August 26

THE ETERNAL PURPOSE / PART 7

AIONIOS

According to C. Gary Reid and Ernest L. Martin:

-"In the translation of the adjective in the King James Version there is not as much variation. “Aionios” is rendered into only four English words.

-The adjective form “aionios” cannot carry a force or express a duration greater than the “age” of which it speaks. It cannot mean “eternal” or “everlasting”. It literally means “of the age” or “age-long.” Once these meanings of the Hebrew “olam” and the Greek “aion” are understood, a flood of light will shine forth to show how God has been using various ages or strategic time periods to perfect His plan of salvation for man."

by C. Gary Reid and Ernest L. Martin, Ph.D., 1975
Typeset and footnoted by David Sielaff, November 2004

-The following is an excerpt from: ( The Power Of Life And Death In A Greek Four Letter Word - Aion, Gary Amirault ) … "There are some who after wrestling with the facts above will admit that the word “aion” means "an age," but they say its adjective “aionios” has to mean "eternal" because it is used so often to describe God. Professors in seminaries say these kind of foolish things. Anyone with a little bit of sense recognizes that an adjective cannot have a greater force or meaning than its noun. “Hourly” cannot mean "yearly," for example. The adjective gets its force from the noun. If the noun “aion” means “age”, then the adjective “aionios” has to pertain to "age" and not to something greater than "age." It cannot therefore correctly represent “eternity”. Just because “aionios” is used to describe God Who is “eternal” does not mean “aionios” means "eternal." God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Does that mean He is not the God of the rest of us? Of course, not! God can be the God of ages as well as being eternal. The very nature of God commands the idea of “eternity”. He doesn't have to be called “eternal” to make Him “eternal”. That is part of His nature. The Bible has many other ways to express “endlessness” or not being exposed to the corruption of death. “Endlessness” is expressed in the scriptures by the simple phrase "no end" (Luke 1:33; Dan. 7:14; Isa. 9:7). The thought of permanence is also expressed in Hebrews 7:16, "the power of an endless or indissoluble life," and in 1 Peter 1:4, "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away." ( Gary Amirault )

-HE IS THE GOD OF ETERNITY AND TIME ( AGES )!-