Universal Salvation in King James Version of Holy Bible
There are millions of conservative Christians who have been taught and who, sadly, believe that the King James Version (1611) is an infallible translation of The Holy Bible. In fact, these “King-James-Only” “Bible-Believing” Fundamentalists proclaim it to be the only infallible translation of the Bible. Of course, there is no such thing as an infallible translation. The KJV indiscriminately translated the Hebrew word “Sheol,” and three Greek words “Hades,” “Gehenna,” and “Tartarus” as “hell.” These verses are used to teach eternal torture even with no word for hell in them (Mt. 12:31-32; 25:41, 46; Mk. 8:35-37; Lu. 12:19-20; Rev. 20:10). Some contend that it is important to eliminate the English word “hell” from the Bible to eliminate morbid fear of hell. That would help, but it is far more important to know that in spite of confusing the meaning of the Biblical words for after-life accountability for sins and by incorrectly translating the time in hell as forever, when fire is correctly understood to purify, the KJV teaches the salvation of all! It is IMPOSSIBLE for hell to be literal fire and forever, since the rest of The Bible is true. All these verses in the KJV cannot be true if hell is literal eternal fire:
- Jesus, “if lifted up…” [crucified], will draw all [people] to Himself (John 12:32).
- All will live in Christ just as all die in Adam (I Cor. 15:22).
- God shall become all in all—“everything to every one” [RSV] (I Cor. 15:28).
- Every knee shall bow…and every tongue confess Jesus is Lord to the glory of God… (Phil. 2:9-11).
- Jesus builds church, and it destroys Hades [“gates of hell not prevail”] (Mt. 16:18).
- God in Christ reconciling world to God…be ambassadors of peace (II Cor.5:18-20).
- Adam’s sin…condemnation for all; Christ’s righteousness…life for all (Rom. 5:18).
- All things [obviously, including people] shall be summed up in Christ (Eph. 1:10).
- Christ in heaven until…restitution/restoration [salvation] of all…God spoke by all the holy prophets since the world began (Acts 3:21).
- Jesus made peace through blood of the cross to reconcile all to Himself…(Col. 1:20).
- In the Jewish Messiah/Christ all Israel shall be saved (Isaiah 45:22-25; Rom. 11:26).
- God has concluded all in unbelief that He may show mercy to all (Rom. 11:32).
- Messiah shall sit as a refiner/purifier of gold/sliver to purge/purify Jews (Mal. 3:3).
- Jesus is the Savior of the WHOLE world [if not of all, not Savior of the world] (John 4:42; I John 2:2).
- God can do anything…[“no plan of God can be thwarted,” NIV & RSV] (Job 42:2).
- God’s mercy endures forever (Ps. 136 KJV): infinite mercy/endless hell oxymoronic.
- God is love, and there is no fear in God’s love/agape (I John 4:8, 18).
- God’s love is everlasting (Jer. 31:3) and unconditional (I Cor. 13:4-7).
- God’s love [and thus God who is love/agape] never fails (I Cor. 13:8).
- God’s love [since God is love] is the greatest [force in the universe] (I Cor. 13:13).
- God, who is omnipresent, is present even in Sheol, the grave or place of departed spirits [translated as “hell” in the King James Version] (Psalm 139:7-8).
- God is a consuming fire [consuming sin purifying sinners] (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29).
- Hades/hell cast into lake of fire and brimstone/burning sulfur [disinfecting/healing sinners] (Rev. 20).
- All in Gehenna/hell shall be salted with fire [purified, Good News Bible] (Mk. 9:49).
- All created beings in the universe will worship God and Lamb eternally (Rev. 5:13).
To mistranslate the Biblical words for after-life accountability for sins is spiritually abusive. To emphasize this falsehood in preaching and teaching is spiritually terroristic! It is also spiritual insanity. For a sane and sensible interpretation of fire in The Holy Bible [and other holy books], including the truth of universal salvation, read Dr. Boyd Purcell’s books, 5-star rated on Amazon, some reviewers have said are life transforming.