In the following article (which is divided up into 20 points and still a work in progress) I shall argue that the expression translated “eternal life” in most English translations of the Bible actually refers to a spiritual blessing pertaining to the period of time prior to the abolishing of death at the last trumpet, and that it does not pertain to our final, post-mortem destiny. I shall further argue that those who die in unbelief (and thus do not receive “eternal life”) are not, in fact, hopelessly lost, but will be saved by Christ at the conclusion of his mediatorial reign on the “last day.” The views being defended in this article are, admittedly, not the views of all (or even most) believers in UR today (at least, on this forum), but they’re still well-established within the UR community.
**1) **Christ spoke of “eternal life” as a blessing available only to those who are believing on him (John 3:14-16; 5:24; 6:40, 47). This necessarily excludes not only those who have made an “informed decision” to reject Christ, but also infants/young children, many mentally disabled people, and every person throughout history who has lived and died without having ever heard about Christ. Thus, if only those who believe on Christ and receive “eternal life” will be finally saved, then all who die as infants/young children, many mentally disabled people, and every person throughout history who has died without having heard the true gospel will be lost forever. But is this the case? What is meant by the Scriptural expression rendered “eternal life” in most English translations?
2) The New Testament was not written by Greeks, but by Hebrew men using the Greek language. This means that the idioms and word-meanings found in the NT should best be understood as having been largely (if not entirely) derived from the Old Testament Scriptures rather than secular Greek literature (e.g., the works of Plato). The word translated “eternal” or “everlasting” in the most popular translations of the New Testament is the Greek adjective aionios, which is the adjective form of the Greek noun aion (singular) and aionas (plural). But because the authors of the NT were Jewish and thought as Jews, it is not to secular Greek literature that we must turn in order to understand the correct meaning of the words aion and aionios, but to the Old Testament. Both of these words were used by the Jewish authors of the NT (as well as the authors of the Greek translation of the Old Testament, or LXX) as the Greek equivalents of the Hebrew noun olam, and convey the same basic meaning.
3) The word olam was derived from the verb âlam, which Strong’s Concordance defines as follows: “To veil from sight, that is, conceal (literally or figuratively).” Olam thus came to mean a long and/or indefinite (or “concealed”) duration of time, whether past or future. Strong’s defines olam as “Long duration, antiquity, futurity.” Being a relative word like “great” or “small,” the unspecified duration to which olam refers could be longer or shorter depending on the subject with which it is connected. The following are just a few examples where olam clearly refers to a period of limited duration: Gen 6:4; 13:15; 17:7-8, 48:4; 49:26; Ex. 12:17; 21:6; 27:20-21 28:43; 29:28; 30:21; 31:16-17 40:15; Lev. 16:34; 24:3, 8; 25:32, 45-46; Num 10:8; 25:13; Deut 15:17; 32:7; 33:15; Josh 4:7; 24:2; 1 Sam. 1:22, 28; 27:8; 1 Kings 8:13; 2 Kings 5:27; 1 Chron. 16:17; 2 Chron. 6:2; Ps. 24:7, 9; 25:6; Eccl 12:5; Isa. 24:5; 32:14-15; 34:10; 42:14; 57:11; 58:12; 61:4; 63:9, 11; Jer. 5:15; 7:7; 17:4; 17:25; 18:16; 23:40; 25:9; 28:8; 31:40; 35:6, 8; Lam 3:6; Eze. 26:20; 35:5; Jonah 2:6; Hab. 3:6.
4) Even those verses in which olam is used in reference to God need not be understood to convey the idea of his timeless eternality. By use of parallelism (a common literary device among the Hebrew people) the inspired authors of the OT frequently explain their use of olam when applied to God, his reign, his glory and other things by adding parallel expressions such as, “throughout all generations,” “to a thousand generations,” “many generations,” “from generation to generation,” “from age to age,” “unto children’s children,” etc. For example, in Psalm 33:11 we read, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever olam], the plans of his heart to all generations.” Here, the words “to all generations” explain the meaning of olam. The following are some more examples in which similar parallelism is used: Gen 9:12, 16; 17:7; Ex 3:15; 12:14; 27:21; 30:21; 31:16; 40:15; Lev 6:18; 10:9; 17:7; 23:21, 31; 24:3; Num 10:8; 15:15; 18:23; Deut 23:3, 6; 32:7; Josh 8:28; Psalm 33:11; 45:17; 49:11; 61:6-7; 72:17; 79:13; 85:5; 89:1-2, 4, 29, 36-37; 100:5; 102:12; 103:17; 105:8; 106:31; 135:13; 145:13; 146:10; Prov 8:23; 27:24; Isa. 34:10, 17; 51:8-9; 58:12; 60:15; 61:4; Lam. 5:19-20; Dan 4:3, 34; Joel 3:20; Eph 3:21.
5) Such expressions as the ones referred to above suggest that when the inspired writers used olam they had this present, temporal and earthly state of existence in view rather than a future state of existence in heaven or elsewhere. That is, they were considering duration relative to human existence “under the sun” and not to human existence in a post-mortem state. It is in reference to a world in which ages come and go, and generations of people live and die, that olam is used. Understood in this way, the use of olam in the OT is not an argument for or against that which is “eternal” in the absolute sense of the word (such as God). While God’s existence was understood to have no beginning and no end, it is not this fact that the writers were emphasizing when they used the word olam in reference to him. Rather, they were emphasizing God’s continuous, faithful and personal involvement with humanity in all of the generations and ages of this temporal world, whether past, present or future. God’s existence and activity beyond the duration of mortal human existence on this earth was simply not in view.
6) As noted above, the Greek words used as the equivalents of the Hebrew word olam are aion (a noun) and aionios (the adjective form of the noun). In the NT, the Greek noun aion denotes an uninterrupted, indefinite period of time - or simply, an “age.” The Analytical Greek Lexicon defines aion as “a period of time of significant character; life; an era; an age.” In many cases the word refers to long, uninterrupted periods of time in redemptive history that span multiple generations. We are told that there was a time before the ages began (2 Tim 1:9; Tit 1:2), and that God created the ages by his word (Heb 1:2, 11:3). Hence, Paul calls God “the King of ages” (1 Tim 1:17), since he created and rules over them. When the NT was being written there were past ages (Rom 16:25; 1 Cor 2:7; 10:11; Eph 3:9; Col 1:26, Heb 9:26, etc.), a present age (Matt 12:32; 13:40; 24:3; 1 Cor 2:6-7; Gal 1:4), and future ages to follow the current age in which the authors of the NT were then living (Mk. 10:30; Mt. 12:32; 13:40; 24:3; Lk. 18:30; Eph 1:21; 2:7).
7) As the adjective form of the noun aion, the Greek word aionios means “belonging to an age or ages” or “enduring for an age or ages.” Hence it is rendered “age-abiding” in Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible, “age-during” in Young’s Literal Translation and “eonian” in the Concordant Literal New Testament. Just as “color” is to “colorful,” “length” is to “long,” and “day” is to “daily,” so aion is to aionios. And just as “daily” can never mean “yearly” (because its limit is defined by the noun “day” from which it is derived), so aionios can never refer to something other than an aion or “age.” Because aion is not used in Scripture to mean “eternity,” the adjective form of the word (aionios) is not used in Scripture to mean “eternal.” Only if the age to which the word aionios refers is endless in duration can the word possibly refer to a time of endless duration (but the endlessness of an age needs to be proved rather than merely assumed to be the case). Otherwise, the duration in view may be understood to be long and indefinite, but not absolutely without end.
8) The first definition of aionios provided by A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (edited by Frederick William Danker) is “pertaining to a long period of time.” In The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (edited by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan), the concluding definition for aionios is as follows: “In general, the word depicts that of which the horizon is not in view, whether the horizon be at an infinite distance, or whether it lies no farther than the span of a Caesar’s life.” In his Word Studies in the New Testament (Vol. IV) 19th century Bible scholar Marvin Vincent wrote, “The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective in themselves carries the sense of ‘endless’ or ‘everlasting.’ Aionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Out of the 150 instances in the LXX (Septuagint), four-fifths imply limited duration.”
9) As noted in the quote from Dr. Vincent above, the word aionios appears 150 times in the LXX (i.e., the Old Testament translated into Koine Greek). This ancient translation of the OT was in common use among the Jews in the 1st century, and sheds much light on how the authors of the NT would’ve most likely understood and employed the term aionios in their writings. As one of the words with which olam was translated, aionios was used in the LXX in reference to things that are relatively long-lasting but not strictly endless in duration. It refers to limited duration that was, at the time, considered past (Job 22:15; Ps 24:7; Ps 24:9; Ps 77:5; Pro 22:28; Pro 23:10; Isa 58:12; Isa 61:4; Isa 63:11; Jer 6:16; Jer 18:15; Eze 26:20; Eze 36:2; Hab 3:6) as well as to limited duration that was, at the time, considered future (Gen 17:7; Gen 17:8; Gen 17:13; Gen 17:19; Gen 48:4; Ex 12:14; Ex 12:17; Ex 27:21; Ex 28:43; Ex 29:28; Ex 30:21; Ex 31:16; Ex 31:17; Lev 6:18; Lev 6:22; Lev 7:34; Lev 7:36; Lev 10:9; Lev 10:15; Lev 16:29; Lev 16:31; Lev 16:34; Lev 17:7; Lev 23:14; Lev 23:21; Lev 23:31; Lev 23:41; Lev 24:3; Lev 24:8; Lev 24:9; Lev 25:34; Num 10:8; Num 15:15; Num 18:8; Num 18:11; Num 18:19; Num 18:23; Num 19:10; Num 19:21; Num 25:13; 1Ch 16:17; Job 3:18; Job 10:22; Job 21:11; Job 41:4; Ps 76:4; Ps 78:66; Ps 105:10; Isa 24:5; Isa 55:13; Isa 60:15; Jer 5:22; Jer 18:16; Jer 20:17; Jer 23:40; Jer 25:9; Jer 25:12; Jer 51:39; Eze 35:5; Eze 35:9; Jon 2:6; Mic 2:9).
10) Because aionios should most likely be understood to mean “belonging to an age (or ages)” or “age-lasting” in both the NT and the LXX, the Greek expression zoe aionios (commonly rendered “eternal life” or “everlasting life”) should best be understood to mean “age-lasting life” or “the life of the age.” A number of contemporary Christian theologians and scholars (such as J.I. Packer, C.H. Dodd, John Painter, George Eldon Ladd, N.T. Wright, John G. Stackhouse and Alan Richardson) acknowledge that zoe aionios should best be understood to mean “the life of the age.” See, e.g., C.H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the First Gospel, pp. 144-50; George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, pp. 290-292; J.I. Packer, “The Problem of Eternal Punishment,” Crux XXVI.3, September 1990, 23; “Evangelical Annihilationism in Review,” Reformation & Revival, Volume 6, Number 2 - Spring 1997; John Painter, 1, 2 and 3 John (Sacra Pagina), p. 195; Alan Richardson, An Introduction to the Theology of the New Testament, pp.73-74; John G. Stackhouse, Jr. “Jesus Christ,” The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology, p. 151; N.T. Wright, Romans, p. 530.
But if the “life” in view belongs to a certain “age” in redemptive history, what “age” is it?
11) The “age” to which “the life of the age” pertains is that which Christ, Paul and the author of Hebrews referred to as the “age to come” (Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:29-31; Luke 18:29-30; Eph 1:21; Heb 6:5) - i.e., the age which was to follow the one in which these men were living when the NT was being written. This age refers to the period of time during which the Messiah would reign (Mark 10:29-31; Luke 18:29-30; Matthew 19:28-30; Luke 22:29-30; Eph 1:20-21). The Holman Christian Standard Bible (a modern evangelical translation) renders the expression “in the regeneration” (found in Matt 19:28, NKJV) as “in the Messianic Age.” The NET Bible reads, “In the age when all things are renewed,” and says in a footnote, “The Greek term translated the age when all things are renewed (παλιγγενεσία, palingenesia) is understood as a reference to the Messianic age, the time when all things are renewed and restored.”
12) The expressions “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven” which are found in the NT (e.g., Mt. 4:17; Mk 1:14) are derived from the book of Daniel. In Daniel 2:44, we read, “And in the days of those kings * the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever olam]…” That this kingdom refers to the kingdom which the Messiah would receive from God is evident from Daniel 7:13-14. The Messianic kingdom is called “the kingdom of God” or “the kingdom of heaven” because (in accordance with Daniel’s prophecy) it is a kingdom set up by “the God of heaven.” It is also referred to as the kingdom of Christ, or the kingdom of God’s Son (Eph 5:5; Col 1:13). The apostle Peter referred to the Messianic kingdom as “the age-abiding kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:11, Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible).
13) Entering/inheriting the “kingdom of God” (the Messianic kingdom) and entering/inheriting the “life of the age” were understood by Christ to be equivalent blessings, and were spoken of interchangeably by him (Matt 19:16-17, 23-24; 25:34, 46; Mark 9:45-47; 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30; John 3:3, 5, 15). The “life of the age” thus belongs to the same duration of time as the Messianic reign. As the blessing which pertains to the time of the Messianic reign, the “life of the age” is available to, and can be enjoyed by, people on earth for as long as the Messianic reign continues.
14) In **1 Cor 15:24-28 **(cf. Ps. 110:1) it is revealed that Christ’s reign is not of endless duration. Rather, Christ is said to reign “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” The word “until” indicates that the placing of Christ’s enemies under his feet is the goal of his reign; when this goal is reached, there will no longer be any need for Christ to continue reigning. After Christ has abolished death (the “last enemy”) and subjected all people to himself he will then deliver the kingdom back to the one from whom he originally received it (1 Cor 15:24; cf. Dan 7:13-14). Paul calls the time when Christ delivers the kingdom back to God “the end” - i.e., the consummation of the Messianic reign, when Christ fully accomplishes the redemptive purpose for which God gave him “all authority in heaven and on earth.” While Christ will reign for as long as enemies remain to be subdued or destroyed, a never-ending reign would mean a failure to do what God sent and empowered his Son to do.
15) That the Messiah’s reign is not endless may also be inferred from the fact that it was spoken of as being coextensive with the duration of the sun and the moon (Ps 72:5, 7, 17; 89:36-37). But neither the sun nor the moon were understood to be of endless duration, for in **Psalm 102:25-27 **we read that the heavens will ultimately “perish,” “wear out like a garment” and “pass away.” Concerning Psalm 72:5, 19th century Presbyterian theologian Albert Barnes wrote in his commentary:
16) It may be objected that, in Luke 1:32-33, the angel Gabriel declared to Mary, “And the Lord God will give him [Jesus] the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But the expression rendered “forever” in the above translation is eis tous aionas. As noted earlier, the word aionas is simply the plural form of the word aion. The expression literally means “to the ages,” and likely denotes the final ages of this world or of redemptive history. But what about the words, “and of his kingdom there will be no end?” We cannot understand this to mean that Christ will never cease to reign or that he will never deliver the kingdom to God, for that would contradict Paul’s words in 1 Cor 15:24-28. What then did Gabriel mean? In The New Covenant (Volume I) 19th century Universalist writer J.W. Hanson argues that the expression “no end” is “to be understood rhetorically, figuratively, as the equivalent of ‘ages.’” While this is certainly possible, it’s also possible that to say a kingdom was going to “end” would’ve been understood by Mary to mean it was going to be “destroyed” or “left to another people” (for that is what was implied when a king’s reign ended). As prophesied in Daniel 2:44, the Messianic kingdom was going to “break into pieces” the kingdoms of this world and “bring them to an end” (here, a kingdom’s being brought to an “end” implied its being destroyed by another kingdom). Thus, the idea that Gabriel may have been conveying to Mary was that the kingdom that God was going to give to Jesus would not be destroyed by another kingdom or left to another people; in this sense it would “have no end.” Christ’s reign is instead going to continue until he has subjected all people to himself, and then he is going to freely deliver the kingdom back to God so that God may be “all in all.”
17) If, as argued above, the age of the Messianic reign is of limited duration (having both a commencement and a conclusion), the “life of the age” (which is inseparable from the duration of the Messianic reign) necessarily pertains to a limited duration of time as well. As wonderful a blessing as the life of the age is, it does not have any reference to the time following the Messianic reign when Christ delivers the kingdom to God, and thus does not pertain to anyone’s final destiny. When all of Christ’s enemies are put under his feet and the Messianic reign comes to an end, the “life of the age” will be replaced by an even greater blessing.
18) Christ differentiates the “life of the age” from the blessing of being raised up by him on the “last day” (John 6:40). In contrast to the life of the age (which can only be enjoyed by believers), being raised up by Christ on the last day is a blessing that embraces all people: “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:39). Elsewhere we learn that all people have been given to Christ by God (John 3:35; 13:3; Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22), that Christ is “the firstborn of all creation” (Col 1:15) and thus the inheritor of “all things” (Heb 1:2 cf. Psalm 2:8), and that Christ is “Lord” (i.e., he has absolute ownership rights) of all people, both dead and living (Acts 10:36; Rom 14:9; 1 Cor. 11:3). It is further revealed by Paul that all who die in Adam will be made alive in Christ (1 Cor. 15:22; Acts 24:15) and will thus bear Christ’s heavenly image (1 Cor. 15:42-49). If anyone dying in Adam is not going to be raised up by Christ on the last day, then it will mean that they have been “lost” by him. But since all are to be made alive in Christ on the last day, it necessarily follows that none will be lost by him.
19) Our salvation during the age of the Messianic reign is conditioned on a living faith in Christ, and according to Hebrews 11:1, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith can only be exercised - and is thus only conditional to our salvation - while the things that are “hoped for” have not yet been realized. One of the primary things “hoped for” by the believer is the resurrection of the dead (Acts 24:15; Rom. 8:20-25; 1 Pet 1:3-4; 1 Jn. 3:2-3). When Christ returns from heaven to bestow immortality upon the human race and take us to heaven (Acts 1:11; John 14:1-3; 1 Cor 15:21-28, 50-56; 1 Thess 4:13-18) the faith by which we presently “walk” as mortal beings will be replaced by sight (2 Cor 5:6-8). When faith has been replaced by sight, it will no longer be that on which salvation will depend. That is, when we have been saved by Jesus from everything from which we need to be saved (and thus made fit for heaven), the faith by which believers are saved from their sins and attain a right relationship with God in this life will no longer be necessary or possible to exercise, for our hopes (which are based on the promises of God) will have been fully realized. While at present “we see in a mirror dimly” and “know in part,” Paul tells us that we will one day see “face to face” and “shall know fully,” even as we “have been fully known” (1 Cor 13:12).
20) So is there hope for those who die without believing on Christ? I believe there is! Christ is still the Lord of those who die in unbelief, and they are still part of his rightful inheritance. Because Jesus Christ is Lord of all, we can be confident that all people - even those who “perish” and are “lost” during the age of the Messianic reign - will ultimately be saved and reconciled to God when Christ accomplishes the redemptive purpose for which he was sent by God (Luke 19:10; John 12:32; Acts 3:21; Rom 5:12-19; 8:19-22; 11:25-36; Eph 1:7-10; Phil 2:9-11; 3:21; Col 1:15-20; 1 Tim 2:1-7; 4:10; Titus 2:11; Heb 1:2; 2:8-9, 14-15; 1 John 3:8; 4:14). All people will ultimately be subjected to Christ, which means that every darkened and rebellious heart will ultimately be transformed, and all hostility toward God will finally cease. And when all people have been made immortal, holy subjects of God’s kingdom (and thus fit for heaven), we are told that Christ will then deliver the kingdom back to God so that God may be “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).*
) St. Paul testifies to a time to come when the Son will submit Himself and give up His kingdom to the Father in a fashion somehow different and somehow more complete than He is already (and has already been, and up to that point will have already been) doing.