.
In a
preceding number of the paper I have explained the word Age, the
original of which is Aion. In this article I will try to explain the
word rendered Eternal or Everlasting, the original of which,
derived from Aion, is Aionios. It is very important to understand
the meaning of this 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. In my little pamphlet, "Endless torments not
scriptural," I have quite thoroughly considered this word, and for
testimony additional to what is presented in this article I refer
readers to that. For the present, I want to consider a few points
not noticed in the pamphlet.
Some people are very
suspicious if you present anything as scripture that they cannot find in
the common English version. The original, and other translations and
versions they do not know anything about, and they are very unwilling to
accept them as authority; an advent brother of considerable prominence
in his church wrote to me once that he would not accept anything as
Scripture that was not contained in the so called King James version, or
common English Bible. Of course such a declaration only manifests the
ignorance and bigotry of the person making it, and yet there are many
who feel in the same way. In these days we have many helps to
Bible study, and any Christian who does not, so far as is possible,
avail himself of these helps to understand the "Wonderful Words of
Life," is "willingly ignorant." (2 Pet. 3:5). Many
of these helpful books on the Bible are so arranged that they can be
used to great advantage by any intelligent person though they may have
no knowledge whatever of the original language.*
To refuse such helps is to turn your back on the light, and such a one
deserves to be in darkness.
We will endeavor to
determine the meaning of this word, Aionios, according to its origin,
and also according to the sense of the passages where it occurs.
The word as I have already
intimated is an adjective derived from the noun, Aion, age; just as we
form the adjective hourly from the noun hour; or yearly from year; or
eternal from eternity. I have already explained Aion in a former
issue, 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 Aion means eternity, then Aionios
might mean eternal and not otherwise; but we have seen (in
1-2-44) that Aion as used in the Bible does not, and cannot mean
eternity; the strongest upholders of the doctrine of endless woe make no
claim that Aion means eternity, hence Aionios does not mean
eternal. There are several passages wherein everyone can see that
Aionios does not mean eternal; in Phil. 15; the word rendered
"forever " is from Aionios; and it is very plain, from the
context that it does not mean endless; so apparent is this, that in the
New Version, although everywhere else this word is rendered eternal, yet
in this passage, as a single exception, they were compelled to render it
forever, as in the Old Version. This passage shows conclusively
that Aionios does not of itself mean endless. Another passage is
in Heb. 6:2, where we have the phrase "eternal
judgment." No one could think that the word means endless in
this connection unless they believed the judgment is to be
endless. It is clear then from these passages that the word does
not of itself mean endless; if it is ever to be taken in
that sense, it must be because of the connection; and this is really the
argument of those who defend the orthodox position; it is
not claimed that Aionios of itself means absolutely endless; but
it is claimed that the connection in which the word occurs indicates
endlessness; for instance the word is used of God whom we know is
eternal; hence it is argued that the word must mean eternal when so
applied; again in Matt. 25:46, the phrase "Aionial**
punishment," is set over against that of "Aionial life;"
the latter is supposed of course to mean endless life; hence the former
must mean endless punishment.
In a former issue of the
paper I have noticed briefly the true meaning of the word when
applied to God (See 1-4-88).
I will now add in the same line that an understanding of God's
"plan of the ages" will make the meaning of the phrase,
Aionial God, clear to us. As I have shown in previous papers, the
ages are periods of time during which God is working out his great plan
of creating man in His won 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; Psa. 74:12), hence God is
called the God of the ages, the "King of the ages" or the
"Aionial God" (1 Tim. 1:17, N.V., margin; Rev. 15:3, N.V.***);
the adjective Aionial has no more reference to duration, either long or
short, than it has to color; it denotes a quality, a
characteristic, not a quantify; it is not a time-word like eternal,
annual, daily, etc., but is 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 Aionial; this is not a word expressing God's
duration, but simply expressing a characteristic of him, as I have
explained above. That this is the true explanation of the meaning of
this word, will still further appear, as we consider the
next point.
Matt. 25:46 reads,
"These shall go away into Aionial punishment but the righteous into
life Aionial." It is argued that Aionial life is endless
life, hence Aionial punishment is endless punishment; and
it is further urged 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; and
yet this whole argument is flimsy, shallow, in conclusive, unscriptural
and false. I will attempt to shed the light of God's truth
upon it, so that some may see that it is not born of the light but of
darkness, and that the pillars of heaven do not rest upon the pavements
of hell.
In the first place the
conclusion is not correct even if the premises were true; it can be
clearly shown from Scripture that though it were true that Aionial life
meant endless life, it would not necessarily follow that Aionial in the
other phrase meant endless. We have another passage in the New Testament
where the word Aionial occurs twice, and where, from the orthodox
standpoint, it would certainly mean endless in one case, and from a
common sense standpoint just as certainly not mean endless in the
other. ' The passage is Rom. 16:25,26; in the Old Version the words
"since the world began," and in the New Version, "times
eternal," are translated from original words that literally mean
simply Aionial times, or the times of the ages. Thus it is
rendered in the "Emphatic Diaglot," "Young's Bible
Translation," and Rotherham's translation. The rendering of the New
Version noticed above also indicates the same meaning. In the same
passage we read also of "the Aionial God." Now from the
orthodox standpoint this latter phrase must mean the eternal God, the
God without beginning or end. I have already shown that Aionial in
this connection does not have the meaning of endless, but supposing it
had, it could not mean endless in the former phrase, for everyone must
see that to talk about endless times is as flat a contradiction
of terms as it would be to talk about a full vacuum, or a something
nothing. I do not hesitate to say that the rendering in the New
Version is utterly meaningless; the definition of time is duration
having beginning and end, i.e. limited duration; the definition
of eternal is, without end, never ending, i.e. unlimited
duration. Now let the reader tell me what is the meaning of "eternal
times;" an unending end! an unlimited limit! an infinite
finite! nonsense! Common sense is better than learning or man-made
theology, and more likely to lead us to the truth than the ipse dixit
of creed-bound "Divines." We have however a still more
senseless rendering in the New Version in 2 Tim. 1:9 and Tit. 1:2.
If the phrase, "times eternal" is meaningless what does "before
times eternal" mean? Before a limited period of eternity!
It is marvelous how blind and stupid, bigotry and prejudice will make
the wisest and most learned men! Here are passages surely where it
is certain that Aionial does not mean endless. If you insist that
"the Aionial God" means the Being who is without be ginning or
end, then to be consistent you ought to hold that "Aionial
times" is time without beginning or end! but that is too foolish
for anyone but an idiot to urge, hence you are compelled to admit that
the same word used twice in this passage has two different meanings;
hence it may have a different meaning in any other passage where
it occurs twice; thus the argument drawn from Matt. 25:46, in favor of
endless torment is shown to be faulty, even from the orthodox
standpoint. But the orthodox standpoint is not the true one; hence
the view from that standpoint is not true, this view is shallow, let us
look deeper for the truth.
There is no doubt in my mind
that the word Aionial wherever it is used in the New Testament has a
uniform meaning; it does not mean endless in some connection and
something else in others; God's Word is not thus self contradictory and
confusing. The word has one, general meaning; what is it? I have already
answered this question. I have explained what I understand to be the
meaning of the word when applied to God. He is "the Aionial
God," or "the King of the ages," i.e. the Being who
through "the Aionial times" is working out his wonderful
plan. The word Aionial 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 Aionial; as for
example, "Aionial salvation," "Aionial redemption,"
"Aionial inheritance," "Aionial fire," etc., (see
Heb. 5:9; 9:12,15;Jude 7).
In regard to the last verse
of Matt. 25, I would say that I have given a full explanation of that
passage in the pamphlet already referred to. I will only add, now, that
the whole difficulty with this passage lies in the fact that Christians
are ignorant of what Aionial life is. It is not mere
endless existence; the adjective Aionial has no such meaning as endless,
it never has that meaning in any scripture; it describes the kind
of life, not its duration. Jesus gives us a definition of
Aionial life; John 17.3; "This is life Aionial 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 Christ is life Aionial;
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 shall cover the earth as
the waters cover the sea." This is the life that shall yet
characterize God's "age times," this is "life
Aionial." 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 Aionial, but is
plainly taught in other scripture; Aionial describes the kind
of life as explained above. Even those who hold the orthodox view must
admit that Aionial life is something more than mere endless existence;
they believe that the damned in hell have that; Aionial 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 that happiness and enjoyment consists; viz. in perfect knowledge
of God. The highest enjoyment of which we are capable comes from
knowing God; nothing else will give us true happiness; nothing else will
give us peace; this, this if life; all else is death;
this, and this alone is man's perfect heaven.
Having thus determined the
nature of "Aionial life," it is comparatively easy to
understand what "Aionial 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 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 collection 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 Aionial; apply that meaning here and we have the correct idea
of the phrase. Æonial life we have seen is that kind of
life peculiar to God's age-times; so Aionial 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 Aionial life, so of Aionial punishment, it is not a
punishment of a given duration, but of a certain kind, of such
a kind as will in the end work the reformation of the offender.
According to this explanation, everyone can see that there is not the
slightest ground in this passage for the false doctrine of endless woe;
and the strong point in this explanation is that it rests on the express
statement of the Lord Jesus Christ; had Jesus given us no definition of
Aionial life, we could have plainly inferred its meaning from other
scripture; but such references would have been open to strong objection
on account of their being inferences, and not the direct
teaching of the Word. But when Christ gives us a formal, precise
definition of the phrase, when he tells us just exactly what Aionial
life is, of course no Christian can object, and the question is
settled. The whole force of the orthodox argument depends upon the
meaning of the word Aionial; if it means endless then the argument is
sustained and the orthodox view is established; if it does not
mean endless, the argument falls to the ground. The whole question then
is, does Aionial mean endless or not? To this question there can be but
one answer in view of the scriptural testimony that I have presented
above; as we have seen there are three passages in the New Testament
where Aionial is connected with the word time, and in such a combination
the adjective could not possibly mean endless, unless there could
be such a thing as an unlimited fragment. Then we have the
Savior's definition of Aionial life which settles and fixes the meaning
of the phrase by all the power of the divinity of the incarnate
Word. If in the face of this evidence anyone can still say that
Aionial means endless, then he is either mentally deficient, or else by
bigotry, prejudice, ignorance, or something else of that nature, he is
beyond the reach of reason and must abide in his dearly beloved
falsehood until God shakes him out of it. As I have already said,
Aionial life when fully reached will be an endless life, but the
endlessness of that life is not indicated by the epithet Aionial, but is
plainly taught in other scripture; no one need fear that by denying an
endless hell they weaken the evidence for an endless heaven; the latter
is fully assured by many passages of the plainest scripture, but we have
no such evidence in favor of the former.
The meaning of AioniaI then
is belonging to, peculiar to, or characteristic of,
the ages; it has no relation to duration but to kind; it
is that the word does not mean endless or eternal, as I have
shown above; it does not even mean age lasting, although it is sometimes
so rendered for the 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 Aion always meant eternity, which
is not the case either in classic or Helenistic Greek Aionial
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, Æonial I think is best, used in the sense
explained in the foregoing.
_______________
* Notably among the helpful books is the so
called "Emphatic Diaglott," which I consider to be the most
valuable acquisition to the Bible student unacquainted with the
original, extant.
** I
will use the anglicized form of the original word, since we have no
single word in English that exactly expresses its meaning.
***i.e.
New Version; refers to The English Revised Version of 1881-1885 (RSV)