Archaic KJV Word
Propitiation
Modern equivalent: atoning sacrifice
What Was Lost
The specific mechanism of atonement: God's righteous anger at sin was real and required satisfaction, and Christ's death was that satisfaction. Removing 'propitiation' allowed readers to imagine atonement without wrath -- a significant theological shift embedded in a vocabulary change.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
propitiation (still used in ESV/NASB but unknown to most readers)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV 1 John 2:2 -- 'He is the propitiation for our sins'
Died ~1980
Theological controversy: scholars debated whether God's wrath needed satisfying (propitiation) or sin needed covering (expiation). Most modern translations chose softer alternatives.
What Replaced It
“atoning sacrifice”
Descriptive but diffuse; propitiation specifically named the turning away of divine wrath through substitutionary payment
“expiation”
Removes God's wrath from the equation entirely; propitiation held both the wrath and the mercy in tension
“sacrifice of atonement”
Wordy and vague; propitiation was precise theological vocabulary