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WHAT IS REALITY? REALITY = SPACE + TIME + MATTER TIME = PAST + PRESENT + FUTURE
The past century of biblical studies has been marked by the increasing importance of the historical-critical approach and method. This means that the student seeking revealed truth must endeavor to gain knowledge of the background of circumstances, customs, beliefs and aspirations of the inspired writer and his contemporary readers. In recent years much fresh light has been thrown on the biblical records by archaeological discoveries and scientific research into the languages, cultures, religions and general environments of the Semitic peoples, about whom, among whom, and to whom the O.T. (and much of the N.T.) was written; yet it is still difficult to gain release from the process of reading the scriptures with a predetermined background of inherited Greek philosophy, medieval dogma, and youthful indoctrination. This is particularly true regarding the biblical concept of time
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This article deals with one of the leading mistranslations of the Greek New Testament into English. Most leading selling English Bible translations contain this error. Some of the Bibles that contain this great error are: the King James Version, the New International Version, the New American Standard Bible, the New Revised Standard Version, the Living Translation, the Amplified Bible, all Catholic versions as well as many others. This article serves only as an introduction to this most important topic. [More] ______________________________________________________________________
Since God tells us that He has a definitely fixed purpose, and that all His purposes shall be accomplished, it behooves us, as His children, to inquire diligently what those plans are, that we may be found in harmony with them. Notice how emphatically the Lord affirms the fixedness of His purpose: "The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand." "The Lord of hosts has purposed, and who shall disannul it?" "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me... My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure ... Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isa. 14:24-27; 46:9-11). Therefore, however haphazard or mysterious God's dealings with men may appear, those who believe this testimony of His Word must acknowledge that His original and unalterable plan has been, and still is, progressing systematically to completion. [MORE]
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THE inspired Scriptures never speak of eternity. They describe nothing as eternal. They contain no term which in itself bears our time sense of everlasting. As eternity is not a subject of revelation, our present object is to discover how and when this unscriptural term gained entrance into theology, with most disastrous results. As this is really a historical investigation, it will be necessary to allude to a considerable number of historical events, and to quote from a number of by-gone translators and their versions. It is hoped that such a study, along with an examination of various primitive words dealing with time, will dispel any doubts in the minds of those who do not feel thoroughly assured regarding the use of the word eonian in place of eternal. It may be stated, without fear of contradiction, that the more one explores into the early centuries of Christendom, the clearer does it become that a corrupt theology was alone responsible for displacing the teaching regarding the eons by a dogma respecting "eternity." [More]
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AGE BY
CHARLES WELCH
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Let us next consider the true meaning of the words "aion" and aionios.*1 These are the originals of the terms rendered by our translators "everlasting," "for ever and ever:" and on this translations, so misleading, a vast portion of the popular dogma of endless torment is built up. I say, without hesitation, misleading and incorrect; for aion means "an age," a limited period, whether long or short, though often of indefinite length; and the adjective aionios means "of the age," "age-long," "aeonian," and never "everlasting" (of its own proper force), it is true that it may be applied as an epithet to things that rae endless, but the idea of endlessness in all such cases comes not from the epithet, but only because it is inherent in the object to which the epithet is applied, as in the case of God. Much has been written on the import of the aeonian (eternal) life. [More]
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