AIONIOS: Its semantic range in New Testament usage

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

AIONIOS is translated 'eternal' in most translations, although a few render it 'age-lasting' or may even opt to leave it untranslated because of all the controversy and bias which has surrounded the word in theological circles.

Here I would like to outline what I regard as the basic usage of the word throughout the New Testament.

1. Pertaining to an indefinite period of time(Some reputable modern lexicons still list "lasting for an age" as one meaning of the word, but I have still to find any corroborating evidence for this).

2. Eternal (not in the sense of endless duration, but in the sense of timelessness, or rather, temporal transcendence)

I'm sure I haven't exhausted its semantic range, so feel free to contribute.

psalm90:3 · Little Guppy Joined: 07 Aug 2006 Posts: 32

Praise the Lord! But alas the doctrines of misunderstanding
taught to the saints has caused multitudes of unwarrented grief.

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

Psalm90:3,

Did you have anything to contribute to this word study?

psalm90:3 · Little Guppy Joined: 07 Aug 2006 Posts: 32

Only that it it does not mean that it goes on without ending.
The Eternal is the I AM....to believe that everlasting..foreverlasting..and
forever have no ending nulifies Jesus being the Beginning and the END
the Alpha and OMEGA. Aionios most certainly is Age lasting..to the age..
to the ages of the ages...but it will end. The I Am is without time..He
alone is what we must say is eternal and never-ending...He has no
beginning..so there is no ending in HIM>

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

knuckle · Young Wolf Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 501

Hi Apoc--------

can you give us an example where you believe it to mean more or other than age abiding?

much love--------knuckle

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

my dear knuckle,

Aionios is used of the indissoluble things of Heaven in contrast to the things of the mundane world of corruption:

"For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, aeonian in the heavens." - 2 Corinthians 5:1

Aionios describes that which human eyes have not seen, and ears have not heard, because they belong to the unseen realm of God:

"...because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are aeonian." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

Aionios refers to that Heavenly life which does not fade nor falter: It is the very life of Christ in contradistinction to the perishable life that humanity has in Adam:

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal." - John 6:27

knuckle · Young Wolf Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 501

Brother Apoc-------

Not wishing to get into a discussion of semantics might I suggest we look at the perspective from which these verses are taken.

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal(aeonian) life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal." - John 6:27

this is speaking of the reward that one labors for as compared to the one who does not.This aeolian life occurs between the first and second resurrection but is still measured as passing time or an age.If one receives aeonian life(life between the resurrections) will they receive eternal life (life unending) ?yes indeed,the second death sways no power on them, but that is not what the verse is speaking of.

as for the two verses in Corinthians --- are all unseen things eternal?without beginning or end?Only God is eternal.I understand how it makes little difference to a finite creature like us ,but when there is no more time some point so far in the future as to not be conceived of today, perhaps Apoc will ask knuckle "do you remember when we talked about this on a computer on earth,sure was a different aeon back then, huh?" and knuckle will say "yes brother it sure was".

much love--------knuckle

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

hi knuckle,

knuckle · Young Wolf Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 501

Hi Apoc---

brother we have touched on this subject before but if you would humor me I would like to ask you something---of what advantage is there in believing?

and you are indeed correct in stating that the view I expressed wasn't based on that single verse but on Paul's teaching as a whole.

feel free to pm me if you like.

much love-------knuckle

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

My friend, knuckle, let's do talk more about this mysterious Greek word, shall we? How long have you been studying this particular word?

knuckle · Young Wolf Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 501

Hi Apoc-----

I started reading the literal translations some years ago.Depending on the translation where eternal or everlasting was used in the mainstream translations(KJV NIV etc.)the literal versions used age abiding ,age enduring,for the eon etc.
and it really got me looking deeper at what the greek words mean.I had some experience with Hebrew and knew that the mainstream versions translate Olam as eternal or everlasting and quite truthfully a word for the concept of forever doesn't exist in Hebrew(to my knowledge anyway) and that Olam simply means a set period of time.After some study I learned two things 1.Aeon means the same thing and 2.the strongs concordance isn't the best source for translation.

I love both the KJV and the NIV and if I am reading for enjoyment those are my picks in that order but I prefer the literal translations and Weymouth's nt for study.

much love--------knuckle

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

Knuckles,

knuckle · Young Wolf Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Posts: 501

Good morning Apoc,

I think the position of the viewer makes a huge difference in perception.A being with a lifespan such as we have perceives time differently based on how much we have.A child feels that it takes "forever" to grow up but an adult learns that the older we get the faster time flies.

The same applies if we compare two periods of time that are unequal in duration(especially if they run concurrently).God exists outside of time -- before ,during, and after all time periods.

Off to work now

Much love---------knuckle

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

Brother Knuckles, I have decided to revive this discussion. I hope you will further contribute.

What do you think of the below quote from Bishop Westcott?