Pioneer,
I will stick with the example that has been most recently and consistently fosused on here, and that is whether or not the doctrine of hell is removed from a modern translation because it choses not to translate the Hebrew word sheol as "hell" in the O.T. text. As I pointed out to ChristianCynic in my last post, there is a good reason for this. The Hebrew term sheol does not have the same meaning that the English word "hell" has come to have. Although it is a good translation of the Greek word gehenna in the N.T., it wrongly leads people to read the more developed N.T. concept back into the O.T. passages when it is used there. It is extremely unlikely that any O.T. writer intended such a meaning when he used the term sheol properly understood in its O.T. context. This does not remove the doctrine of hell from the Bible, it simply more accurately translates the O.T. text. As with a number of other doctrines in Scripture, the doctrine about hell was progressively revealed, but a translation that translates sheol as "hell" loses this, because it leads people to read the later, clearer undertsanding back into the O.T. context, and thus leads to a misunderstanding of the intent of the O.T. writers. In my opinion, it is very unfair to accuse such a translation of "removing" the doctrine of hell from Scripture when , first, it is simply an attempt to be more faithful to the Biblical text and, second, when the doctrine of hell is still clearly included in such a translation. It is just included where the Biblical writers intended it to be included.
However, my last post will also show that I disagree with ChristianCynic's false accusation that use of the English word "hell" in any translation carries a pagan Norse meaning of some kind. In fact, I am surprised anyone would seriously make such an accusation. So, although I agree with him that sheol should not be translated as "hell", I want to distance myself from any of his absurd assertions.
Pastork
[ September 16, 2002, 02:13 PM: Message edited by: Pastork ]