When the Homily is about Immunology

Translation Problems

I have been listening to a taped lecture by Fr. Thomas Hopko entitled The Church and Salvation and I am learning quite abit - despite the fact that he quotes alot of Greek and my Greek from Bible College days is pretty stinking rusty. The issue of Hell is brought up by an audience member's question and Fr. Hopko offers some fascinating insights. He says without hesitating: "God punishes noone" AND "It is never chronologically too late for the sinner...it can however be ontologcally too late."

The Orthodox concept of Hell is quite different from the common western perspective. One of the reasons that St. Mark of Ephesus refused to affirm the council of Florence (a potential east/west unification council in the 15th century) was becasue he recognized that the Church had always denied a material hellfire. Hell is a state of being for the Orthodox, not a geographic place. AND, the point I wish to make in particular, it is NOT seperation from God (for such a thing is impossible) but rather being in the presence of God and not wanting to to be.

Fr. Hopko mentions 2 Thess. 1:9, which the NIV renders:

They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

And the NASB:

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

Frankly, these translations are dead wrong. Fr. Hopko points out that there is nothing in the Greek to imply any sort of exclusion from God's presence...in fact just the opposite! Hold on to your seats folks, cuz the dreaded King James translation gets it right!

"These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."

A big difference and I think it should make us think about theological presuppositions that make their way into the Bible. The NIV also has trouble translating the namesake of my blog: paradosis. When the word is used in a negative light it is apparently tradition, but when it is used positively it is teaching. Hmmmmm