Yes, I have read the NT. And the OT too where in Jude I read about a fire that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah which is also described as an eternal fire. But it's not still burning today so how come? It's because it was eternal not in the sense that it would burn forever without consuming the cities but because it was from God and God is eternal. Just like the royal handwave is not royal in itself but because it comes from the Queen.
Such rubbish. Show me from scripture alone that "eternal fire" is only "eternal" because it is from God? So you think the comment in Jude is the sole determining factor that "aionios" does not mean "eternal?" I have repeatedly posted a list of 26 verses where "aionios" is defined/described by the speaker as "eternal." Here are 3 vss., out of 10, spoken by Jesus which indisputably define/describe "aionios." Never refuted.
John 10:28
(28) I give them eternal [aionios] life, and they shall never [aion] perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
In this verse Jesus parallels “aionios” and “aion” with “[not] snatch them out of my hand”, “never perish.” If “aion/aionios” means “age(s), a finite period,” that is not the opposite of “[not] snatch them out of my hand’/never perish” “Aionios life” by definition here means “eternal life.”
John 3:15
(15) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal [aionion] life.
John 3:16
(16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting [aionion] life.
In these two verses Jesus parallels “aionion” with “should not perish,” twice. Believers could eventually perish in a finite period, thus by definition “aionion life” here means eternal or everlasting life.
Was Jesus lying when He said "aionios life" means "never perish?"
The same is true of the fire in Matthew 25:41. It's eternal in the sense that it expresses God’s eternal love for us albeit in a tough way. For as we read in Hebrews 12:29 or we would do if we read the OT, the eternal God is also a consuming fire, one that will eventually consume all that is false within us. In no other way could God perfect all of us and express his eternal love for all of us. Similarly for eternal punishment: Like any of God’s eternal actions in time, it's eternal in the sense that it's source is in the eternal God himself.
Lots of heterodox nonsense not supported by any credible, verifiable, historical, grammatical evidence.
But if aiõnios means everlasting/eternal in the sense of an unlimited time duration as you continue to insist it does then your interpretation would of course the correct one.
Not only have I quoted 26 verses which define/describe "aionios" as eternal, everlasting etc. but I could also quote several passages from the ECF which do likewise.
Ignatius [A.D. 30-107.] The Epistle to the Romans Chap VII
David and Abraham; and I desire the drink of God, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.
“Eternal life” is paralleled with “incorruptible love.”
Justin The First Apology. Chap XIII
For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all; for they do not discern the mystery that is herein, to which, as we make it plain to you, we pray you to give heed.
“Eternal” is paralleled with “unchangeable.”
So how do we resolve this? Words are often used figuratively in the Bible.
The Greek word "kosmos" e.g. means "world." But according to UR interpretation it can't mean world because it is sometimes refers to things which are NOT the entire planet.
1 John 5:19
(19) We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
Was "the whole world" literally under the control of the evil one?
Revelation 12:9
(9) The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Did Satan literally lead "the whole world" astray?
