What if you’re wrong about hell?

Saint Steven said:

Just say "nay" to hell, then.

There are actually a number of "what if"s in the Bible. Here's one example below.
Besides, there is biblical evidence for all three doctrines of the final judgment.
You claim to accept the scriptures I present, but reject their plain meaning.
How is that different than what you are accusing me of?

Genesis 18:32
Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

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Steven, there is no comparison to what I was saying and the scripture you pointed out.

My point, you are saying "what if" concerning a biblical belief.

Abraham said "what if" concerning the literal saving of life, mainly Lot and his family.

mmksparbud said:

Everybody knows that---what is you point.

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The entire all (the pas) has been born into sin, by no choice of their own. That radical all is "made sinners" in Adam1!

The other side of the God equation =

The all "made sinners" is the all "made righteous."

Not some, the all.

This is the deal. All of us were born into this world as members of Adam. We did not choose to be born, we had zero input into the entrance into sin & death and our genetic structure of depravity, NONE!

"Many made sinners" = "many made righteous."

Saint Steven said:

You said there is no "what if" in the Bible. Can't you just admit it when you are wrong?
What if you are wrong about hell? - lol

Restorationism is a biblical belief just as much as Damnationism and Annihilationism.
Three valid doctrinal views of the final judgement.

Saint Steven said: ↑
Just say "nay" to hell, then.

There are actually a number of "what if"s in the Bible. Here's one example below.
Besides, there is biblical evidence for all three doctrines of the final judgment.
You claim to accept the scriptures I present, but reject their plain meaning.
How is that different than what you are accusing me of?

Genesis 18:32
Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

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LOL, you do this quite often. Going into a silly rant over what you know to be off the point.

There are no what if's concerning hell, or any other truths in scripture.

You are trying to base your belief of hell on a feeling, a good feeling, you said so in a previous post. There is nothing in scripture based on a what if of feelings.

You cannot base your beliefs of scripture on any feeling, but only on the scripture proving scripture to reveal a truth.

FineLinen said:

The entire all (the pas) has been born into sin, by no choice of their own. That radical all is "made sinners" in Adam1!

The other side of the God equation =

The all "made sinners" is the all "made righteous."

Not some, the all.

This is the deal. All of us were born into this world as members of Adam. We did not choose to be born, we had zero input into the entrance into sin & death and our genetic structure of depravity, NONE!

"Many made sinners" = "many made righteous."

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In the first place---many does not equal to all. All have the choice to accept the saving blood of Christ
not all will accept it. Again, God does not force. There is no one that comes out of the lake of fire into eternal life with God. They go in, they do not come out, they are ashes. It was their choice to not accept the blood of Christ that protects them from the fire of God. We do not have the choice to be born---we have the choice to have eternal life or not.

mmksparbud said:

In the first place---many does not equal to all.

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Many = many

All = all

Pas = pas

Polus = polus

The identical polus "made sinners" = the polus "made righteous." Every last one!

FineLinen said:

Many = many
All = all
Pas = pas
Polus = polus
The identical polus "made sinners" = the polus "made righteous." Every last one!

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Greek is not English what is true in English may not be true in Greek. We appreciate you constantly giving your opinion can you back this up from from any Greek grammar?

mmksparbud said:

In the first place---many does not equal to all. All have the choice to accept the saving blood of Christ
not all will accept it. Again, God does not force. There is no one that comes out of the lake of fire into eternal life with God. They go in, they do not come out, they are ashes. It was their choice to not accept the blood of Christ that protects them from the fire of God. We do not have the choice to be born---we have the choice to have eternal life or not.

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You are right. Many does not mean all ...but all certainly does!

1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

1Ti 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

FineLinen said:

Many = many

All = all

Pas = pas

Polus = polus

The identical polus "made sinners" = the polus "made righteous." Every last one!

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All who choose Him! Again, you have not given any proof anyone comes out of the lake of fire to eternal life. Did God lie?
Rom_6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You have a very strange dictionary


Polus
Bible / Our Library / Lexicons / New Testament Greek Lexicon / New Testament Greek Lexicon - New American Standard / Polus
Strong's Number: 4183
Word Origin
poluß
including the forms from the alternate pollos
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
Polus
6:536,*
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
pol-oos'
Adjective
Definition
many, much, large
NAS Word Usage - Total: 416
all 3, better 1, deep 1, earnestly 3, enough 1, even more 1, few* 1, freely 1, full 1, further 1, further* 3, great 33, greater 4, greater numbers 1, greatly 5, hard 2, harshly 1, heartily 1, high price 1, large 30, large numbers 1, large sums 1, larger 1, late* 2, lengthy 1, long 5, longer 1, loudly 1, majority 3, many 181, many more 1, many people 1, many subjects 1, many things 17, many...things 4, more 25, more numerous 1, most 8, most people's 1, much 50, often 1, plentiful 2, quite 2, several 1, some 1, something greater 2, strict 1, terrible 1, very 1, very large 1, very long 1, very much 1

martymonster said:

You are right. Many does not mean all ...but all certainly does!

1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

1Ti 4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

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---but not all will choose Him. Christ paid the price for all, done deal. It's been done for evrryone---but they have to choose Him. He does not force.
Rev_3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Many refuse to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

mmksparbud said:

---but not all will choose Him. Christ paid the price for all, done deal. It's been done for evrryone---but they have to choose Him. He does not force.
Rev_3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Many refuse to hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

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Those that are Christ's at his coming, is all men, because he paid for them with his blood. They belong to him.

martymonster said:

Those that are Christ's at his coming, is all men, because he paid for them with his blood. They belong to him.

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He knocks on the door---He doesn't break it down! He isn't going to force, why is that so hard to understand? He paid the price for all, but all do not accept His gift. He doesn't torture anyone until they give in.

Saint Steven said:

What if you are wrong about hell?
I have made a wonderful discovery. Life is better without hell. Try it, you'll like it. - lol

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I totally understand your rejection of the idea that God made an eternal torture chamber. Neither do I believe that so much so that I devoted two chapters in a book I wrote about the nature of Hell. I believe it is more of an event and temporal. "All former things will pass away". Death and Hades are thrown into the Lake of Fire and destroyed. Satan and his demons are also destroyed along with the first earth and heaven that are burned up in a fervent heat. (2 Per. 3:10)
It all really relies on the interpretation of a word, aionios. It has variable meanings. When applied to things temporal and physical, it means ages, lifetimes, generations, epoch. When applied to God, his domain, our spiritual life, it means eternal. If Hell is physically a part of this world and in the end times the world is destroyed, then that's it. Why would God want to sustain suffering souls, regardless of how evil, eternally? It wouldn't glorify Him. It is like giving a child a life sentence for stealing a candy bar. His judgment is just and is proportionate to the sins. We see His justice all through the Bible and it is fair and always temporal.
I know this doctrine of eternal Hell is a traditional one, but I dont agree.
Kolasis is another word that means destroy. You can't destroy something over and over again. That would be an indestructible destruction. No, you burn a piece of paper and that's it.

mmksparbud said:

All who choose Him!

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You and the polus have chosen Him.

Congratulations on a wise chose! I and the polus who have NOT chosen Him are in that wonderful group known as the malista, or the first-fruits, or the elect who started their journey into Him NOT as a result of their wise choices, but His awesome call!

"You DID NOT choose Me..."

Ronald said:

I totally understand your rejection of the idea that God made an eternal torture chamber. Neither do I believe that so much so that I dwvotws two chapters in a book I wrote about the nature of Hell. I believe it is more if an event and temporal. "All former things will pass away". Death and Hades are thriwn into the Lake of Fire and destroyed. Satan and his demons, destroyed along with the first earth and heaven that's burned up in a fervent heat. (2 Per. 3:10)
It all really relies the interpretation of a word, aionios. It has variable meanings. When applied to things temporal and physical, it means ages, lifetimes, generation's, epoch. When applied to God, his domain, our spiritual life, it means eternal. If He'll is physically a part of this world and in the end times the world is destroyed, then that's it. Why would God want to sustain suffering souls, regardless if how evil, eternally? It wouldn't glorify Him. It is like giving a child a life sentence for stealing a candy bar. His judgment is just and is proportionate to the sins. We see His justice all through the Bible and it is fair and always temporal.
I know this doctrine of eternal Hell is a traditional one, but I dont agree.
Polaris is another word that means destroy. You can't destroy something over and over again. That would be an indestructible destruction. No, you burn a piece of paper and that's it.

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The Apostle John who leaned upon the bosom of the Master defines aionios clearly in 9 brief words.

"This IS zoe aionios, that we may know You..."

Everlasting torture is a truly ridiculous notion that is out of keeping with the Father of all fathers, Abba.

Alienation in more humane, but falls short of Abba losing His beloved creation.

The Master loses NOTHING, not remnant pieces of miracle fish & bread, and most certainly the apollumi for whom He is the Saviour!

Dr. Marvin Vincent

olethron aionion in 2Th. 1:9:

‘Aion, transliterated aeon, is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle (peri ouravou, i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of one’s life is called the aeon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one’s life (aion) is said to leave him or to consume away (Iliad v. 685; Odyssey v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millenium; the mythological period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many aeons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities.

There is one aeon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow’s life, another of an oak’s life. The length of the aeon depends on the subject to which it is attached.

It is sometimes translated world; world represents a period or a series of periods of time. See Matt 12:32; 13:40,49; Luke 1:70; 1 Cor 1:20; 2:6; Eph 1:21. Similarly oi aiones, the worlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Cor 2:7; 10:11; Heb 1:2; 9:26; 11:3. The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity.

It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come.
It does not mean something endless or everlasting.

To deduce that meaning from its relation to aei is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, aei does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always (aei) liars (Tit. 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Cor. 4:11; 6:10; Heb 3:10; 1 Pet. 3:15. Aei means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject’s life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. “The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.”

In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of aeons. A series of such aeons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. Eph. 1:21; 2:7; 3:9,21; 1 Cor 10:11; compare Heb. 9:26. He includes the series of aeons in one great aeon, ‘o aion ton aionon, the aeon of the aeons (Eph. 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describe the throne of God as enduring unto the aeon of the aeons (Heb 1:8). The plural is also used, aeons of the aeons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Rom. 16:27; Gal. 1:5; Philip. 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only.

The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting.

They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, aidios, which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Jude 6. Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase eis ton aiona, habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, LXX, Exod 21:6; 29:9; 32:13; Josh. 14:9 1 Sam 8:13; Lev. 25:46; Deut. 15:17; 1 Chron. 28:4;. See also Matt. 21:19; John 13:8 1 Cor. 8:13. The same is true of aionios. Out of 150 instances in LXX, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Gen. 48:4; Num. 10:8; 15:15; Prov. 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Hab. 3:6; Isa. 61:17.

Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material cannot carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render aionios everlasting.

Of course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as aionios, it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer then men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God’s relations to time.

God’s eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive aeons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect.

There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded.

That aiodios occurs rarely in the New Testament and in LXX does not prove that its place was taken by aionios. It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Rom. 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Rom. 16:26 he speaks of the eternal God (tou aioniou theou); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal (chronois aioniois), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive aeons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the aeons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ‘o basileus ton aionon, the King of the aeons, applied to God in 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 15:3; compare Tob. 13:6, 10.

The phrase pro chronon aionion, before eternal times (2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the aeons.

Zoe aionios eternal life, which occurs 42 times in N. T., but not in LXX, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or aeon, or continuing during that aeon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by aionios. Kolasis aionios, rendered everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an aeon other then that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases zoe aionios does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the aeon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matt. 19:16; John 5:39. John says that zoe aionios is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47,54. The Father’s commandment is zoe aionios, John 1250; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is zoe aionios. John 17:3.

Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. ‘Eternal life’ is that which St. Paul speaks of as ‘e outos Zoe the life which is life indeed, and ‘e zoe tou theou, the life of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”

Thus, while aionios carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical.

The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the aeon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new aeon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new aeon, the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions.

In the present passage it is urged that olethron destruction points to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition.

If this be true, if olethros is extinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective aionios is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But olethros does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb apollumi to destroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says “the world being deluged with water, perished (apoleto, 2 Pet. 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Heb. 1:11,12, quoted from Ps. 102, we read concerning the heavens and the earth as compared with the eternity of God, “they shall perish” (apolountai). But the perishing is only preparatory to change and renewal. “They shall be changed” (allagesontai). Compare Isa. 51:6,16; 65:22; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost” (apololos), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost (apololota) sheep of the house of Israel, Matt. 10:6, compare 15:24, “He that shall lose (apolese) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matt. 16:25. Compare Luke 15:6,9,32.

In this passage, the word destruction is qualified.

It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power,” at his second coming, in the new aeon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Aionios may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millenial aeon between Christ’s coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that aeon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterising or enduring through a period or aeon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is aionios, to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.

If we cross-reference olethros with 1Co. 5:5, with its derivative olothrūo in He. 11:28, we will see that utter annihilation does not fit. For example, take the extermination of the “first-born” of Egypt (He. 11:28): Were all these innocent babies utterly annihilated before God? Also, though Satan destroys the flesh of the saved, we know God restores it in the resurrection (1Co. 5:5). Even were God to utterly annihilate someone, has He not the power to restore (De. 32:39; 1Sa. 2:6; Mt. 3:9)?

Also, if we cross-reference olethros with 1Co. 5:5, with its derivative olothrūo in He. 11:28, we will see that utter annihilation does not fit. For example, take the extermination of the “first-born” of Egypt (He. 11:28): Were all these innocent babies utterly annihilated before God? Also, though Satan destroys the flesh of the saved, we know God restores it in the resurrection (1Co. 5:5). Even were God to utterly annihilate someone, has He not the power to restore (De. 32:39; 1Sa. 2:6; Mt. 3:9)

FineLinen said:

God’s eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact.

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It's more than a mathematical and moral fact - these are just emanations, secondary and fallen representational forms of this 'aionios'. As God is spirit, so His attributes are essentially qualitative. Aionios cant be reduced to a superlative of temporality, it's the wrong mode of thinking, unrighteous worldly judgement. Aionios denotes a transcendent and otherworldly spiritual state of being, the supernatural which evokes the mystical, the entry into Grace, the unseen and immaterial dimension.

Contemplate the idea of Platonic archetypes of things, then the Christian archetypes for the qualities of love, faith, hope, beauty, truth and wisdom as they coalesce on earth in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, whose gifts free us from the cube. Fear God only.

Carl Emerson said:

I was involved in inner city evangelism and felt a lack of concern for the lost.

I prayed about this, simply being honest before Him about my lack of heart concern.

Within days I had a deeply frightening vision, being led to the very rim of the pit by an angel.
It was frightening, overwhelmingly repugnant and I asked the angel 'do I have to go any closer.?'

This changed my heart 360.

This helped to motivate my reaching out - but I never once mentioned it in the course of presenting the good news.

I did mention it preaching to believers - you could have heard a pin drop...

I have an unresolved question kicking around.

I saw no people in there - maybe an empty place prepared for after Judgement?

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from the post(#8)

Within days I had a deeply frightening vision, being led to the very rim of the pit by an angel.
It was frightening, overwhelmingly repugnant and I asked the angel 'do I have to go any closer.?'
….

I saw no people in there - maybe an empty place prepared for after Judgement?

[end of excerpt]


This excerpt of the post reminded me of Revelation 20:14, 15

Revelation 20:14 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire..


The “empty place” of the vision might be for after the final judgment of God the Creator. “Death and hell” were cast into this place, and IMO totally consumed, no more suffering. But those in the book of life will have eternal life. John 14:2

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

It is evident that all four hell's cannot be unending. Their final state is in the Lake of Fire!

“Eternal Punishment” is the term used in the English translation of the Bible on which most people base their view of eternal conscious torment in Hell. The term in the Greek is “kolasis aionios.” If this term does indeed mean eternal punishment, then hell would seem to be foreverrrrrrrrrr.

But, such is not the case. Let’s first consider the opinion of the great Greek scholar William Barclay, who was professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at Glasgow University and the author of many commentaries and books, including a translation of the New Testament and the very popular Daily Study Bible Series. Barclay discusses this point regarding Matthew 25:46 in his well-known autobiography:

“One of the key passages is Matthew 25:46 where it is said that the rejected go away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life. The Greek word for punishment is ‘kolasis,’ which was not originally an ethical word at all. It originally meant the pruning of trees to make them grow better. I think it is true to say that in all Greek secular literature ‘kolasis’ is never used of anything but ‘remedial punishment.’ The word for ‘eternal’ is aionios. It means more than everlasting, for Plato - who may have invented the word - plainly says that a thing may be everlasting and still not be aionios. The simplest way to put it is that aionios cannot be used properly of anyone but God; it is the word uniquely, as Plato saw it, of God. Eternal punishment is then literally that kind of remedial punishment which it befits God to give and which only God can give.”

Aristotle supports Barclay on the meaning of "kolasis."

The only word in the Gospels for “punishment” with regard to God punishing evildoers is “kolasis,” which according to Aristotle, who knew Greek word meanings better than anybody who ever walked the planet, said that “kolasis” is the kind of punishment which “is inflicted in the interest of the sufferer,” which means it is for the betterment or improvement of the person being punished.

This is contrasted with “timoria,” which Aristotle said is the kind of punishment which is “inflicted in the interest of him who inflicts it, that he may obtain satisfaction.” (Rhet. 1369b13).

In addition to Barclay’s opinion above, let’s consider some other respected sources about the proper translation of “aionios:"

The Rotterham Emphasized Bible translates “kolasis aionios” in Matthew 25:46 as “age abiding correction.”

Young’s Literal Translation translates “kolasis aionios” in Matthew 25:46 as “punishment age.”

The Concordant Literal Translation translates “kolasis aionios” in Matthew 25:46 as “chastening eonian," or “chastening age” in other words. Our English word “eon” derives from the Greek word “aionios.” Eon, as we use the word, speaks of ages or cycles of indeterminate amounts of time. The term is often used in the plural form, such as “It’s been eons since we’ve talked,” or “Eons ago the universe was formed.” The point is that we don’t even use the term today to refer to “everlasting” in the sense of never ending. Think how silly it sounds to pluralize “everlasting” into “everlastings," yet “eon” is pluralized into “eons” all the time.

The best translators of the New Testament Greek text would be the Greek fathers of the church over the first 500 years. They were Christian. They were scholars. They lived nearest to the time the New Testament was written and would have a better grasp of the grammatical nuances and cultural linguistics of recent generations. Koine Greek was a lost language for hundreds of years and it is somewhat presumptuous for modern scholars to think they know Biblical Greek better than did the Greek-speaking Church fathers.

The Church fathers and writers who used the term “aionios” in their writings to refer to an indefinite “age” and not to an “unending” or “everlasting” eternity are: Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hermogones, Origen, Eusebius, Gregory of Nyssa, and Avitus.

“Eternity (Greek Aionios) signifies in Scripture sometimes the fact that we do not know the end, sometimes the fact that there is no end in the present world, but there will be one in the next. Sometimes eternity means a certain length of time, even that of a human life.” (Origen, Commentary on Romans, Book 6, section 5).

The Emperor Justinian in A.D. 540 tried to extinguish Origen’s teachings by defining Catholic doctrine at that time. “The Holy Church of Christ teaches an endless aionios (ATELEUTETOS aionios) life to the righteous, and endless (ateleutetos) punishment to the wicked.” Aionios was not enough in his judgment to denote endless duration, so he employed ateleutetos. The point is that “aionios” by itself did not mean “everlasting.” It needed to be strengthened with another word to in fact mean “endless,” like “ateleutetos.”

Jews who were contemporaries with Christ, but who wrote in Greek, show that “aionios” was not used to mean “everlasting.” Josephus the historian used “aionios” to refer to temples which were already destroyed (and thus not “everlasting”), indeterminate prison sentences and time lapses between historical events. He never used the word to denote “everlasting,” but rather to mean an indeterminate period or season. The Jewish writer Philo always used the words athanaton, ateleuteton or aidion to denote endless and aionion for temporary duration.

Augustine, who struggled mightily with Greek, claimed for years that the only meaning of “aionios” was “everlasting,” yet even he had to acknowledge his error when visited by the Spanish presbyter Orosius, who convinced Augustine of his error. Augustine relented, but only to the extent that “aionios” did not only mean “everlasting.” Augustine still believed it means “everlasting” with regard to Hell.

To summarize then, Greek word “Aionios,” which is sometimes translated as “everlasting” in Scripture (as in “everlasting punishment”), does NOT in fact mean "unending or everlasting in quantity of time."

Rather, “Aionios” speaks to an “indeterminate age set by God alone.” The word refers to a certain quality (not quantity) of being - - whether it be “aionios life” or “aionios remedial-punishment.” Aionios is always qualified by what it is describing.

For instance, the word “great,” when applied to a merciful sentence imposed by a kind-hearted judge, might refer to a small amount of time in jail. Conversely, “great,” when applied to an atrocious crime, for which the judge “throws the book” at the defendant, might refer to a life-sentence in jail.

Similarly, the nature and quality of aionios, applied to the life of God, is entirely different than when it is applied to the chastening or punishment of God. “GREAT life” in God is certainly unending, since death will have been completely defeated, but the unending length is not the primary essence of that “GREAT life.” Rather, the limitless quality of love and peace which come from being totally at one with the Lord is the key aspect of this “GREAT life.” On the other hand, “GREAT punishment” by God will not be unending since He punishes to correct and rehabilitate and He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Pet. 3:9.

Life in God is not everlasting because it is aionios, but rather aionios is everlasting because it is referring to life in God.

Conversely, aionios punishment is not temporary because aionios means temporary, but rather aionios is temporary in this context since God’s chastening is curative and incapable of being eternally resisted. “For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a life-time: Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy ‘cometh’ in the morning.” Psalm 30:5.

Aionios then, by itself, means an “indeterminate age,” not an “unending age.” Only the context of the passage provides guidance as to the actual quality and duration of the age.