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I wanted to point out something i have been thinking about. I think that the word aionios when applied to God refers to the fact that God does manifest within the ages, through eventual revelation over time. That is to say he becomes a part of his creation in order to relate to his creation and to rectify and justify the creation through himself. Christ is the aionios God. He is God with us immanuel, the aionios God. IS Christ an eternal being? Yes ... Is eternal the quality to which the word aionios is referring to? No ...
Aionios when applied to life means the life of God that is with us even here aionios, or in the ages. That is why the unbelievers and wicked are said to be already condemned/dead even though they live and breath. Because they have not the knowledge of God and his Christ and have not the "life of God" indwelling them in the ages. They are bereft of the life of God now which is the indwelling spirit.
The same in the application of the word aionios to correction. These people receive correction within the ages.
Last edited by Ironmaw1776; 09-21-2009 at 09:10 PM..
Dr. Marvin Vincent, a notable New Testament scholar, in Word Studies of the New Testament wrote the following regarding aion:
Aristotle says: "The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the aion (eon) of each one." (Peri Ouravou, i.9, 15)
Hence, it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life (aion) is said to leave him or consume away (Iliad. v. 685; Odessy. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life;
It signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ in the flesh; the period of the millennium (the 1000 year reign of Christ to come); the mythological period before the beginnings of history. The word has not a "stationary and mechanical value" (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There is one aion of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life.
The length of the aion depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated "world," with "world" representing a period or a series of periods of time. (See Matt 12:32; Matt 13:40-49; 1 Cor. 1:20; 1 Cor. 1:20; Ephesians 1:21). Similarly the worlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. (1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Cor. 10:11; Heb. 1:2; Heb 9:26; Heb 11:3)The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. . . . The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. (pp. 58-59, vol. IV, Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament)
Just a quote from one more learned than I ... Now i understand the etymology of Aristotle is that aion is derived from the root "AEI" and the the word "ON" ... AEI means incessant and the word ON means being(as in to be doing something or being a certain way, a participle) ...
"And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever(AEI) done unto them" ...
So we see that the word AEI does not imply incessant or always as in eternally, but only in the sense of repetition.
So the words AEI and ON together represent a state of being that is ever repeating, not necessarily eternally. That is to say, AEI-ON applies to a period of time in which certain things persist. Plato agreed with this understanding of the term, the only difference was that he imagined time as it exists in this world now would exist and had existed for ever as the actual image of the invisible eternity. That is the only reason he used the term aionios to refer to visible yet eternal qualities. However, Helenism and platonic thought are not the same as that of ancient Hebrew culture, though it began influencing them just before and after the time of Christ. However the use of the word aion itself, especially in the mouth of an ancient Hebrew, in reference to anything would be a specific though perhaps undefined period of time. Just as the Hebrew word olam is used.
Yes i know the various Strong's definitions and Thayer's and Vyne's... However the Strongs openly states in the preface that its translation and definitions are based on the KJV translation, and only defines words as they are defined in the KJV itself.
And Thayer's and Vine's rely on the false logic that states because the word is used in reference to God it must be able to mean eternal. Neither are dependable sources in my opinion. The only world i believe that aion might be translated into properly otherwise is perhaps world. Even that i believe to be erroneous because there is already a word for that and it i kosmos. Just as there is a word for eternal/unchanging and it is aidios.
Last edited by Ironmaw1776; 09-21-2009 at 09:24 PM..
Yes i know the various Strong's definitions and the thayers ... However the Strongs openly states in the preface that its translation and definitions are based on the KJV translation, and only defines words as they are defined in the KJV itself.
And the Thayer's relies on the false logic that states because the word is used in reference to God it must be able to mean eternal. Neither are dependable sources in my opinion. The only world i believe that aion might be translated into properly otherwise is perhaps world. Even that i believe to be erroneous because there is already a word for that and it i kosmos. Just as there is a word for eternal/unchanging and it is aidios.
Please document the source of the grammar rule in question, then perhaps I can make an opinion on it's validity as you have for documented sources of the definitions.
I never said it does not apply, I am asking you to document the grammar rule, either you can or you can't and either path means something.
Grammar rule or no grammar rule, for me the important thing is that according to every use of these two words in this concordance, aion and aionion always refer to a limited period of time.
In every case it makes perfect sense to translate them eon and eonian. The eons of the Bible With Concordance, God’s purpose of the eons.
Some argue if aionion NEVER means eternal, won’t that mean that life of God might come to an end?
Of course God is eternal, but that is not what the use of the word aionios is saying about Him. God is the God of the eons.
THE EONS HAVE A BEGINNING
Literal Translation versus / King James Version
Heb.1:2 God made the eons / God made the worlds
I Cor. 2:7 before the eons / before the world
2Tim.1:9 before eonian times / before the world began
THE EONS END, INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY
Heb. 9:26 the end of the eons / the end of the world
1 Cor. 10:11 the ends of the eons / the ends of the world
Matt. 24:3 the end of the eon / the end of the world
HOW MANY EONS ARE THERE? Col.1:26 hid from eons Past / hid from ages
Lu. 20:34 this eon Present / this world
Eph. 2:7 eons to come Future / ages to come
A minimum of five eons indicated
THE PURPOSE OF THE EONS
Eph.3:8-11 purpose of the eons / eternal purpose
Eph. 1:9-1l; PhiI.2:9-l1; Col.1:l5-21; I Cor. 15:20-28
There is a potential problem with commentary on the two words if they are based on a non-existant grammar rule.
I dont know of anyone whoever contended that it was a spoken or even written rule. I think the argument is one of logical implications. Koine Greek is an ancient language and its exact grammatical laws are not in use today. That is not to say they don't exist on record, but i imagine there is something lost in the time between the actual development of the language and the time when it was in regular use to now.
The actual problem is in the proper etymology, of which we cannot be certain, as even Aristotle and Plato, though great philosophers, are not known to have been great etymologists by contemporary standards. We must take the word as it was used in classical literature, especially the Greek poets. Even then we must differentiate between the meaning of the word as it is used within Greek culture, and how it is used by Hebrew culture. It seems most rational to me that the word aion and its adjectives, at east within the framwork of the new testament, should be understood as Greek equivalents of the Hebrew word Olam found in the old testament. The Septuagint provides an example of this fact. That is the way the word olam itself is translated therein. Roger and myself are not the only ones who see this to be the truth ...
Quote:
THE VOCABULARY OF THE GREEK TESTAMENT(edited by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan)
(p.16). If the horizon of the extermination spoken of by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 is simply not in view, then we can see that what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:22 can truly occur. The same all who are dying in Adam, which includes some who incur eonian extermination, can indeed eventually be vivified in Christ. The Bible, in fact, does not speak of judgment and condemnation, death and destruction, hades and Gehenna, or any of these serious consequences of sin, as unending. It may refer to them as not having the end in view, but none of these fearful works of God can keep Him from achieving His will (1Tim.2:4); reconciling all through the blood of Christ’s cross (Col.1:20, and becoming All in all (1 Cor.15:28).
Beyond the horizon is exactly what olam means. That is the literal definition of the word. I believe beyond the horizon, or an unknown but certain period of time(defined by some constant social/cultural or spiritual trend), is what is meant by aion. And hence aionios means pertaining or relating to such a period of time or times ... This seems to be the plain and true language of the new testament, especially Romans and Ephesians, in regard these terms.
Last edited by Ironmaw1776; 09-21-2009 at 10:38 PM..
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The god of the ages
