Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible
A puzzling scripture
Dear Father Paul: Philippians 2:12 has puzzled me for some time. This very well known Bible verse says, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Is the Apostle Paul telling us that people must (and should) accomplish their own salvation by their own actions? And, I thought the Bible cautions us against “fear” in many places? What gives? — John.
Dear John: You are right. Philippians 2:12 can indeed be an awkward, puzzling verse, especially if you are reading it in one of the very old, translations like the King James Version which you quote in your question.
The King James Version of the Bible was translated by English Bible and language scholars and published in England in 1611, over 400 years ago. And while it was an excellent translation in its day, and stood the test of time for centuries, many of the words used in the King James Version are no longer even in use today, or, their meaning has changed somewhat from what it was in 1611. This can be confusing, and, as you say, “puzzling” to people today attempting to read and understand the Bible. Do you know anybody who says “wherefore, thee, ye and thou” in 2014? I didn’t think so.
But before I offend lots of folks, let me say that my very first Bible was a King James Version. And I love the King James Version every much today as I did way back then. There are numerous chapters, passages and verses in the King James Version that just simply “sound like the Bible should sound,” to our ears. Psalm 23 is one of many examples of this. Try reading Psalm 23 in the King James Version and then in one of the newer translations, and you’ll see what I mean. Lots of the new translations just don’t “sound” like the Bible that many of us grew up using.
However, even after having said this, modern translations are, in my opinion, still best for most of us who really want to understand the Bible today. I advise people to have both old and new translations in their homes and offices as I do. Almost every one of the many newer Bible translations is now available free on the internet. BibleHub.com is a site I really like. It contains nearly two dozen complete Bible translations plus many Bible helps.
An excellent example of what I am talking about is the very verse you ask about in your question John, Philippians 2:12. Read it in the King James Version, and the verse puzzles. After reading Philippians 2:12 in the King James Version many readers would likely ask, as you have, “So, according to this verse, I guess I am supposed to be terrified and scared to death of God?” And also, many would say, “I see in this verse that I am to attain salvation through my own efforts, right?”
At first reading of the verse in the King James Version, the answer to both questions would seem to be an obvious, “Yes.” Indeed, I think anyone reading Philippians 2:12 in the King James Version as it appears above in your question would likely say the same things. But, based on today’s newer more accurate translations, they’d be dead wrong.
Why? Because today the King James word “fear” in Philippians 2:12 is more clearly translated in the newer translations as “reverence and awe.” (The Amplified Bible, 1954). All of us can understand the difference between “fear” and “reverence and awe.” On the idea that we should (King James) “work out your own salvation,” we are told in (The New Living Translation, 1996) instead, that we are to “work hard to show the results of your salvation.” See the differences?
In short, the newer translations clearly show that verse 12 of Philippians 2 isn’t puzzling at all. It’s really just a simple exhortation by the Apostle Paul, writing from Rome, back to the believers in the church he started in Philippi, to continue courageously in the precepts he had taught them and live daily according to the commands of Christ because of their reverence for him.
This we can easily understand, while “working out our own salvation with fear and trembling,” leaves most of us with more questions than answers.
Do you have a question? Email me at paulmassey@earthlink.net and I will try to answer your question in the paper.
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[Father Paul Massey is Pastor Emeritus of Church of the Holy Cross in Fayetteville, Georgia. Visit us at www.holycrosschurch.wordpress.com for more information, service times, directions and downloads of Sunday Sermons.]
