THE TRANSLATORS OF THE BIBLE
The men who have translated the Bible into modern tongues have been sincere and honest to a degree that honors God and man. With a devotion and a dedication to their task, throughout the middle ages and modern times, they have exhibited an honesty, an integrity, which is surpassing in its loyalty to the highest ideals o£ conduct. They have tried, and are still striving, to give the exact ideas incorporated in the Holy Word, without bias or prejudice.
Nevertheless as human beings, with certain fixed ideas derived from tradition, it was impossible to escape from the bias received from the almost universally accepted theology which they believed to be the perfect expression of the Divine thought.
The influence of St. Anselm in his concept, which he introduced into Christian theology before modern translations were begun, of of God as an inexorable pitiless King who demanded satisfaction for violated law, thus a man who believed that at-one-ment, or reconciliation, meant atonement or expiation in order to satisfy Eternal Justice, is shown inevitably in their translations. Pre-conceived opinions are difficult to escape from in the exercise of human judgment.
And it is almost impossible for us to read the Bible without seeing the confirmation of what has thus been subtly introduced into it by translation. The way to prove that mistranslations exist is to give examples of them.
In Romans 3:25 we find in the Authorized Version the word propitiation used. It is precisely the same word as is used in Hebrews 9:5 as "mercy seat." It is the Greek word Hilasterion, meaning primarily "mercy seat." Why should it not have been translated in Romans 3:25 as "mercy seat?" We find in the English and American Revised Versions, which largely follow the Authorized or King James Version of 1611, the same usage. This translation has chiefly influenced the English-speaking world and fastened the heathen idea of propitiation upon religious people. This is made worse in the
