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Tentmaker:
There are many misconceptions floating around in Christian circles as to what "eternal life," (aionian zoen in Greek) is really all about. Jesus defined it for us in John 17:3. However, our English word "eternal" does NOT really reflect the meaning of "aionian," the adjective form of the Greek word "aion." A.P. Adams does an excellent job in bringing forth some clarity on the meaning of this word and the life it describes."And this is eternal life (aionian zoen in Greek), that they may KNOW YOU, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3)
ON AEONIAL LIVE
by A.P. Adams
There are several different words in the original New Testament that are translated in the common version by this one English word, world; the two principle ones are aeon (also sometimes transposed into England as "aion," which which we get our English word "eon.) and kosmos. Though both of these words are usually rendered world, yet they are really very distinct and different in their meaning and ought to have been rendered respectively age and world. We shall have space here for the consideration of only the former word, aeon, i.e. age...
There are only two places in the common version (KJV) where the word aeon is rendered, as it should be in every case, age; but these two instances are significant, because they show of themselves the meaning of the word. In Col. 1:26 we read of "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to His saints." In Eph. 2:7 we read that "in the ages to come God will show the exceeding riches of His grace". Now these passages plainly indicate two things in regard to this word. (1) The ages are limited by periods of time. Several of them have run their course and come to an end in the past, and there are yet more to come. (2) The "ages to come" are to be richer in the manifestation of the grace of God than the present or past ages. In other words it appears that God's grace broadens and His plan develops as the ages roll, mysteries that have been hid in past ages are made known, and the future ages are to witness the "riches of His grace" to an extent "exceeding" that of any previous age.
This word aeon occurs in the New Testament in so many peculiar and varying forms as to make it certain that it expresses, some deep and important meaning well worth searching out. First we have the simple word many times repeated, both in the singular and plural. Then we have the word in combination with several prepositions: from the age, Luke 1:7; from the ages, Eph. 3:9; out of the age, John 9:32, before the ages, 1 Cor. 2:7, before times of ages or before age-times, Tim. 1:2; the purpose of the ages, Eph. 3:11 (N.V. margin); the age to come, Heb. 6:5; the ages to come, Eph. 2:7; the end of the age, Matt. 24:3; the end of the ages, Heb. 9:26; the ends of the ages, 1 Cor. 10:11. Furthermore in connection with the preposition unto we find the following remarkable changes:
1. Unto the age. Mark 3:29
2. Unto the ages. Luke 1:33
3. Unto all the ages. Jude 25
4. Unto the age of the age. Heb. 1:8
5. Unto all the generations of the age of the ages. Eph. 3:21
6. Unto the ages of the ages. Rev. 1:6
7. Unto the day of an age. 2 Pet. 3:18Can anyone suppose that these peculiar forms have no special meaning? Is an this a mere play upon words? Simply purposeless repetition? ... God by His Spirit is the real author of the inspired Word ... Is it not certain, then, as I have said, that these varying forms, so peculiar and striking, hide some spiritual mystery? And would it not have been more respectful to the Word if the translators of the common version had rendered these expressions literally, even though they did not know what they meant, rather than to obscure the sense altogether with capricious renderings? ... They have rendered its various combinations in thirteen ways, viz.; age, course, world, eternal, since the world began, from the beginning of the world, ever, for ever, forever and ever, for evermore, while the world standeth, world without end, and, with a negative, never. These are not translations but paraphrases, and look to me like "handling the Word of God deceitfully," albeit it may have been unintentional...
The word rendered eternal or everlasting,...derived from aeon, is aeonios. It is very important to understand the meaning of the word, for as it is commonly understood, it is the main pillar of the orthodox doctrine of endless torment. That tremendous dogma stands or falls according to the meaning put upon this word...
We will endeavor to determine the meaning of this word aeonios, according to its origin, and also according to the sense of the passages where it occurs. The word ... is an adjective derived from the noun, age, just as we form the adjective hourly from the noun hour, or yearly from the word year, or eternal for eternity. I have already explained aeon, whence the meaning of this derivative may be gathered. A derivative word cannot properly mean any more than the word from which it is derived. If aeon means eternity, then aeonios might mean eternal and not otherwise, but we have seen that aeon as used in the Bible does not and cannot mean eternity (the strongest upholders of the doctrine of endless woe make no claim that aeon means eternity); hence aeonios does not mean eternal...
The ages are periods of time during which God is working out His great plan of creating man in His own image. The ages are God's times (Acts 3:21, 1 Tim. 6:15, Eph. 1:10) during which he does His work (see John 5:17, Eph. 2:10, Ps. 74:12); hence God is called the God of the ages, the King of the ages, or the aeonial God. (1 Tim. 1:17 N.V., that is, the Revised Version) margin, (Rev. 15:3 N.V.). The adjective aeonial has no more reference to duration, either long or short, than it has to color. It denotes a quality, a characteristic, not a quantity. It is not a time-word like eternal, annual, daily, etc., but a descriptive word like autumnal, vernal, or dispensational. God is absolutely eternal. From everlasting to everlasting He is God, but this is not the meaning of the word aeonial. This is not a word expressing God's duration, but simply expressing a characteristic of Him...
Matt. 25:46 reads, "These shall go away into aeonial punishment, but the righteous into life aeonial." It is argued that aeonial life is endless fife; hence aeonial punishment is endless punishment It is further argued that, if the punishment is limited, the life must be limited, the duration of each being expressed by the same word, and thus a disbelief in an endless hell destroys the doctrine of an endless heaven. The two stand or fall together. All this seems very conclusive to the majority of Christians. In fact, it seems to them absolutely unanswerable, and hence they feel compelled to believe in an endless hell in order to preserve their belief in an endless heaven...
The word aeonial has the force of belonging to or in connection with the ages. Anything that is peculiar to these age times and stands in connection with them is said to be aeonial, as, for example, aeonial salvation, aeonial redemption, aeonial inheritance, aeonial fire, etc. (See Heb. 5:9, Heb. 9:12, Jude 7.)...
The whole difficulty with Matt. 25:46 lies in the fact that Christians are ignorant of what aeonial life is. It is not mere endless existence. The adjective aeonial has no such meaning as endless; it never has that meaning in any scripture; it describes the kind of life, not its duration. Jesus giver, us a definition of aeonial life in John 17:3; "This is life aeonial, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" Does not this satisfy you? Christ's own words? As plain and direct as can be? Knowledge of God and of Christ is life aeonial; that is to say, the life of the ages, God's work-days, in its final result will be a universal knowledge of God. "All shall know him from the least to the greatest." It has not been so in past ages, to be sure, but it will be so as the ages roll on. The "age times" have scarcely begun; there are yet "ages of ages" in the future; and, as their cycles roll, God will come to be known more and more until "the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." This is the life that shall yet characterize God's "age times"; this is life aeonial. I have no doubt but that life thus attained to in "the ages to come" by a re-created race will continue on and on forever, for we are to be like God, deathless, immortal, "neither can they die any more"; but this fact of the endlessness of that life is not implied in the word aeonial, but is plainly taught in other scripture. Aeonial describes the kind of life as explained above. Even those who hold the orthodox view must admit that aeonial life is something more than mere endless existence. They believe that the damned in hell have that. Aeonial life, they must think, is an endless life of a certain kind--of bliss and enjoyment and perfect happiness-and this is true; but they fail to understand wherein the happiness and enjoyment consists, viz.--in a perfect knowledge of God. The highest enjoyment of which we are capable comes from knowing God. Nothing else will gives us true happiness; nothing else will give us peace. This --this is life; all else is death. This, and this alone is man's perfect heaven.
Having thus determined the nature of aeonial life, it is comparatively easy to understand what aeonial punishment is. Not endless punishment! Such an idea is senseless as well as unscriptural. The purpose of punishment is not only the protection of society and the restraint of the offender, but also for his reformation. This latter should be the main purpose of punishment. Any punishment that is not conducive to this end is wholly unjustifiable. It is simply an attempt to overcome one evil with a greater evil. Now to talk about endless punishment is nonsense as much as it would be to talk of endless correction or endless reforming. You might speak of endless torture or endless suffering, but endless punishment is not a proper collocation of terms at all. I will add that the original word here rendered punishment signifies a punishment for the correction and bettering of the individual; hence it could not be endless. We have seen the true meaning of aeonial. Apply that meaning here and we have the correct idea of the phrase. Aeonial life, we have seen, is that kind of life peculiar to God's age-times; so aeonial punishment or correction (which would be a perfectly correct translation) is that kind of punishment that God will make use of in future ages to correct mankind. As of aeonial life so of aeonial punishment. It is not a punishment of a given duration, but of a certain kind-of such as will in the end work the reformation of the offender...
The meaning of aeonial, then, is belonging to, peculiar to, or characteristic of the ages... It is certain that the word does not mean endless or eternal... It does not even mean age-lasting, although it is sometimes so rendered for want of a better English word whereby to express it. Strictly speaking, however, the word does not mean lasting throughout the age any more than it means lasting throughout eternity. As Canon Farrar has said, "Even if aeon always meant eternity, which is not the case either in classic or Hellenistic Greek, aeonial could still only mean belonging to eternity, not lasting through it. The word by itself, whether adjective or substantive, never means endless." As we have no single word in English that properly expresses its meaning, it seems to me best to incorporate the word right into the language just as we have baptism, hades, etc. The form then, aeonial, I think is best, used in the sense explained in the foregoing. (A.P. Adams, “The Best from A.P. Adams” Vol. 2, pp. 40-52)
Note: Mr. Adams’ term “Aeonial” is an adjective form which modern English rarely uses. Other authors on this same subject employ the terms “aionian,” or “eonian,” They refer to the same thing, that is, the adjective from of the Greek noun “aion,” sometimes transposed into English as “aeon” from which we get the English term “eon.”
lovinkindnessô¿ô (alter-ego)
Now folks, seems ta me, they's lots o opinions bout who Jesus is...butcher, baby-burner, annihilator, Savior of all mankind, destroyer of His enemies, lover of His enemies, etc. Ifn "eternal Life" is knowing REALLY the nature of God, seems like lotsa folks don't really know Him, that is, they DON'T HAVE AIONIAN LIFE, what some o you's call "eternal life." Better get ta studying folks. Some o you's is flunkin the test. :-)? Do you ardently DESIRE the salvation of all men?
? Is it true that God "openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing?" -- (Ps. 145:16)
? Do you fervently PRAY for the salvation of all men? (1 Tim. 2:1)
? Do you pray in FAITH, nothing doubting? (James 1:6)
? Are you aware, "that whatsoever is not of faith is sin?" -- (Rom 14:23)
? Would God require us to pray for all men, and to pray in faith, unless He intends all men should be saved?
? If you believe endless misery to be the truth of God, why should you desire and pray that it may prove false?? Can the pleasure of the Almighty be contrary to his determinate will?
? Would the infliction of endless misery afford pleasure to the Deity?
? Can God be glorified by that which gives Him no pleasure?
? Since Jesus "tasted death for EVERYONE," can it be true that "the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands," if most are never saved? (Heb. 2:9)
? If God "declares the end from the beginning," can the final destiny of mankind be contrary to His will?
? Can endless misery be brought about contrary to the GOOD PLEASURE of the Almighty?? Can God WILL anything contrary to His knowledge?
? Did God know when He created man, that a part of His creatures would be endlessly miserable?
? If God, when He created, did not know the result of creation, is He infinite in knowledge?
? Power is the ability to do: is knowledge simply the ability to know?
? If God knew when He created man, that some would be eternally damned, did He not will this to be their doom?
? If God willed the endless misery of a part of His creatures, why is it said that "he will have all men to be saved?" -- (1 Tim. 2:4, KJV)
? If the Scriptures should testify, that God "will have all men to be damned," could we really safely assume that a part might be saved?
? If the Scriptures testify, that God "will have all men to be saved," can we safely assume that a part may be damned?? If God made an endless hell before He created man, did He know whether there would be any use for it?
? If God knew there would be use for an endless hell, must He not have created some men for endless misery?
? If God made an endless hell, was it included in the works which He pronounced "very good?" -- (Gen. 1:31)
? If there is an endless hell, and it was not made before the creation of men, when was it made?? If there exists a personal devil, who made him?
? Can there be any such thing as sin in heaven?
? If there was sin in heaven, may not sin be committed there again?
? If an angel of light became a devil, was not Paul in error, when he said Satan is transformed into an angel of light? -- (2 Cor 11:14)
? As sin presupposes temptation of some sort, who tempted a holy angel to sin?
? If an angel could sin without a devil to tempt him, may we not sin without a devil to tempt us?
? If a holy angel was tempted to sin by surrounding evil, is heaven a holy place?
? If an angel was tempted by evil passions, could he have been holy?
? If an angel became a devil by sinning, was Adam's the original sin?? If Adam became mortal (that is, subject to death,) by sinning, must he not have been created immortal?
? If Adam had been created immortal, could he ever have died?
? If Adam sinned without inheriting total depravity, why should inborn depravity be assigned as the cause of our sins?
? Would there be any more impropriety in imputing MY sins to Adam, than in imputing HIS sins to ME? (Rom. 5:12)
? If men are totally depraved by nature, must not children be so likewise?
? If children be totally depraved, is it true, that "of such is the kingdom of heaven?" -- (Mark 10:14)
? Men are to be washed from their sins. If they are totally depraved, what is there to wash?
? If evil men and seducers "wax worse and worse," (2 Tim. 3:13), can they be totally depraved at first?
? If human reason be "carnal and delusive," why did God say, "come now and let us REASON together?" -- (Isa. 1:18)
? If reason be delusive, why should some folks reason against the use of reason?BACK - Tentmaker - Newer Posts - Spirit of the Word -