“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.” (Matthew 25:46, KJV)
“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:11, KJV)
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10, KJV)
These verses, and many others which describe the punishment of unbelievers as αιωνιος, are often used as ultimate prooftexts against universalism. For, if unbelievers are to be punished eternally and for ever and ever, how could it be possible that all people will eventually be saved? However, as we have seen, both the very nature of God and the passage of 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, among other universalist passages, demonstrate that all people must eventually be saved, at the consummation during the final resurrection. How can these apparently contradictory passages be reconciled? This article will attempt to show that the characterization of punishment as αιωνιος and εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων is not only reconcilable with universalism, but demands that there will eventually be an end to punishment.
The meaning of αιωνιος: everlasting or just lasting?
The Greek word αιωνιος, often translated ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting’ in dynamic-equivalence translations, is repeatedly connected to the punishment of unbelievers in the New Testament. Its Hebrew equivalent, the word olam, is also used to describe the ‘shame’ which unbelievers will have after the general resurrection (Daniel 12:2). However, these words are actually not the Hebrew and Greek words that mean strictly ‘everlasting’, that is, without end. In Hebrew, only one word carried this meaning - netsach - and is never used of punishment of any sort; likewise, in Greek, the word αιδιος is the only one which means ‘eternal’, and is only used of God (in Romans 1:20), along with ατελευτος which means ‘without end’ [1].
What, then, do olam and αιωνιος mean? Well, based on their usage in the Old and New Testaments, it’s clear that they do not mean strictly ‘everlasting’, without end, but rather carry a sense of ‘lastingness’. Here are a number of examples where these words, if translated as ‘everlasting’, would cause a contradiction:
“And [Aaron’s] sons thou dost bring near, and hast clothed them with coats, and anointed them as thou hast anointed their father, and they have acted as priests to Me, and their anointing hath been to be to them for a priesthood age-during [olam], to their generations.” (Exodus 40:14-15)
Here olam is explicitly glossed by ‘to their generations’, rather than ‘everlasting’. Furthermore, if this were taken to mean ‘without end’, it would contradict Hebrews 7:11-19, which says that the Levitical priesthood has been abolished and replaced by Jesus’ priesthood of Melchizedek.
And in the assembling of the assembly ye blow, and do not shout; and sons of Aaron, the priests, blow with the trumpets; and they have been to you for a statute age-during [olam] to your generations. (Num. 10:7-8)
Here, again, olam is explicitly glossed by ‘to your generations’.
And it hath been, when he saith unto thee, I go not out from thee — because he hath loved thee, and thy house, because [it is] good for him with thee — then thou hast taken the awl, and hast put [it] through his ear, and through the door, and he hath been to thee a servant age-during [olam]; and also to thy handmaid thou dost do so. (Deut. 15:16-17)
This law states that if a servant does not wish to leave during the ceremonial slave release at the end of seven years, then they will become a servant olam. Here olam is taken to mean ‘lifelong’, rather than strictly ‘without end’.
And Joshua saith unto all the people, “Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Beyond the river have your fathers dwelt of old [m’olam] — Terah father of Abraham and father of Nachor — and they serve other gods;” (Josh. 24:2)
Terah and his ancestors are said to have dwelt across the Euphrates m’olam, and yet the period in which they dwelt there had both a beginning and an end. See also Deut. 32:7; Josh. 4:7; 1 Sam. 27:8; Isa. 46:9; 51:9; 57:11; 63:9; Mal. 3:4 for other examples of m’olam.
And Hannah hath not gone up, for she said to her husband, “Till the youth [Samuel] is weaned — then I have brought him in, and he hath appeared before the face of Jehovah, and dwelt there — unto the age [olam]... and also I have caused him to be asked for Jehovah, all the days that he hath lived — he is asked for Jehovah;” and he boweth himself there before Jehovah. (1 Sam. 1:22, 28)
Here olam is glossed by “all the days that he hath lived”, therefore meaning ‘lifelong’ as in Deut. 15:17.
Then said Solomon, “Jehovah said — to dwell in thick darkness, and I — I have built a house of habitation for Thee, and a fixed place for Thy dwelling to the ages.” (2 Chron. 6:1-2)
YHWH is said to dwell in Solomon’s temple olam, but the book of Chronicles was written after YHWH’s glory left the temple prior to the its destruction (Ezek. 10:18).
The dead praise not Jah, Nor any going down to silence. And we, we bless Jah, From henceforth, and unto the age [olam]. Praise ye Jah! (Ps. 115:17-18)
David says that he will praise YHWH olam, and yet he had just said that the dead do not praise YHWH, meaning that olam in this context is merely ‘lifelong’.
Surely the palace hath been left, The multitude of the city forsaken, Fort and watch-tower hath been for dens unto the age [olam], A joy of wild asses — a pasture of herds; Till emptied out on us is the Spirit from on high, And a wilderness hath become a fruitful field, And the fruitful field for a forest is reckoned. (Isa. 32:14-15)
Jerusalem will be forsaken olam, that is, until the Spirit is emptied out from on high. Therefore, olam clearly cannot mean strictly ‘everlasting’ in this context.
And they have built the wastes of old [olam], The desolations of the ancients they raise up, And they have renewed waste cities, The desolations of generation and generation. (Isa. 61:4)
The olam waste of Israel is being rebuilt, which means that olam cannot be ‘without end’. See also Isa. 58:12.
And I have put on you reproach age-during [olam], And shame age-during [olam] that is not forgotten! (Jer. 23:40)
The olam shame and reproach of Israel will last for only seventy years (Jer. 25:12). Also, note the parallel with Daniel 12:2.
To the cuttings of mountains I have come down, The earth, her bars [are] behind me to the age [olam]. And Thou bringest up from the pit my life, O Jehovah my God. (Jonah 2:6)
Jonah is said to have been in the belly of the earth olam, and yet he was only there for three days (Jonah 1:17).
“and I say to you, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye may fail, they may receive you to the age-during [αιωνιους] tabernacles.” (Lk. 16:9)
If this were referring to truly everlasting tabernacles, that is, those prepared for us in the New Heavens and Earth (Rev. 21 - 22), then it would seem that Jesus is saying here that it is possible to buy your way into salvation with “the mammon [money] of unrighteousness“. Clearly, this is referring to earthly (and thus not everlasting) dwellings.
And to Him who is able to establish you, according to my good news, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the secret, in the times of the ages [αιωνιοις] having been kept silent (Rom. 15:25)
This usage of αιωνιος, similar to m’olam in Hebrew, cannot mean ‘without beginning’ or ‘without end’ as it refers to past time since creation. See also 2 Tim. 1:9 and Titus 1:2.
[Jesus] only is having immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no one of men did see, nor is able to see, to whom [is] honour and dominion age-during [αιωνιον]! Amen. (1 Tim. 6:16)
Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus will not actually have dominion everlastingly, but will abolish all dominion and voluntarily subject Himself to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24-28). Therefore, in this case αιωνιος cannot mean ‘without end’.
for perhaps because of this [Onesimus] did depart for an hour, that age-duringly [αιωνιον] thou [Philemon] mayest have him (Phil. 15)
Onesimus’ αιωνιος servitude to Philemon will only last his lifetime at the most, and therefore it must mean ‘lifelong’ in this context. Note also the parallel with Deut. 15:17 above.
as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, in like manner to these, having given themselves to whoredom, and gone after other flesh, have been set before — an example, of fire age-during [αιωνιου], justice suffering. (Jude 6)
This verse is especially significant because it uses αιωνιος in the context of punishment. However, even here, the αιωνιος fire cannot be taken as strictly everlasting, because Sodom and Gomorrah are no longer burning. Even more significantly, Ezekiel says that Sodom will eventually be restored (Ezek. 16:55).
From these passages, it is obvious that the equivalent terms olam and αιωνιος do not mean strictly ‘everlasting’, but rather denote a lastingness that is not without end. Given that this Greek adjective has the root αιων, meaning ‘age’, many literal, formal-equivalence translations have chosen to render it ‘lasting for an age’ or similar (including the YLT, my preferred translation, which renders it as ‘age-during’). The word αιωνιος was not considered to mean ‘eternal’ until it was translated into Latin Bibles as aeternum; however, it was still understood to mean ‘lasting for an age’ (or similar) until at least the end of the fourth century [2].
A common objection to this translation of αιωνιος is that this means that the so-called ‘eternal life’ that believers are repeatedly promised throughout the New Testament (see especially Jn. 3:16) will end as well. As a matter of fact, this ‘αιωνιον life’ will indeed end, because it merely describes the life in the coming αιωνες (ages), according to Mk. 10:28-30 and Eph. 2:7! As my exegesis of 1 Cor. 15:20-28 showed, the final resurrection and salvation of unbelievers will occur at the consummation of the αιωνες, when Christ’s redemptive work will be fully manifested (Heb. 9:26). Believers will receive an early resurrection and salvation, after which they will experience ‘age-during life’, but both believers and (current) unbelievers will live together following the end of the ages. This idea will be further fleshed out in the section below.
However, just because ‘age-during life’ will end, this does not mean that we will again die. Our life after the resurrection will indeed be everlasting, but not because it is αιωνιος; it will be everlasting because we will be immortal, incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:53-54), and indestructible (Heb. 7:16).
The ages of the ages, not “ever and ever”
Another descriptor of the punishment of unbelievers, in Rev. 14:11 and 20:10, is εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων. This phrase is commonly translated in the KJV and other dynamic-equivalence as “for ever and ever”, although the literal translation is “for the ages of the ages” (the word ‘and’, και, is not even present).
As described already, there will eventually be an end to the ages, at which time Jesus’ redemptive work will be fully manifested and all people will be saved (1 Cor. 15:22-24; Heb. 9:26). Therefore, if unbelievers will not receive salvation until the end of the ages, it is natural that their punishment will last for the rest of the ages - “the ages of the ages”. The fact that there is an end to the ages means that there will be an end to “the ages of the ages”. This conclusion, that the phrase εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων refers to a specific, limited time period, is made clear when the scriptural use of this phrase is analyzed:
“and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus; he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages [εις τους αιωνας]; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Lk. 1:31-33)
Although this passage does not include the complete phrase “for the ages of the ages”, but merely “for the ages”, it still does not carry the sense of ‘everlasting’, without end. Because Jesus will eventually hand over the kingdom to the Father and voluntarily submit Himself (1 Cor. 15:24-28), His reign over the house of Jacob will end as well, at the end of the ages.
and [it was said] unto the Son: “Thy throne, O God, [is] to the age of the age [εις τον αιωνα του αιωνος]; a scepter of righteousness [is] the scepter of thy reign” (Heb. 1:8)
Again, the throne of the Son of God will last only until the end of the ages. Therefore, the phrase “the age of the age” presumably refers to the final age, which Christ will reign “into” (but not past).
if any one doth speak — “as oracles of God;” if any one doth minister — “as of the ability which God doth supply;” that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the dominion — to the ages of the ages [εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων]. Amen. (1 Pet. 4:11)
The dominion of Jesus Christ will last “for the ages of the ages”, that is, until the end of the ages.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born out of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth; to him who did love us, and did bathe us from our sins in his blood, and did make us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him [is] the glory and the dominion to the ages of the ages [εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων]! Amen. (Rev. 1:5-6)
and every creature that is in the heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth, and the things that are upon the sea, and the all things in them, heard I saying, “To Him who is sitting upon the throne, and to the Lamb, [is] the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the might — to the ages of the ages [εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων]!” (Rev. 5:13)
The Lamb will rule alongside God for “the ages of the ages”, until the end of the ages when He voluntarily subjects Himself to the Father.
And the seventh messenger did sound, and there came great voices in the heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of the world did become [those] of our Lord and of His Christ, and he shall reign to the ages of the ages [εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων]!” (Rev. 11:15)
Likewise, if Christ will subject Himself to God at the end of the ages, then His reign alongside the Father “for the ages of the ages” must last only until the end of the ages.
Therefore, the only way to harmonize these passages (among others) with 1 Cor. 15:24-28 is to conclude that “the ages of the ages” are a fixed period of time which will come to an end at the consummation of the ages, when all people will be justified, vivified, and made sinless. But what, exactly, does this phrase mean? Well, it’s common knowledge that in Hebrew and Greek, ‘[thing(s)] of [thing(s)]’ is an intensifier, such as the “holy of holies” (Exod. 26:33; Heb. 9:3),”holies of holies” (Heb. 9:25), “song of songs” (Song 1:1), “King of kings” and “Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; 19:16). In each of these cases, ‘[thing(s)] of [thing(s)]’ refers to the most preeminent of all [things], not an infinite number of [things]. Therefore, it is only logical that “the ages of the ages” refers to the most preeminent of all ages, not an infinite number of ages.
Which ages are counted in the Ages of the Ages? Well, we know from Eph. 2:7 that there are multiple (at least two) oncoming ages in which we will experience ‘age-during life’. Therefore, this phrase must refer to the final two ages in Revelation 20 - 22, following the end of this age when Jesus returns (Matt. 24:3). These Ages of the Ages are the age of the Messianic kingdom, which lasts for a thousand years on earth (Rev. 20:4-6), and the age of the New Heaven and Earth (Rev. 21 - 22) [3]. Controversially, this means that the creation of the New Heaven and Earth is not the end of the ages, and that Paul saw further into the future than John did, to the final resurrection.
Conclusion
Neither the characterization of punishment as αιωνιος nor as εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων demonstrates that punishment will last eternally, and the fact that it is never described in the New Testament as αιδιος nor ατελευτος (that is, truly ‘without end’) is highly significant. In fact, these terms are entirely compatible with the Pauline position that all unbelievers will be saved at the final resurrection, at the consummation of the ages. A comparison of Eph. 2:7 and 1 Cor. 15:24-28 with Rev. 20 - 22 demonstrates that “the ages of the ages” into which the punishment of unbelievers will last corresponds to the ages of the Messianic kingdom and the New Heaven and Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment