus restores all things.(Acts3:20,21) All things? Jesus will give life to all Father gives Him.(Jn.17:2) How many did Father give Him?(Jn.3:35) Jesus died for all.(2Cor.5:15) Did He die in vain/ Jesus will be worshipped by all.(Rev.5:13) What is worship? What is "all?" We are sure this small booklet will not answer all questions. It should stir up many questions. One might say: "Whether a person is the 'lake of fire' for many ages, or forever, they are still being terribly tortured." But when we see that the word translated by KJV and Company as "tortured" is the Greek word "basanizo," its literally meaning being "touchstone," then one can bring perfect harmony to the Scriptures. A "touchstone" was a stone mined in Lydia use to test the quality of gold. Gold in Scriptures speaks of Divine nature. The "lake of fire" in Greek is "limnen tou puros tou kai theiou." "limnen" is lake; "puros" is fire; and "theiou" is sulfer. Sulfer "theiou" and God "theos" are related. In other words, looking for our Father's highest Glory, instead of bringing Him down to man's lowly ways, the lake of fire is a "Divine fire" to test, not torture, whether something be divine or not. The symbols in Revelation will always be grossly twisted by carnal men. The Book of Revelation, for example, is actually the "unveiling of Jesus Christ." One should be able to see the activity of Christ and His work in Creation. The carnal fundamentalist mindset will see "the Antichrist, 666, Judgement day, and world conspiracies," instead of what the title of the book states, the unveiling of our Savior. One day, all of our works will go into that lake of "divine" fire and will be tested. Works, not lead by the Holy Spirit will be shown for what they are, dead works. Many Christians will suffer much loss, but be saved so as through fire. (1 Cor. 3:15) May His fiery compassion melt you down.
Resources
Below are listed some books, tapes, tracts, that might be helpful for further research. This topic is too important to look into lightly. Unfortunately, we Christians have not done our homework in this area. It is time to get it right.
The Companion Bible KJV, Kregal Publications The English Bible from KJV to NIV by Jack P. Lewis, published by Baker The Text of the New Testament by Bruce Metzger The Early Christian View of the Savior published by Tentmaker The Original Good News published by Tentmaker Is the King James Bible Inerrant?, an audio tape from Tentmaker Good by King James Bible, an audio tape by Tentmaker All about Bible Translating, an audio tape by Tentmaker Hot Coals, an audio tape by Tentmaker History of the Doctrine of Eternal Torment, 4 audio tapes by Tentmaker Power of a Four Letter Word (aion),two audio tapes by Tentmaker The Origin of the Word "Eternal", two audio tapes by Tentmaker What the Hell is "Hell?", an audio tape by Tentmaker History of the English Bible, an audio tape by Tentmaker Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?, an audio tape by Tentmaker Proof Born Again Christians Don't Believe in Hell, an audio tape by Tentmaker Dew from Mount Hermon, a periodical publication from Tentmaker A set of tracts on this subject produced by Tentmaker An Analytical Study of Words, by Louis Abbot available from Tentmaker Time and Eternity, by G.T. Stevenson, available from Tentmaker Many other tapes produced by Tentmaker
Related:
The entire concept of eternal or everlasting punishment hinges primarily on a single verse of Scripture-- Matthew 25:46. This is the only place in the entire Bible where we find these two words together AND only in some Bibles. There are over a dozen English translations which do NOT contain the concept of "eternal punishment" on ANY of their pages, NOR the pagan concept of Hell.
The Greek form for "everlasting punishment" in Matthew 25:46 is ”kolasin aionion." Kolasin is a noun in the accusative form, singular voice, feminine gender and means "punishment, chastening, correction, to cut-off as in pruning a tree to bare more fruit." "Aionion" is the adjective form of "aion," in the singular form and means "pertaining to an eon or age, an indeterminate period of time." (Note: the two words in many, not all translations become reversed when bringing the Greek into English, that is, "kolasin aionion" literally punishment everlasting is reversed to everlasting punishment so as to make better sense in English.)
"Aionion," as shown above, is the singular form of the adjective of the Greek noun "aion." Many people unfamiliar with the Greek do not realize that the endings of the same word change (inflection) to indicate its mood, case, gender, etc. Therefore, "aionion" may appear with different endings. "Aionion, aioniou, aionios," for example, are all different inflections of the adjective form of the noun "aion."
The noun "aion" in Greek literature has always meant "an indeterminate period of time. It could be as short as the time Jonah spent in the belly of a fish (three days or nights even though the KJV has him in the "belly of Hell" "forever," obviously a mistranslation; see Jonah 2:2, 2:6.), the length of a man's life, or as long as an age.
The Bible speaks of at least 5 "aions" and perhaps many more. If there were "aions" in the past, then aions must have an end. The New Testament writers spoke of "the present wicked aion" which ended during that very generation. Obviously, it was followed by another "aion"-- the "aion" in which we presently live. If there are "aions" to come, it must mean that this one we live in will also end.
There is a verse which says "the consummation of the aions" proving that each "aion" ends. So how can they be eternal?
There is "the coming eon" (Matt.10:30, Luke 18:30 There is "the present wicked eon" (Gal.1:4) There is "the oncoming eons (future)(Eph.2:7) There is "the conclusion of the eon (present) (Mt.13:39,40) There is "the secret concealed from the eons (past) (Eph.3:9)
Plainly, the Greek word "aion" transliterated "eon" cannot mean "eternal." A study into the Greek of the Biblical period and before will bear this out.
"Aionion" is the adjective of the noun "aion."
Since grammar rules mandate an adjective CANNOT take on a greater force than its noun form, it is evident that "aionion" in any of its adjective forms (ios, ou, on) CANNOT possible mean "everlasting" or anything remotely indicating eternity or unending time.
For example, "hourly" cannot mean "pertaining to days, weeks, months, or years. The word MUST mean "pertaining to an hour." Therefore, "aionion," the adjective form of the noun "aion" which clearly means a period of indeterminate TIME, CANNOT mean, "forever and ever, eternal, everlasting, eternity, etc." or other words which connote timelessness or unending ages.
Therefore, those many Bibles which do NOT contain the teaching of everlasting punishment or Hell are true to the original languages of Greek and Hebrew. Those which teach everlasting punishment or Hell are false. Scholars are just as easily subjected to the "traditions of the elders" as the rest of us. It's time to let the original Greek and Hebrew languages of the Bible break down the traditions of men.
Here is a list of Bibles which have taken major steps towards correcting many of the corruptions found in the King James Bible, NIV, NASB, NRSV, Amplified, as well as other leading selling Bibles:
Some of them are published by leading Evangelical Christian publishers like Baker Book House, Kregal and Eerdman's Publishing. Here's a partial list of some English Bible translations that do NOT contain Hell nor the concept of everlasting punishment: Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (Kregal Publishers), Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (Baker Book House Publishers; Robert Young is author of the famous Young's Concordance), Concordant Literal Translation of the N.T. (Concordant Publishing Concern), Scarlet's New Testament (Nathaniel Scarlett, 1798), The New Testament (Abner Kneeland, 1823) Emphatic Diaglott (Greek/English Interlinear), The New Covenant (J.W. Hanson, 1884), New Testament in Modern Speech (Weymouth, 1910), The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible (1976), The Twentieth Century New Testament (1900), The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed (James L. Tomanek)1958), The Western New Testament (1926), The New Testament, a Translation (Rev. Edgar Lewis Clementson, 1938), The People's New Testament (Arthur Overbury), The New Testament, A New Translation based upon the Oldest Manuscripts (Johannes Greber, 1980) Jonathan Mitchell New Testament (2009) Far Above All New Testament (2009).
There are other translations like the Companion Bible King James Version, American Standard Version (1901), the Newberry Reference Bible (Still published by Kregal Publications), and the Riverside New Testament by Ballantine (1934) which contain footnotes, marginal readings and appendages which point out that several key Greek and Hebrew words have been MIStranslated by such Bible versions as the King James Bible.
For much more information on how this word as well as words have been mistranslated in many leading selling Bibles, write to the address below or visit our internet site. http://www.tentmaker.org
Bible Translations That Do Not Teach Eternal Torment
By Gary Amirault
And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.(Matthew 16:18 KJV) It would seem that if, according to Christendom's doctrines, 90% or more of mankind will end up in eternal torment that the gates of hell will prevail, and mightily! Do you believe the Bible, or what most churches tell us about the fate of the wicked? If you say, "I believe in the Bible," then you are faced with the question of "which Bible?" You see, as translators have received more and more understanding of the original languages of the Bible, "hell" and it's "eternal" status are rapidly fading right off the pages of most Bible translations, including the conservative ones!
Recently, we received a copy of the Holy Scriptures produced by the Jewish Publication Society. Of course, being the Jewish Bible, it did not contain the New Testament. In reviewing it, we discovered some interesting things. One shocking observation was discovering hundreds of footnotes as the following: Exact meaning of Hebrew uncertain, syntax of Hebrew unclear, the traditional reading madhebah is of unknown meaning, grammar of Hebrew unclear, meaning of first line uncertain, meaning of verse uncertain in part, force of Hebrew uncertain, construction of the verses uncertain, etc.. This was very shocking. Those of us coming from a conservative Christian background are usually told the Bible is inerrant. The Jews were the guardians of the Old Testament who were extremely diligent to preserve the text that not one jot or tittle was added or removed. Nearly all Christian Bibles rely on the Jewish Masoretic Hebrew text for translating the Old Testament into current languages. How was it possible for the translators to produce an "inerrant" Bible, when the "guardians of the so called 'inerrant' Hebrew text", did not know the meaning of many words and passages?
Unfortunately, the problem does not lie with the Jews lack of understanding of their own language, but with a false doctrine perpetuated by fundamentalists for many years. The Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy. This doctrine has caused Christian leaders to have to outright lie to maintain their position. They have to take plain facts and hide them from their followers. Because they have locked themselves into the teaching that the King James Bible is "the inerrant" translation of the "so-called" original texts, they have locked themselves into a position where lying, distorting, and name calling are the only options left to maintain their ground. They say the 66 books of the present King James Bible are inerrant, but they don't tell you it lacks 14 entire books which were in the original King James of 1611. They don't tell you the King James Bible has been changed many times in the last 350 years and there have been thousands of corrections! They don't tell you the King James Bible was never authorized by anyone. They don't tell you the original KJV had a calendar of annual Holy days which all believers were to follow such as: Purification of the virgin Mary, annunciation of our Lady, Innocents day, etc.. They don't tell you the Greek text used by the King James translators produced by Erasmus, a Roman Catholic humanist monk, did not have manuscripts that contained all 27 books of the New Testament, so he borrowed out of the Latin Catholic Vulgate! No, they can't tell you these things because that would be the end of the lie which has kept them in business.
As we browsed through this excellent Old Testament translation, marvelling that these Jewish scholars were not ashamed to tell the world they were not perfect and therefore could not produce an inerrant translation, we noticed something else even more startling than the footnotes. We couldn't find the word "hell," even once! This was incredible! The very foundation of Christianity, the Old Testament, three quarters of the Bible, and the word "hell" could not be found. In searching dozens of English translations of the Old Testament, to our absolute amazement, the word "hell" could not be found in most of the leading translations. Abraham, Moses, David, and all the rest of the peoples of the Old Testament only knew one place where all people went, good or bad . . . Sheol, the grave, the place of the departed. This information aroused our curiosity. The thought occurred: how many times is the word "hell" used in the Christian Bible. Surely, with as much as is taught about the subject in most present day churches, one would think this word would appear hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times in the Bible. The word "heaven(s)" occurs 603 times in the leading Christian English Bible translation, the New International Version. The New American Standard has the word heaven(s) 635 times. To our absolute amazement, the word "hell" in the New International occurred only 14 times! The New American Standard had it 13 times! What was even more astounding was that, like the Jewish Old Testament, neither of these leading Bibles has the word "hell" in the Old Testament! The creator, according to these top selling Bibles, agreed with the Jewish Old Testament that the concept of the place of eternal torment for the unrighteous could not be found in the first three quarters of the Bible. Adam was not warned of "hell." Abraham never heard of "hell." Moses, who brought the Creator's Law into the world warned that "the wages of sin is death," Sheol, the grave. He never ever warned about being roasted, toasted, and endlessly tortured. David, when chasing after Bathsheba, suffered the consequences of his sin, but eternal torment was not on his mind. How could the Creator be so thoughtless, and not warn millions of people of a fate they did not even know awaited them? Could this be just? Could this be loving?
Having several thousand dollars of Bible research software and dozens of English Bible translations, we wanted to see if these top respected English Bibles (NIV, NASB, etc.) just made a serious mistake or whether we stumbled on to something which should cause us to reevaluate what we have just accepted because we heard it so many times and just assumed was correct. Most of us picture an apple tree as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but you won't find it in any Bible, none of them! Most of us, I am sure, when thinking of the Passover, think of a lamb, but a goat was equally acceptable. Our minds have been doctrinally contaminated by traditions much more than perhaps we are willing to admit.
Of the many English Bible translations we searched, the King James Bible had the most number of cases where we found the word "hell" in the Old Testament. It translated the Hebrew word "Sheol" as "grave" 31 times, "hell" 31 times, and "pit" 3 times. Almost without exception, all the other leading Protestant Bibles didn't have the nerve to do what the King's translators did, that is, take the Hebrew word "Sheol" where everyone went, according to the Old Testament teachings, and divide it into "hell," a place for the unrighteous, and "grave" or "pit," presumably the place for the righteous. They translated this word according to their theology, and not according to the Hebrew. Most of the translations did not have the word "hell" in any part of the Old Testament. The ones that did, have mentioned it only a handfull of times, always from the Hebrew word "Sheol" which they translated the vast majority of times "grave, underworld, etc.." Those translations that use the word "hell" are so inconsistent with it, that it is impossible to determine which Scriptures clearly refers to "hell" and which refers to "grave." Where one translation had "hell," another had "grave." In other words, those translations that tried to put "hell" into the Old Testament couldn't agree with each other as to which verses spoke of "hell" and which spoke of the "grave."
People, if the love of Christ is in your hearts, this should cause you to really look into this. This world needs to be set free of false images and concepts of our wonderful Father. Please meditate on this very thoughtfully and prayerfully. If eternal torment is the penalty for sin and the Creator did not want anyone ending up there, then it should stand to reason that He would make the warning as absolutely clear as He could make it. If He is not a respecter of persons, as He claims in the New Testament, then that warning should be loud and clear to all mankind, past, present, and future. But the fact of the matter is that Adam was never warned, he was warned the penalty would be death, not eternal torment. Thousands upon thousands were born after Adam and they were never warned. Moses came along and gave to Israel His Law, which was binding only to Israel, and it mentioned that the wages of sin was death, not eternal torment. He wrote about blessings and cursing in this lifetime, not of some pending judgment which would set one's course for all eternity. He destroyed Sodom for great sin and promised to restore them one day and give them to Jerusalem as a daughter. (Ezekiel chapter 16) According to the Mosaic Law, the blessings and cursings dealing with the Law dealt with this lifetime, not with eternity. The consequence of breaking Moses Law was cursings in this lifetime, the greatest of which was a shortened life through an early death. Period!
David, the man with a heart after the heavenly Father, also had a heart after married women. He got one of them pregnant, and had her husband killed in one of his wars so that he wouldn't get caught. See how David paid the price for his sin in this lifetime. He does not warn you in His prophetic Psalms of the place he is going because of his sins. Read the Prophets and you will not find a place of eternal torment for the wicked after death and a place of paradise for the righteous. If the Creator loved us and created such a horrible place for most of mankind, he would surely have plastered the warning everywhere. Yet the Old Testament in most English translations which is three quarters of the Bible, is silent. The handfull of translations that occasionally use the word do not agree with each other as to which verses speak of "hell" as a place of eternal punishment. Is God the author of confusion? No, Sheol is the grave. Very simple and very plain.
Compare Jonah 2:2 from various translations:
Original King James Version: 1611 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction vnto the LORD, and hee heard mee; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voyce.
The spelling is exactly as in the original. English has changed much since 1611. The original has a note in the margins about the word "hell." It says "or, the grave." Later editions took the marginal readings out to conform to the mythical standard of an "inerrant Bible." Marginal alternative renderings showed that translators were uncertain of the meaning. This did not conform to the "inerrant" idea so the marginal readings, which sometimes were more correct than the text, were taken out in later editions. Please note if Jonah was in "hell," as the KJV has it, then Jonah escaped from a place where, according to modern theologians, there is no escape.
The New American Standard Bible: 1977
and he said, "I called out of my distress to the LORD, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; Thou didst hear my voice."
The New International Version: 1973
He said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depthes of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
The Living Bible: 1971
"In my great trouble I cried to the Lord and he answerd me; from the depths of death I called, and Lord, you heard me!"
The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts (Lamsa): 1957
I cried to the Lord in my distress and he answered me; out of the depths of Sheol cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Good News Bible: 1976
"In my distress, O Lord, I called to you, and you answered me. From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me."
The Holy Bible an American Translation: 1976
...and said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From the belly of the underworld I cried, and You heard my voice."
New Catholic Liturgical Bible: 1963
Jona 2:3 Out of my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me; from the midst of the nether world I cried for help, and you heard my voice.
New Revised Standard Version: 1989
...saying, "I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice."
The Amplified Bible: 1965
And said, I cried out of my distress to the Lord, and He heard me; out of the belly of Sheol cried I, and You heard my voice.
The New King James Version: 1985
And he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.
As we can see, after 350 years of saying Jonah was in "hell," the New King James finally admitted he wasn't there after all. He was in Sheol, like everyone else who has died. Many people have come out of the grave. The Bible is full of examples.
These are just some of the popular translations that have done the Old Testament a bit of justice when translating "Sheol." "Hell" cannot even be found in the Old Testament in dozens of English translations, many of which are accepted by mainstream conservative churches. This should cause them to study this issue out, but so far it seems they are oblivious to the facts. Perhaps in the next century the latest popular translations will see fit to give the New Testament the same treatment with Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus. Many are now realizing that they have been in error translating these words "hell" as well. More and more Bibles are sorting things out and discovering the pagan concept of "hell" doesn't belong in the Bible at all. We believe as we get closer to the original languages of the Bible, that that awful word "hell" will totally disappear from the pages of Scripture.
In the Old Testament, good and evil men both went to "Sheol" at death. One Sheol, one place of death for all men.
In the New Testament, three words were translated into "hell" by the King James translators: Hades (unseen), Gehenna (Jerusalem's city dump), and Tartarus (Greek mythology's prison for the Titans). None of these words is the "lake of fire" in Revelation. Most Bibles since the KJV have abandoned the poor translating of all these words into "hell." The many different ways each translation handles these words is beyond the scope of this booklet. It would require a full size book to document it all. We will just say, almost all Bibles have abandoned the KJV's handling of these words. Search it out for yourself. It will be a most enlightening study.
The concept of evil men going to a place of torment after death first appeared in Jewish apocryphal writings of 3 to 1 B.C. These writings came from the thoughts of the Babylonian religions which the Jews brought back with them from Babylon. It was these books which spoke of eternal separation of good and evil and equating it to man's ultimate fate. Many Jews mixed these teachings with Judaism which brought about great problems. These writings, found their way into the Greek Septuagint. The Septuagint was used by the early Church. From there these writings got into the Latin Vulgate. Early English translations relied heavily on the Latin Vulgate. Those that used the Greek, also relied heavily upon the Septuagint. The early English translations were either translated from the Latin with the Apocrypha, or the Septuagint, which also contained the Apocrypha. Each translation also relied heavily on other translations. Tyndale, for example, borrowed greatly from Martin Luther. The King James directly copied much from previous translations that came directly from the Latin Vulgate. Many of the early Common Language Bibles contained the Apocryphal writings. These writings had a great effect on their view of things and on how to translate other portions of the Bible. Jewish Bibles of today do not contain them. They do not belong in the Scriptures! But the Roman Catholic Bibles, Orthodox Bibles, and the original King James Bible as well as many early Common language Bibles contained them. As the Roman Catholic church and Protestant denominations begin to hold hands again, Protestant translations are beginning to add the Apocryphal Writings to the Bible again. This is not wise.
As I mentioned earlier, a loving Creator would trumpet the warning very loud, clear, and often, if eternal punishment was the fate of the unrighteous. English Bible translations generally have between 600,000 and 700,000 words. Question. If the Old Testament is basically void of warnings of eternal torment, how many times would you expect a loving Father to warn you in the New Testament if such a horrible fate was His plan for the "unrighteous." The New Testament contains 27 books. Would you expect Him to mention the word "hell" a thousand times? Would 500 times be enough. He used the word "heaven" over 600 times. Would you be surprised if He mentioned it only 100 times? Could He be so cold hearted as to only mention it 50 times? Surely, He would most definitely mention it at least once in each New Testament Book! Right? Wrong! Most translations that mention it at all, mention it only 12 to 14 times, the King James being the King of Hell mentioning only it 22 times in the New Testament, not even once per book! Many translations don't even mention the word "hell" even once! Now if the Creator is the All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Sovereign One, surely He did a terrible job of warning mankind of their terrible fate. . .if eternal punishment awaited them.
Think of it, He gave a commission to Paul the Apostle to write almost half the New Testament. Paul was to declare the Gospel of the uncircumcision to the whole world. Would you believe it if we told you Paul, the apostle to the nations, never used the word "hell" once? King James didn't put the word in Paul's mouth, NIV didn't do it, NASB didn't have the nerve. Check them out. Check every Bible you can get your hands on. The one responsible to warn the nations of the whole world. . .and he forgot to use that nasty little word "hell." Either Paul was very irresponsible or His boss was. . .or maybe our theology is very irresponsible. Who do you think missed it? Perhaps we should look into our own backyard before we accuse the Creator, or Paul, of being irresponsible. But one thing is certain, if one's eternal future is determined in this lifetime, and Paul, as a bondservant to Christ, was to make plain the truth, he plainly forgot to mention that "hell" was part of the deal.
For many of you this information may come as a shock. You have been so preconditioned through tradition that the tree in the garden was an apple tree, the Passover animal was only a lamb, and that hell was plastered all over the Bible, that this article is probably a bit unnerving. It was extremely painful for me (Gary Amirault) when researching Bible translations to come across the fact that in 1851 the American Bible Society compared six different editions of the King James Bible and discovered over 24,000 variations between the editions of the same Bible translation! How could there be an inerrant King James Bible when even the different editions of the King James Bible had ten's of thousands of variant readings!? I was told by tradition not to question the inerrant King James Bible. No one ever told me that even in the very first year of the King James Bible, two different printings of the very same King James were not the same. No one ever told me that the editions of the KJV up until the 19th century contained 14 additional books not in today's editions. We have an exact reprint of one of the 1611 printings that contains books such as: The idole Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, The prayer of Manasseh, Tobit, Judith, the Song of the Three Children, Baruch, etc.. Can you find these books in a present edition of the King James Bible? If the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy is a true doctrine, which of the many editions of the KJV is the inerrant one? The original one contained books no longer in the present editions. Have these publishers "taken away from the Word?" Will the plagues of Revelation be on your head because you are using a KJV missing 14 books?
The Bible Inerrancy Camp and the King James Only Camp teach that we have a perfect Greek text or imply it. It is called the "Textus Receptus" by the KJV camp which is Latin for "Received Text." They teach this text was available to the King James translators which allowed them to produce an inerrant English translation. Historical records regarding this "Textus Receptus" proves their view to be totally false.
First of all, the term "Textus Receptus" first appears in a second edition of Stephanus Greek text produced by the Elzevire Brothers in 1633, twenty two years after the King James Bible was printed! It was an advertising pitch as false as most commercials are today. The so-called Textus Receptus began it's debut in 1516. It started as a work which took a self-proclaimed "humanist" Roman Catholic monk only several months to, in his own words "throw together rather than edit." One critic in England called it the "least carefully printed book ever published." Erasmus in trying to be the first to get a Greek text in print, threw together in a few months what it took his competitors at Alcala de Henares University many years to assemble. The University's text came to be known as the Complutensian Polyglott. Erasmus only had a handful of very late manuscripts to work from, none of which contained the complete Greek New Testament, so he filled in the gaps from the Latin Vulgate. That is why the Textus Receptus has words that do not agree with any known Greek text. He corrected his text in 4 subsequent editions. In the mid 1500's a man named Stephanus took Erasmus text, and combined it with the Complutensian Text. He produced several editions making changes along the way. The Stephanus text, which the King James translators used differed from the self-proclaimed "Textus Receptus" in 287 places. There are no known Greek manuscripts that agree "inerrantly" with either the Textus Receptus or the Stephanus text. Erasmus, the originator of the so-called "inerrant" Greek text later to be called the "Textus Receptus" dedicated his work to Pope Leo X who later would condemn Luther and the Reformation. For a full account of this sad chapter of church deception, read The Text of the New Testament by Bruce Metzger. Foundation Press in Anaheim, California also has some valuable information.
The teaching that the King James translators had a perfect Greek text is denied by the translators themselves. In the original edition of 1611 are marginal notes as follows: Note on Luke 17:36, "This 36th verse is wanting in most of the Greek copies." Note on Acts 25:6 where their text reads: "When he had tarried among them more than ten days," they inserted the following marginal note: "or, as some copies read, 'no more than eight or ten days.'" Unfortunately notes such as these as well as much other information contained in the Original KJV have been removed to support the "Inerrancy" fraud. Enough . . . of this sad chapter of Bible translating. If I got into the personal lives of the people involved here, it would make Hollywood jealous. Often "KJV Only" writers use smear tactics to discredit other translations. They freely use character assination as a screen to throw people off from searching things out for themselves. If we got into the personalities of the people involved in this chapter of Bible productions , we wouldn't have to smear. The truth would shock you! But our desire is not to dishonor anyone, our purpose is to set people free of error which is holding them in bondage to false doctrines and keeping them in bondage to men and women who use the Scriptures deceitfully. Let us go on.
There was a time when Bible writing was strictly in the hands of the church. The end result was the church put the Bible into a "Sacred" language called Latin which common people in latter times could not and were not allowed to read. It was called the Vulgate. The common people could not read the Scriptures in their native tongue of English, German, French, etc.. Getting caught with any portion of the Scriptures in your native language could get one killed by the church! Please believe us. This is true. The Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox churches did not want Christians or non-Christians reading the Scriptures.
When the first Common Language Bibles began to appear in the languages of the world, the state and church still had much control over the wording, who could read it, and which translations one could read. An Anglican Protestant was not allowed to read a Lutheran Bible. King James did not want the people of England to read the English Geneva Bible produced by John Calvin and his associates. Church leaders used the notes in the Geneva Bible as Scriptural support to tell the King how to rule. Before James the first was king of England, he was King James the sixth of Scotland. The Presbyterians caused him much trouble and their favorite Bible was the Geneva Bible. King James commissioned the King James Bible because of political reasons, not because of a love of the Creator. The English were strongly being influenced by the marginal notes in the Geneva Bible which states that the people of a monarchy had the right to overthrow that monarchy if it did not line up with Scripture? King James believed in the "Divine Right of the King." He called the Geneva Bible "seditious." Therefore, he commissioned the King James Bible. He gave the committee 15 rules which they had to abide by while translating his Bible. Several of those selected for the committee resigned because of these stipulations. This list is printed in most well researched Bible translations reference books. We will mention just a couple to show you that this version was not going to be pure nor "inerrant." "1. The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the Truth of the original will permit." (Doesn't sound like a "new" translation , does it?) "3. The Old Ecclesiastical Words to be kept, viz. The word church not be translated Congregation &c." (This was to insure the old Roman Catholic\Anglican rituals, ordinances, and doctrines be not altered. They couldn't change the word baptize into immerse, for example.) "4. When a Word hath divers Significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most of the Ancient Fathers, being agreeable to the Propriety of the Place, and the Analogy of the Faith." (In others words, they must abide by the "traditions of the elders." Remember Jesus' words, "You have made the word of God of none effect by your traditions?)
These examples should be enough to show one that the King James translators were not "anointed by God" to produce an authentically original translation free from political and denominational bias. They were "appointed by James" for political and monetary reasons. King James didn't put a penny into the project, but he could make money out of the project since it was his Bible. Not only were the translators not "anointed," but the King's printers weren't anointed either. The early printings had printers errors which were down right embarrassing for a so-called "inerrant" Bible. In one edition they forgot to put the word not in the 7th commandment!
The translator's have this to their credit. They noted in the preface to the reader that they only took previous men's work and hoped to make a better one, knowing others would follow them and produce even a better one yet. This preface has been also removed from present day King James Bibles because it does not conform to the fundamentalist's "inerrancy" teachings. That is why the translators preface is no longer printed in current King James Bibles. We have made several tapes dealing with the many misconceptions and untruths proclaimed about the KJV. We mention here, only a few points to clearly show that the teaching of an "inerrant" KJV is a pure myth.
In 1611 two separate editions of the KJV were printed. They came to be known as the "Great He Bible" and the "Great She Bible" because one printed Ruth 3:15 as "he went" and the other printed "she went." These two original King James Bibles, printed in the first year this Bible was issued, had several thousands differences. When asked to endorse the KJV, Hugh Broughton, foremost Hebrew scholar of England at that time said he would rather "be rent to pieces by wild horses than have had any part in the urging of such a wretched version of the Bible on the poor people." We have printed a list of material at the back of this booklet which will give one much information about Bible translating and what pastors don't want their congregation to know about it..
It is vital to understand that when the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox church removed the Scriptures from the common people, these churches were then able to bring in hundreds of pagan doctrines, idols, and false religious rites. The mythologies of the Romans, Greeks, Teutons, Norse, Druids etc. were incorporated into church teaching which produced great darkness. Read about the dark ages of Europe which were brought about by Christian leaders, the popes, bishops, cardinals, and kings appointed by the pope.
When the Reformation began, the minds of Christian leaders were so cluttered by superstition and false doctrines that the progress they made in breaking away from the total darkness of Romanism was really only a small step out of darkness. We forget that the Anglican Church began, not because of Godly reasons, but from political and personal ones. Also don't forget, King James was much more interested in a Bible to support his view of the "divine right of the king" than to produce an inerrant Bible. Church historians have glorified the Reformation far beyond what was really accomplished. Today, we still have a long way to go.
Today, most Bibles are produced by merchants. The church proved it only perverted the "Word of God" when she was sole guardian of it. She hid it, then changed it. Now merchants produce most Bible translations which must be sold for a profit which usually means giving the market what they want. Over 350 English translations of the New Testament have been marketed to date. The most popular and accepted translations are, of course, those which can be used to support Christendom's doctrines. Pastors will push those translations which work for them the most.
When a major Bible translation is undertaken by a publisher or some other institution, the directors are not only responsible for getting the text translated; they must also make sure that the resulting work will, over time, pay for the cost of translation and make a profit. In other words, they are under a directive to make sure that the completed Bible supports the majority view of Christendom's doctrines. The market first, accuracy to original texts second. The bottom line of present day Bible translating is: It must sell!
The churches have always used fear to keep the sheep in bondage to them. The fear of eternal punishment in the afterlife has been a doctrine pagan religions used for centuries before Christianity came on the scene. One of the outstanding features of early Judaism and early Christianity was that they did not have a fire breathing dragon who was going to roast his enemies. Their image of the Creator was one who would bless all the nations of the world. Judaism offered sacrifices on behalf of Rome, it's enemy. This put Judaism in a separate class. It was a religion whose Savior said "Love your enemies, pray for them, forgive them!" This was absolutely revolutionary! These early Christians were taught that perfect love casts out fear. Fear was not the answer to controlling people, the answer was love. It worked. And one day it will work again. But the Father, in His sovereignty allowed the church to fall away. The doctrines of fear and demons entered the church in full force when Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. When the political system of Rome merged with the heirarchial structure of the church, the death knoll sounded. The church became full of unconverted pagans who brought their pagan ideas with them. The church absorbed them and it died. Dark ages. . millions of people killed in the name of Christ. Fear and the doctrines of fear and of demons again controlled the world. The pagan doctrine of eternal torment was added to the Latin Vulgate. The early Protestant Bibles were strongly influenced by Kings, Bishops and other rulers who still believed that fear was a powerful force which must be utilized. While many Christians saw the error in this doctrine even at that time in church history, it was not to be removed from the pages of Bibles until after the reformation.
But as early as 1798, English Bibles began to appear which were based upon the Greek and Hebrew texts which did not contain the pollution from the Latin Vulgate nor the Septuagint. The Scarlett's New Testament did not contain the doctrine of a "hell" for the unrighteous and a fate of eternal punishment for those who had not been "born again" in this life time. By correcting a hand full of words and bringing them back to their meaning of the times in which they were written, the idea of a place called "hell" where people were cruelly tortured by a so-called loving God, simply disappeared. Then the Scriptures which declared the "Savior of the whole world" truly shined.
Since then, many Bible translations have rediscovered the Savior of the early believers who loved enough and was powerful enough to save all mankind. When the church had control of Bible translation, she hid the truth from the people. Today merchants basically control Bible production who are controlled by the bottom line which means bowing down to religious leaders who still control our Father's people through fear rather than "agape." In the days ahead and even now, our Father will bring forth many Bible translations which will not be produced for profits sake nor to control the masses through fear of eternal torment. These Bibles will be produced as a labor of love and will declare the Savior of the whole world Who is able to save you even from yourself. They will be easy to understand, not cloaked with archaic or Classical English written for the elite. They will declare the simplicity of the Gospel in plain, simple English. "Jesus loves you, no strings attached, and so does His Father." His is not going to torture you forever as taught by most pagan religions. He is going to melt you with His compassion.
Below are listed several English Bible translations which have either taking very large steps out of the darkness of the paganized church, or have returned almost completely to the fresh bright light and power of the first believers. The vast majority of the early Christians did not believe in the doctrine of fear used by most of the pagan religions of the time, they believed in the Father of all mankind who will have all mankind be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.
Before we get into the Scripture verses of various translations, we just want to insert another interesting point. The Protestant Bible closest to the doctrines of Romanism, the KJV, has the phrase "everlasting punishment" only once, and the phrase "everlasting destruction" only once. Again we ask, if this be the horrible fate of most of mankind, why such a little warning. When looking at these words in the Greek, even these two references turn out to be "age-during correction."
In the section below, two verses which are used to support the doctrine of eternal torment are given for each version: 1) Matthew 25:46, and 2) Revelation 20:10. We selected Matthew 25:46 as one of the Scriptures because that Scripture was the main one used by KJV preachers to bring me (Gary Amirault) into the error of the Doctrine of Eternal Torment." My heart said our Father loved all mankind These preachers used this Scripture and a hand full of others to prove that their God was going to toast most of mankind including millions of Christians who weren't living up to their standards. They used the King James Bible, so that is where we will start. The 1611 King James is given from one of the original printings, not from one of the modern printings. Behold, and see the Glory of a new day. See the image of our Father returning to the Glory He had before His people dragged it through the mud of the dark ages. Rejoice, for He has healing in His wings.
King James Version, 1611 spelled as in the original 1. And these shall goe away into euerlasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternall. 2. And the deuil that deceiued them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night, for euer and euer.
This version had thousands of differences in two printings within the same year. This fact and many others are never revealed by KJV-only preachers. To say the KJV is "inerrant" is to outright lie. Apparently many preachers lie!
(Here comes a little light.)
The Newberry Reference Bible, 1893
1. And these shall_go_away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 2. And the devil that deceived them was_cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false_prophet are, and shall_be_tormented day and night forever and ever.
margin: the ages of the ages.
The Newberry is a KJV. The marginal notes open many doors to see what is behind the English text. A step out of "hell" forever. Hints are dropped that the Greek words which KJV translated "eternal", "forever," etc. really deal with ages, not eternity. The margins also reveal the original Greek and Hebrew words translated "hell." A diligent person could see that "eternal punishment" was a false translation from this KJV Reference Bible. The more we are told, the clearer it becomes that Jesus will save all mankind and do it Scripturally!
( And more light)
Revised Version, 1881
1. And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. 2. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night* for ever and ever.
*Gr. unto the ages of the ages.
A step out of darkness! The footnotes shows forever and ever dealing with time, not eternity. This version does not have the word "hell" in the Old Testament. It also removed the word "hell" in many places in the N.T.. It also broke away from the very errant Steven's text which a later publisher called "Textus Receptus."
American Standard Version
1. And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. 2. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.*
*Gr. unto the ages of the ages.
This is the American version of the Revised version. It does not contain the word "hell" in the O.T.. It cleaned up "hell" is some parts of the N.T. and began to correct readings of the Greek word "aion" to show it was a time word. The KJV "eternal," "forever," etc. were incorrect translations. Many translations are beginning to correct these errors which are eliminating many contradictions in the KJV text.
The Riverside New Testament by Ballantine, 1934
1. These will go away into punishment eternal, but the righteous into life eternal. 2. and the Devil who was misleading them was flung into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the Beast and the False Prophet, and they will be tormented day and night for the ages of the ages.
This Bible points to "ages" in many places as well as eliminate the word "hell." It transliterated the Greek words.
(Light from the original languages)
Emphatic Diaglott, 1942 edition (Greek\English Interlinear)
1. And these shall go forth to the aionian 1cutting-off; but the RIGHTEOUS to aionian Life. 2. And THAT ENEMY who deceived them was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE and Sulphur, where both the BEAST and FALSE-PROPHET [were cast,] and they will be tormented Day and Night for the AGES of the AGES.
Note the correct rendering the "AGES of the AGES" instead of "forever and ever." He translates "aionian Kolasis" {eternal punishment in KJV} as "aionian cutting-off." The "cutting-off" refers to pruning fruit trees to bear more fruit. He has a footnote on the word "hades" which many Bibles translate "hell." It goes as following:)
"Hades-from a, not, and idein, to see; and literally means hidden, obscure, invisible. It is found eleven times in the New Testament. In the Common Version (KJV), it is rendered grave in 1 Cor. 15:55, and in all other places hell; but the latter is now universally admitted to be an incorrect translation. (Much more light!)
The New Covenant, 1884
1. And these shall go away into aeonian chastisement, and the just into aeonian life. 2. And the accuser that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where both the beast and [the] false prophet [are], and they shall be tormented day and night to the aeons of the aeons.
There is no "hell" nor "eternal punishment" in this New Testament.
Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, 1898
1. And these shall go away to punishment age-during, but the righteous to life age-during. 2. and the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night-to the ages of the ages.
There is no "hell" or "eternal punishment" in entire Bible. He produced Young's Concordance, a Concordance to the KJV and corrected the KJV's mistranslation of the word "aion" and it's adjective "aionios" to read "an age" or "age-during." Bible and Concordance are still in print.
The Holy Bible In Modern English (Fenton), 1903
1. And these He will dismiss into a long correction, but the well-doers to an enduring life. 2. And the Devil who deceived them was hurled into the lake of Divine fire, where also were the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tortured day and night through the ages of the ages.
Note the "long correction" and "ages instead of "forever." He cleaned up many "hell" words and delivered Jonah from hell.
New Testament in Modern Speech, 1910
1. And these shall go away into the Punishment 1of the Ages, but the righteous into the Life* of the Ages.
2. and the Devil,** who had been leading them astray, was thrown into 3the Lake of fire and sulphur where the Wild Beast and the false Prophet were, and day and night they will suffer torture until the Ages of the Ages.
*Of the Ages] Greek 'aeonian.'
(He cleaned up the "hell" words, changed "eternal" etc. to "age" words. It is sad to note, some ministers reprinted this work after the author died and put "eternal torment" back in the text. It seems there is no end to the deviousness of "God's anointed.")
The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible, 1976
1. And these shall go away into age-abiding *correction, but the righteous into **age-abiding life. 2. And the Adversary that had been deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where were both the wild-beast and the false-prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of ages.
* punishment
** everlasting
This Bible was authored by Rotherham. He did not have these footnotes in his original. The Missionary Dispensary Bible Research organization reprinted his Bible making many changes, one of which is to put "punishment" and "everlasting" in the footnotes. This Bible does not contain the word "hell." This is another example of ministers taking dead men's work and altering it to their advantage.
The Twentieth Century New Testament, 1900
1. And these last will go away 'into aeonian punishment,' but the righteous 'into aeonian life.' 2. and the Devil, their deceiver, was hurled into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the Beast and the false Prophet already were, and they will be tortured day and night for ever and ever.
This Bible often translated words that KJV called "hell" as "pit" or "place of death." "Eternal was transliterated to "aeonian." In 1961, Moody Press reprinted this fine work, but put "hell" back in it. Another example of hiding the truth from the people.
The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed, 1958
1. And these shall go away into agelasting cutting-off and the just into agelasting life. 2. And the accuser, the one deceiving them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the wild beast and the false prophet were cast; and they will be tormented day and night for the ages of the ages.
There is no "hell" or "eternal torment" in this New Testament.
The Western New Testament, 1926
1. And these will go away into eternal punishment,* but the righteous into life eternal. 2. And the devil, who deceiveth them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the wild beast and the false prophet; and they will be tormented day and night for evermore.
*Or chastisement (I S. John iv.18).
This Bible had a reference on Matthew 21:19 on the word "forever" which said: Literally, for the age (and elsewhere). For the word "hell" he either uses Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, or footnotes such.
The New Testament, a Translation, 1938
1. And these shall go away into eonian correction, but the righteous into eonian life. 2. And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where are also the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of the ages.
No "hell" and no "eternal torment" in this New Testament. It was written by Clementson, President of the Pittsburgh Bible College.
Concordant Literal New Testament, 1983
1. And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian, yet the just into life eonian. 2. And the Adversary who is deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur where the wild beast and where the false prophet are also. And they shall be tormented day and night for the eons of the eons.
No "hell" or "eternal torment" in the New Testament, nor in the Old Testament which is still being worked on. This Bible is still in print.
Rotherham Emphasized Bible, 1959
1. And these shall go away into age-abiding correction, but the righteous into age-abiding life. 2. ...and the Adversary that had been deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where [were] both the wild-beast and the false-prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of ages.
No "hell" or "eternal torment" in the Old or New Testament. This Bible is still in print.)
Since the King James Bible was a leading player in keeping us in darkness, we will let a King James Bible lead us out of darkness. The following Bible is one of the best reference bibles available. The appendages and footnotes in this King James Bible undo the damage done by the Original King James Bible. If you are a "King James Only Person," this bible should help open your eyes. Why do you want to stay asleep in the darkness of archaic and mistranslated words. Wake up! Enjoy the new day. The darkness of the night is passing away.
The Companion Bible,1990 A King James Reference Bible
1. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternal. 2. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
This Bible is clearly one of the best reference Bible ever printed. While the text is the KJV which the authors did not tamper with, the footnotes and appendages clear up thousands of places where the KJV translators just missed it. In his very lengthy appendage on the words "aion" and it's adjective "aionios" which JKV translates "eternal," "forever," etc., Bullinger clearly states: Aion which means "age."
Aionios-"of or belonging to an age."
If the KJV-only ministers, who deceived me (Amirault) into thinking our Father was going to roast most of mankind had used this printing of the KJV, they would not have succeeded. This Bible clears up many of the clear errors in the KJV text. Below is the appendage on the four words the KJV translated "hell."
KJV Companion Bible appendage on the word "hell:"
"Hell" is the English rendering of two different Greek words in the New Testament.
The English word is from the Anglo-Saxon hel, Genetive Case helle=a hidden place, form the Anglo-Saxon helan=to hide.
It is in the N.T. used as the translation of two Greek words:
I. Gehenna. geena. This is the transliteration of the Heb. Gai Hinnom, i.e. the Valley of Hinnom or "the Valley" of [the sons of] Hinnom, where were the fires through which children were passed in the worship of Moloch.
In the O.T. Tophet was the Heb. word used, because it was a place in this valley.
In our Lord's day the idolatry had ceased, bur the fires were still continually burning there for the destruction of the refuse of Jerusalem. Hence, geena was used for the dires of destruction associated with the judgment of God. Sometimes, "geena of fire". See 2 Kings 23:10, Isa. 30:33, Jer. 7:31; 19:11-14.
Geenna occurs 12 times, and is always rendered "hell", viz Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33, Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6.
II. Hades. Gr. hades, from a (privative) and idein, to see (Ap. 133. I. i); used by the Greeks for the unseen world.
The meaning which the Greeks put upon it does not concern us; nor have we anything to do with the imaginations of the heathen, or the traditions of Jews or Romanists, or the teachings of demons or evil spirits, or of any who still cling to them.
The Holy Spirit has used it as one of the "words pertaining to the earth", and in so doing has "purified" it, "as silver tried in a furnace" (see notes on Ps. 12:6). From this we learn that His own words "are pure", but words belonging to this earth have to be "purified."
The Old Testament is the fountain-head of the Hebrew language. It has no literature behind it. But the case is entirely different with the Greek language. The Hebrew Sheol is a word Divine in its origin and usage. The Greek Hades is human in its origin and comes down to us laden with centuries of development, in which it has acquired new senses, meanings, and usages.
Seeing that the Holy Spirit has used it in Acts 2:27, 31 as His own equivalent of Sheol in Psalm 16:10, He has settled, once for all, the sense in which we are to understand it. The meaning He has given to sheol in Ps. 16:10 is the one meaning we are to give it wherever it occurs in the N.T., whether we transliterate it or translate it. We have no liberty to do otherwise, and must discard everything outside the Word of God.
The word occurs eleven times (Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16;23; Acts 2:27, 31; 1 Cor. 15:55; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14); and is rendered "hell" in every passage except one, where it is rendered "grave" (1 Cor. 15:55, marg. "hell").
In the R.V. the word is always transliterated "Hades" except in 1 Cor. 15:55 (where "death" is substituted because of the reading, in all the texts, of thanate for hades), and in the American R.V. also.
As Hades is the Divine Scriptural equivalent of Sheol, further light may be gained from Ap. 35, and a reference to the 65 passages there given. It may be well to note that while "Hades" is rendered "hell" in the N.T. (except once, where the rendered "the Grave" could not be avoided), Sheol, its Hebrew equivalent, occurs 65 times, and is rendered "the grave" 31 times (or 54%); "hell" 31 times (4 times is the margin "the grave", reducing it to 41.5%); and "pit" only 3 times (or 4.5%).
"The grave", therefore, is obviously the best rendering, meaning the state of death (Germ. sterbend, for which we have no English equivalent); not the act of dying, as as examination of all the occurrences of both words will show.
1. The rendering "pit" so evidently means "the grave" that it may at once be substituted for it (Num. 16:30,33; Job 17:16).
2. The rendering "the grave" (not "a grave", which is Hebrew keber, or bor) exactly express the meaning of both Sheol and Hades. For, as to direction, it is always down: as to place, it is in the earth: as to relation, it is always in contrast with the state of the living (Deut. 32:22-25 and 1 Sam. 2:6-8), as to association, it is connected with mourning (Gen. 37:34,35), sorrow (Gen. 42:38; 1Sam. 22:6, Ps. 18:5; 116:3), fright and terror (Num. 16:27,34), mourning (Isa. 38:3,10,17,18), silence (Ps. 16:10, 31:17, Ecc. 9:10); no knowledge (Ecc. 9:5,6,10), punishment (Num. 16:29,34; 1 Kings 2:6,9; Job 24:10, Ps. 9:17 (R.V.=re-turned), corruptions (Ps. 16:10, Acts 2:27,31); as to duration , resurrection is the only exit from it (Ps. 16:11, Acts 2:27,31; 13:33-37, 1 Cor. 15:55, Rev 1:18; 20:5, 13, 13).
III Tartaroo (occurs only in 2 Peter 2:4)=to thrust down to Tartarus, Tartarus being a Greek word, not used elsewhere, or at all in the Sept. Homer describes it as subterranean (cp. Deut 32:22, which may refer to this). The Homeric Tartarus is the prison of the Titans, or giants (cp. Heb. Rephaim, Ap. 25), who rebelled against Zeus.
Appendix 35 "Sheol"
The first occurrence of this word is in Gen. 37:35, where it is rendered "grave". It occurs sixty-five time in the Hebrew of the Old Testament; and only by studying each passage by itself can the student hope to gather the Biblical usage of the word. All heathen or traditional usages are not only worthless, but mischievous. (This appendix then list all occurrences of "Sheol" in the O.T. which for space sake, we are not going to do. He continues as follows:)
As the meaning "THE grave," it is to be distinguished from keber,A grave, or burying place (from kabar, to bury, first occurrence Gen. 23:4): and bor, a pit, generally hewn in the rock, hence used of a cistern (Gen. 37:20) or a dungeon. &c., when dry.
Well, as we can see, there wasn't as much "hell" in the "dark age" Bibles as we thought there was, and as Dr. Bullinger, author of the King James Companion Bible shows, the "hell" of "eternal punishment" that is in Bibles doesn't belong there, even in the favorite Bible of hell-fire preachers, the King James Bible.
When the hundreds of scriptures that speak of the all-inclusiveness of salvation, redemption, and Life are considered, it is easily seen that for centuries Christendom has been defining the fate of the wicked by a mere handful of mistranslated scriptures; meanwhile ignoring 66 Holy Spirit-inspired books full of reconciliation, redemption, and loving-kindness to those who are undeserving, into which category you and I fall.
Consider these words prayerfully, and ask our Heavenly Father to quicken your spirit to the truth, even if it means leaving behind an idol of a god whose desire it is to torment for eternity those poor souls who never had the privilege of knowing him.
It seems human beings seem to gravitate toward always thinking the worst of people rather than looking for what is good. I believe we have certainly done this with the Creator of all things. The Scriptures tell us the mind of man cannot conceive the height, length depth, and width of our Father's love for His Creation. His ways are much higher than ours in all areas, including His justice, love, and wisdom. Yet somehow we have managed to conceive Him hating most of mankind and consigning them to a place few humans could consign anyone. These are not high thoughts. This is not glorifying. They are thoughts of fallen man lost in his own hatred which he projects unto the Creator.
When our spirit is right, then the Scriptures plainly show that His Lovingkindness endures forever, that He kills but is able to make alive again and he will (Ezekiel 16, Sodom), He wounds but like a doctor, to bring about healing. He says "Vengeance is mine" knowing only He can return good for evil, an innocent life for a guilty one. He overcomes His enemies with good and tells you to do the same. His Love never fails. Believe it. It will never fail anyone, including you. You can now enter into your rest.
For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:19-20) NAS
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever (Rev. 5:13)NKJV
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. (John 12:32)NRSV
This is good and acceptable, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.(1 Timothy 2:3-6)NIV
Jesus came to do the Father's will.(John5:30) What is the Father's will? Jesus came to save all.(John 12:47) Will He Fail? Jesus led captivity captive.(Eph.4:8-12) Did any get away? Jesus is able to save to the uttermost.(Heb.7:25) Do you believe it? Jesus has all in his hands.(3:35) Will any fall out? Jesus is Savior of All.(1Tim.4:9-11) Savior or potential Savior? Jesus will fill all things.(4:10) What about hell? Jesus is ransom for all(1Tim.2:6) Will some of it be wasted? Jesus tasted death for everyone.(Heb.2:9) With no result for most? Jesus set creation free.(Rm.8:18,20) All of it? Jesus subdues all unto Himself.(Phil.3:21) For what purpose? Jesus restores all things.(Acts3:20,21) All things? Jesus will give life to all Father gives Him.(Jn.17:2) How many did Father give Him?(Jn.3:35) Jesus died for all.(2Cor.5:15) Did He die in vain/ Jesus will be worshipped by all.(Rev.5:13) What is worship? What is "all?" We are sure this small booklet will not answer all questions. It should stir up many questions. One might say: "Whether a person is the 'lake of fire' for many ages, or forever, they are still being terribly tortured." But when we see that the word translated by KJV and Company as "tortured" is the Greek word "basanizo," its literally meaning being "touchstone," then one can bring perfect harmony to the Scriptures. A "touchstone" was a stone mined in Lydia use to test the quality of gold. Gold in Scriptures speaks of Divine nature. The "lake of fire" in Greek is "limnen tou puros tou kai theiou." "limnen" is lake; "puros" is fire; and "theiou" is sulfer. Sulfer "theiou" and God "theos" are related. In other words, looking for our Father's highest Glory, instead of bringing Him down to man's lowly ways, the lake of fire is a "Divine fire" to test, not torture, whether something be divine or not. The symbols in Revelation will always be grossly twisted by carnal men. The Book of Revelation, for example, is actually the "unveiling of Jesus Christ." One should be able to see the activity of Christ and His work in Creation. The carnal fundamentalist mindset will see "the Antichrist, 666, Judgement day, and world conspiracies," instead of what the title of the book states, the unveiling of our Savior. One day, all of our works will go into that lake of "divine" fire and will be tested. Works, not lead by the Holy Spirit will be shown for what they are, dead works. Many Christians will suffer much loss, but be saved so as through fire. (1 Cor. 3:15) May His fiery compassion melt you down.
Resources
Below are listed some books, tapes, tracts, that might be helpful for further research. This topic is too important to look into lightly. Unfortunately, we Christians have not done our homework in this area. It is time to get it right.
The Companion Bible KJV, Kregal Publications The English Bible from KJV to NIV by Jack P. Lewis, published by Baker The Text of the New Testament by Bruce Metzger The Early Christian View of the Savior published by Tentmaker The Original Good News published by Tentmaker Is the King James Bible Inerrant?, an audio tape from Tentmaker Good by King James Bible, an audio tape by Tentmaker All about Bible Translating, an audio tape by Tentmaker Hot Coals, an audio tape by Tentmaker History of the Doctrine of Eternal Torment, 4 audio tapes by Tentmaker Power of a Four Letter Word (aion),two audio tapes by Tentmaker The Origin of the Word "Eternal", two audio tapes by Tentmaker What the Hell is "Hell?", an audio tape by Tentmaker History of the English Bible, an audio tape by Tentmaker Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?, an audio tape by Tentmaker Proof Born Again Christians Don't Believe in Hell, an audio tape by Tentmaker Dew from Mount Hermon, a periodical publication from Tentmaker A set of tracts on this subject produced by Tentmaker An Analytical Study of Words, by Louis Abbot available from Tentmaker Time and Eternity, by G.T. Stevenson, available from Tentmaker Many other tapes produced by Tentmaker
Related:
D19 | Jesus Is A Copycat God - DeBunked
WHAT IS A TULPA? A short description of what a tulpa or a thoughtform is. This is a very interesting concept that could explain a-lot of paranormal experiences that people have. If one can believe this, then a belief in Jesus, even as simply a Tulpa or part of "simulation theory" should be easy!
