Backwoodsman wrote:
Homer, to what universalists are you referring? I've never encountered any Christian universalists, or anyone else for that matter, who would translate aion/aionios as 'temporary'. Can you give reference(s) where that's documented?
Well, right here on this site in this discussion:
Paidion wrote:
But does "αιωνιος" mean "eternal"? This adjective is derived from its nominal form "αιων" which means "age".
Therefore the adjective "αιωνιος" means "age-long".
And:
The word "The word “aiōnios” means neither "eternal" nor "temporary". It means "lasting".
I have pointed out that Josephus, the Jewish historian (who wrote “The Wars of the Jews” in Greek) used the word “aiōnios” to describe the length of time that Jonathan spent in prison, which is said to have been 3 years.
Paidion carefully explained his belief that
aionios does not mean eternal but rather means age long. If it does not mean eternal but means age-long I would say that is temporary. But then he says it means "lasting", a nebulous interpretation.
In my mock translations of the verses I listed I supplied "temporary" to show the true import of the Universalist's claims about the meaning the NT writers conveyed. What the writers of scripture meant is all that matters; root word studies and what Josephus wrote, etc. can not give us the answer. And I would challenge you and any Universalist to respond to my question for Steve:
Is there a scripture somewhere that informs us of after death repentance and salvation?
Surely the Universalist can point to scripture concerning this if it is true as they say. Or did Jesus just forget to mention it?