Monday, October 3, 2011

The myth of Eternal.

Eternal is defined as 'having no beginning and no end; lasting forever; always existing'.

Our understanding of the word eternal is paramount in our understanding of God.  The word eternal occurs 45 times in the New Testament of the King James version of the bible.  The word is used to reference many things that are considered important, we have:

Eternal life
Eternal punishment
Eternal damnation
Eternal power
Eternal weight of glory
Eternal unseen
Eternal building in the heavens
Eternal purpose
Eternal king
Eternal glory
Eternal salvation
Eternal judgment 
Eternal redemption 
Eternal spirit
Eternal inheritance
Eternal fire

At issue is NOT the word eternal, because this word identifies a concept that serves an essential purpose in understanding in the English language.  What is at issue is it's use by the translators of the bible.  Contrary to popular belief the bible was not written in English.  EVERY version of the bible we have today is a TRANSLATION.  This is important to know, because in studying the bible one must realize that in order to have the BEST understanding we must get as close to the ORIGINAL source language as possible.  The importance of this is most profound in our reading of the KING JAMES version because this version is A TRANSLATION OF A TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT.  That said let us examine the issue at hand.

If something is ETERNAL it CANNOT have a beginning. Revisiting the definition of the word eternal as 'having no beginning and no ending' some things become immediately apparent.  By nature of the concept of eternal anything that is eternal MUST HAVE ALWAYS BEEN.  So something CANNOT be eternal if it had not ALREADY been occurring for ALL eternity.  Therefore, an eternal state CANNOT be entered.  One must have ALWAYS been, in order for one to inhabit  the ETERNAL. Eternity, and it's alter ego forever, can ONLY be attributed to God. By it's very nature the concept of eternal in its application to anything created, is FLAWED.

Let us look at the word eternal in the scriptures and let us ask the hard question.  Does its usage make sense?

2 Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

This verse can be connected to the statement of Jesus:
John 14:2
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.

By the definition of 'eternal' Paul's statement here makes no sense.  If this building from God is 'eternal in the heavens' then how could Jesus have said I go to prepare a place.  By the very definition of eternal IT MUST HAVE ALWAYS BEEN.  So Paul is telling us that there is a building for us THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN, yet Jesus tells us that he is GOING to prepare a place.  How can he GO AND PREPARE something that ALWAYS WAS?

Ephesians 3:11
11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Now what was this eternal purpose? The answer is in the preceding verse:

Ephesians 3:10
10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Now since this is the stated 'eternal' purpose does it make sense using the definition of the word eternal?  There will come a time when the manifold wisdom of God will be known by everybody.  Once it becomes known to everyone will this purpose continue OR will it be accomplished?

Let us consider Jesus' use of the word eternal. Consider the most famous of all:

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Christians today see this as the greatest of all promises. Jesus is telling us that if we believe in him we will have eternal life.  But I ask you, DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?  How can we  be given a life that NEVER BEGINS AND NEVER ENDS.  Think about this, one cannot be GIVEN eternal life.  Eternal means no beginning and no ending; this makes no sense, because at some point your 'eternal' life will BEGIN. If this word was correct then that would mean that YOU ALWAYS WERE, and that would ALSO mean that you can carry the grandiose title,

'he who was, and is and is to come'.

Let us look at this verse again using the definition of eternal:
...that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have a life that has NEVER begun and will never end.

HOW CAN THIS BE SINCE THERE WAS A TIME WHEN YOU WERE NOT!!!!

Here again, consider a question asked of Jesus:

Matthew 19:16
16 And someone came to Him and said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?

The rich ruler asked the question because he KNEW that this life that he was seeking was something that he did not yet have.  If he already had it he would not ask how to obtain it.  Understanding that he asks how to obtain it mean that it was something that could be acquired, but eternal life has no beginning. Again we see the word 'eternal' making no sense.  In using the word eternal this is what he asked Jesus:
Teacher what good thing must I do to obtain a life that never began and never ends. If he did not already have this life then upon acquiring the life THAT IS WHEN IT WILL BEGIN.

Let us examine Jesus' use of the word in regards to judgment:

Matthew 25:46
46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

 Can you see the immediate problems with this verse?  Here Jesus is telling the goats of his parable that they will suffer ETERNAL PUNISHMENT.  How can this be? Eternal means having no beginning and no ending, so how can they be promised a punishment to which they ARE NOT YET EXPERIENCING.  For this interpretation to be correct there would have to have NEVER been a time when they were NOT suffering punishment.

Something is terribly wrong with the use of the word eternal in these bible translations.  So what is the problem?  Remember I said that the King James is a translation of a translation? In each of these cases where eternal is used, and many more besides, the word is translated from the Greek word AIONIOS or AION to the LATIN word AETERNUM to the ENGLISH word ETERNAL.  Here is the trouble.  The translators translated AION (the noun) and AIONIOS (the adjective) as the English word ETERNAL.  This was INCORRECT since we can see that the use of the word DOES NOT make any sense in the contexts that it is used.  An AION is defined as AN INDEFINITE FIXED PERIOD OF TIME.  While time in the period is indefinite it DOES NOT MEAN having no beginning and no ending.  Therefore, we can easily conclude that AION cannot be interchangeable with eternal because a word cannot simultaneously be 'a fixed period of time'  AND AT THE SAME TIME MEAN 'having no beginning  and no ending'.  Consider these sentences:

How long has Bob been hitting John with that stick? For an age.

How long has Bob been hitting John with that stick?  Eternally.

Do these sentences mean the same thing?  In one sentence Bob at SOME point BEGAN to hit John with the stick.  In the other sentence THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A TIME WHEN BOB WAS NOT HITTING JOHN WITH THE STICK.  This simple example proves that AION (age) cannot be interchangeable with ETERNAL.

Let us look at a verse with the new understanding of the TRUE word AION:

...that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have a life AIONION (AGE ABIDING, AGE LASTING)


But you say isn't God eternal?

Yes he is and Paul uses ANOTHER word to describe him:

Romans 1:20
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Now this is very interesting, Paul describes God by saying he has ETERNAL power and divine nature.  On it's surface one can make the case that since it is used in connection with God it cannot mean that God has power only for an age (AION).  This is where the translators were inconsistent, because the word translated 'eternal' in this verse is the word AIDIOS and it DOES MEAN ETERNAL in the english sense and is ONLY used in the bible TWICE and both times it is used in connection with God and his power.

It is therefore clear that the translation of the word AION to ETERNAL is erroneous since it makes no sense to our proper understanding of the word of God.  The summation of all of this is that and ETERNAL life can NEVER begin.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mills,

    I read your post and agree with most of what you wrote. I have a question thou. Regarding Rom 1:20 you stated;

    "the word translated 'eternal' in this verse is the word AIDIOS and it DOES MEAN ETERNAL in the English sense and is ONLY used in the bible TWICE"

    I went and search for AIDIOS on Interlinear Scripture Analyzer and found that it means UNPERCEIVABLE or IMPERCEPTIBLE and not eternal as you teach. I'm not sure if you were also referring to Jud 1:6 as that is the second scripture that uses aidios.

    Ju 1:6 Besides, messengers who keep not their own sovereignty, but leave their own habitation, He has kept in imperceptible [aidiois] bonds under gloom for the judging of the great day. CLV

    If aidios means eternal in the English sense, can we translate the above verse as "...kept in eternal bonds"? That seems wrong to me.

    Also Rom 1:20 makes perfect sense in the CLV.

    Ro 1:20 For His invisible attributes are descried from the creation of the world, being apprehended by His achievements, besides His imperceptible [aidiois] power and divinity, for them to be defenseless,

    I will appreciate if you could give me more light on this issue.

    You can respond on.
    0723003344@vodamail.co.za

    ReplyDelete