Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 37:146 (Apr 1880)
Article: The Duration Of Future Punishment
Author: Ezra P. Gould

BSac 37:146 (April 1880) p. 221

The Duration Of Future Punishment

Rev. Ezra P. Gould

The question as to the duration of future punishment must be decided, first, by the meaning of words. This is the first, and also the most prominent, part of the discussion, not only because interpretation is at the basis of theology, but because this has been the point selected for attack on the doctrine of eternal punishment. The attacks have been made by believers in the Bible, and they have addressed believers, and the starting-point has therefore been the Scriptures. The ground taken by them has been that the words αἰῶν and αἰώνιος do not necessarily mean eternity and eternal. There is no question that these terms are applied to the punishment of unbelievers; and the only chance, therefore, for those who oppose the doctrine is to throw doubt on their accepted meaning. What we are to substitute for eternity or eternal they do not tell us, being themselves somewhat in doubt — whether age-long, belonging to the age, or simply aeonian. The latter seems to be preferred by some of them, as it leaves the question in that admirably unsettled state which they think so desirable as the attitude of Scripture toward such a subject. All that concerns them is to show that the idea of eternity as an endless period is not necessarily involved.

Starting, then, with the ordinary Greek use of the word αἰῶν, we find that it means primarily the lifetime of an individual, corresponding in this to the secondary meaning of the Latin aevum, with which it is etymologically connected; then any period in the lifetime, such as youth or old age; and then an age or generation. These meanings all belong

BSac 37:146 (April 1880) p. 222

together, as referring in some way to the lifetime of man, and are largely poetic. It is also noticeable that they are used mostly in reference to the period in which anything occurs, instead of the space of time which it occupies. For its second general meaning, belonging mostly to prose, instead of poetry, the word signifies eternity, corresponding in this to the primary meaning of aevum. And in this sense it denotes generally the duration, not the temporal location, of an event, in such phrases as τὸν αἰῶνα, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, δι᾿αἰῶνος, etc. Thirdly, we have the meaning age or era, which is very rare, if it is found even, outside of the New Testament.

In regard to the adjective αἰώνιος, it is to be noticed, in the first place, that it always ...