David Bentley Hart on his Revolutionary Translation of Romans 5:12

As promised here is the concluding section of my conversation with David exploring the meaning of the word ‘sin’. In this conclusion we do a deep dive into the text of Romans 5:12 - a pivotal verse for the concept of ‘original sin’ - and David explains how his completely different translation changes the traditional meaning significantly. The traditional meaning is that we all sinned ‘in Adam’ and as a result of that death followed. David’s translation turns that around and implies that it was death that initiated the contagion of sin.

It is a good idea to have the text open as you listen, as the discussion is detailed and grammatical. It is not really that difficult as it all hinges on how you translate the Greek preposition ‘epi’ in this context. Talk about a pivot! David explains how the Latin text misled people for centuries, and cemented a distorted interpretation of original sin.

Along the way I ask David about one of my bugbears with most translations - including the NIV - which is the gratuitous translation ‘wrath of God’ a few verses earlier. Some of you may know that there is NO ‘of God’ in the Greek - it was just stuffed in to make the point clear!?! It is a crystal clear case of retro-fitting a modern theology back onto the original text. Simply indefensible as far as I am concerned - so I was interested to hear David’s view.

I think this series is David at his best. Taken together it is a very coherent and biblical picture of what ‘sin’ means - how to take it seriously but also how to position the specifics of the Christian argument. ‘Sin’ is a crucial aspect of the Christian worldview - and a very necessary one - as it addresses the problem of evil in the world which everyone is concerned about. So it is vital that we get our thinking clear on this matter and not let stereotypes overtake our thoughts.

Get full access to Gospel Conversations at gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe