ApologeticJedi said:
Whether they are needed or not to establish the concept of eternal life is a moot point. That the Universalists don't deny eternal life is what I point out as their inconsistency! (Though apparently that flew over your head).
Eternal life is a gift of God, through Christ...not an inherant possession of humanity regardless of one's relationship with God.
The gift of eternal life does not impose an eternal Hell.
We believe in the gift of eternal life...but we know that the word "aionion" cannot be used to describe it..all "aionion" says is that Christians live through the ages. If one wants to prove eternal life you would need to look elsewhere...to the word
athanasia (see 1 Cor. 15:53) and translated "immortality." Our mortal bodies must "put on immortality." Immortal people can’t die. That means they live forever.
In fact, if other passages prove that we have eternal life, as you say, then that only adds credence to the idea that the word “aionios” means eternal in as far as the gospel writers were concerned. For they would not have mishandled a subject about eternal life and then toned it down to say it is “a season” of life.
Wrong. Look at it this way...If you have enough water to get to the well, do you die of thirst when you get to the well?
I doubt it because you probably aren't that stupid.
I didn’t expect consistency when dealing with univeralists.
And I don't expect consistency where those that believe in an eternal Hell because Jesus gives eternal life are concerned.
Just look at how many ways they translate "aion" or "aionios" in our English Bibles...
Age, eon, time, period, today, the future, universe, course, world, worldly, world without end, since the world began, from the beginning of the world, ever, evermore, for ever and ever, end of my days, eternal, everlasting, always, permanently, constantly, of old, ancient times, all time (since) time was, (since) time began, (before) time began, all time, (since) the beginning of time, eternal ages, eternal life, eternity, course of eternity, utter (darkness), (the son) does (remain), ages of the eternities, (in and through) the eternities of the eternities, etc.
For 'aionios" the English versions use:- everlasting, eternal, eonian, age lasting, age during, age duringly, age abiding, (in) the time of the ages, age times, (before) the ages of time, of the ages, (in) the periods of past ages, (before) the ages began, for the ages of time, (before) the beginning of time, since the world began, (before) the times of the world, (before) times eternal, from eternity, from all eternity, for ever, unfailing, final, unending, permanent, immemorial, enduring, lasting, eternally, long, perpetual, an immeasurable eternity, last, heavenly.
You want consistancy? Consider what these resources say...
Dr. R.F. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech (p. 657), "Eternal, Greek aeonian, i.e., of the ages: Etymologically this adjective, like others similarly formed does not signify, "during" but "belonging to" the aeons or ages."
Dr. Marvin Vincent, Word Studies of the New Testament (vol. IV, p. 59): "The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective in themselves carries the sense of "endless" or "everlasting." Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Out of the 150 instances in the LXX (Septuagint), four-fifths imply limited duration."
Dr. F.W. Farrar, The Eternal Hope (p. 198), "That the adjective is applied to some things which are "endless" does not, of course, for one moment prove that the word itself meant 'endless;' and to introduce this rendering into many passages would be utterly impossible and absurd." In Mercy and Judgment(p. 378), "Since aion meant 'age,' aionios means, properly, 'belonging to an age,' or 'age-long,' and anyone who asserts that it must mean 'endless' defends a position which even Augustine practically abandoned twelve centuries ago. Even if aion always meant 'eternity,' which is not the case in classic or Hellenistic Greek-aionios could still mean only 'belonging to eternity' and not 'lasting through it.'"
Lange's Commentary American Edition (vol. V, p. 48), on Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 4, in commenting upon the statement "The earth abideth forever" says, "The preacher, in contending with the universalist, or restorationist, would commit an error, and, it may be, suffer a failure in his argument, should he lay the whole stress of it on the etymological or historical significance of the words, aion, aionios, and attempt to prove that, of themselves, they necessarily carry the meaning of endless duration."
On page 45 of the same section of Lange's Commentary American Edition , Dr. Taylor Lewis says: "The Greek aiones and aiones ton aionon, the Latin secula, and secula seculorum, the Old Saxon, or Old English of Wicliffe, to worldis or worldis (Heb. XIII 21), or our more modern phrase, for ever and ever, wherever the German ewig, was originally a noun denoting age or a vast period, just like the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew words corresponding to it."
The Rev. Bennet, Olam Hanneshamoth (p. 44), "The primary nature of olam is 'hidden,' and both as to past and future denotes a duration that is unknown." Olam is the Hebrew word for the Greek aion.
The Parkhurst Lexicon: "Olam (aeon) seems to be used much more for an indefinite than for an infinite time."
Dr. MacKnight: "I must be so candid as to acknowledge that the use of these terms 'forever,' 'eternal,' 'everlasting,' shows that they who understand these words in a limited sense when applied to punishment put no forced interpretation upon them."
Dr. Nigel Turner, Christian Words(p. 457), "All the way through it is never feasible to understand aionios as everlasting."
The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 15, p. 485, "It is possible that 'aeonian' may denote merely indefinite duration without the connotation of never ending."
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 4, p. 643, "The O.T. and the N.T. are not acquainted with conception of eternity as timelessness." Page 644: "The O.T. has not developed a special term for eternity." Page 645: "The use of the word aion in the N.T. is determined very much by the O.T. and the LXX. Aion means long, distant, uninterrupted time. The intensifying plural occurs frequently in the N.T. ...but it adds no new meaning."
Dr. Lammenois, "In Hebrew and Greek the words rendered 'everlasting' have not this sense. They signify a long duration of time, a period; whence the phrase, during these eternities and beyond."
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan,“the prince of expositors” wrote in “God’s Method’s With Men” ; “Let me say to Bible students that we must be very careful how to use the word ‘eternity.’ We have fallen into great error in our constant use of that word. There is NO word in the whole Book of God corresponding with our ‘eternal,’ which as commonly used among us, means absolutely without end.”
How do you make an endless aion? It would be simple to do...just place a word meaning "endless" to define the aion as endless.
The same would be true of aionion...if you want people to understand that it is pertaining to and endless age..simply place a word meaning "endless" to designate it as endless.
They don't...and I don't believe it was an oversight, nor the mishandling of the words employed.