The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-08-24


Scripture has been to many thous-
ands of good Christian souls! What
anguish it has caused; what doubts
of Gods goodness; what terror of
death; what shrinking from the fu-
ture life! On the walls of the Sistine
Chapel, Michael Angelo painted his
titanic conception of what this text
had been commonly considered to
mean; and on the walls of unnum
bered human souls, in the inner
chambers thereof, that conception has
been reproduced in colors of mingled
blood and fire,-Jesus sitting on an
actual throne in the clouds, with
look of thunder on his brow, while
from their opening graves all the
dead are emerging, and some are
being borne by angels to a place at
Christ's right hand in heaven, while
others are being seized and dragged
struggling by devils, who thrust
them into the jaws of fiery cavern,
supposed to be the mouth of hell.
What misery, what trembling, what
horror, what insanity, that concep-
ton of the meaning of this text has
| occasioned,- and all on account of
misunderstanding!
For Jesus never said, "These shall
go away into everlasting punish
ment." He never used any words
which have that meaning. The origi-
nal word which in our version is trans
lated everlasting" and "eternal,"
does not mean everlasting or eternal.
| 1t is the Greek word oio1aios for which
the English language has no exact
equivalent. 1t is an adjective formed
from the word aiom, whose meaning
has been already explained. If odon
meant world, then oionaos would
mean worldly. But aion, as we have
seen, means an age, or an era, and so
the literal meaning Of aionios is ere
lating to an age" Anything which
especially relates to an oion, is prop
erly described by aionios; and mas
much as the English language has at
present no word with precisely the
same meaning as the Greek word
aionios, it would be we'll if dionion
were Anglicized for the purpose, and
always used where aionios occurs in
the Bible. That it does not mean
everlasting is easily provable not
only from it's derivation, but from its
use by Greek writer's for hundreds of
years, both before and after the be-
ginning OF the Christian era.
The first instance in which it is
found in Greek literature is in the
writings of Plato, who is supposed
to have coined it. Plato lived about
400 years before Christ, and the word
aionios is found five times in his writ
ings. 1t is invariably used in rela-
ton to temporal things, and in one
instance is offset by word which
means indestructible. Certain things
are said to be indestructible and not
aionian. When Plato wished to ex-
press the idea of eternity, he used
other words, especially aidaos which
is the classic word for everlasting.
There is not a single instance in the
Greek classic where aionios express
es the idea of eternity. From Plato
to the time of Christ, not one such
can be quoted.
Josephus, the celebrated Jewish
historian, was born in the 37th year
of the Christian era. He wrote in
Greek, and was familiar of course
with the meaning of the words which
prevailed at that time; and he made
the same distinction between aionios
and aidios which is found in the
classics. In his writings which have
come down to us, the word aio1aios is
applied to the imprisonment of man
upon earth, and to the worship in
the Jewish temple, though in the
same sentence the temple is said to
have been destroyed. Philo, who
was contemporary with Christ, used
the identical words which are rem
dered everlasting punishment" in
our Authorized Version, viz, Kolasis
aionios, and applied them to the
punishment which powerful people
infict in this world upon weaker ones
who excite their enmity.
Herodian, who lived 200 years after
Christ, called the Greek games aion-
ian.
And when we turn to the writings
of those who are called the Church
Fathers, we find the word used in
the same kind of way. Origen, for
instance, the most learned of all of
them, and the most famous teacher
of his time, was pronounced Uni
Il L e.