ETC

 

Many use the below passage upon which to base their brimstoned belief that all those who displease God suffer ECT (Eternal Conscious Torture) in the fiery flames of the Lord’s wrath. 

This poor view of God is upgraded with one simple insight— God’s punishments are remedial and NOT retributive: He seeks to ultimately cure us, not eternally torture us. 

 

Here is the passage on which many infernalists stand (or stumble):

“And these will go away into ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, but the righteous into ETERNAL LIFE." - Matthew 25:46

“Aionios” is the same Greek word translated above as the word “eternal” used in both phrases (“eternal life” and “eternal punishment”), but the contextual referent of each phrase is different. Aionios, by itself, can either mean “eternal” or “for a seasonal and unknown age,” depending of course on what is the attending referent.

“Eternal life” (Greek “zoe aionios”) is “eternal life without end” because it is REFERRING to the postmortem reward of resurrection life IN God, a place where the intertextuality of other New Testament passages assures us “death” will be finally defeated and fully evicted from all being. 

 

Conversely, “rehabilitation age” (which I propose as a better translation than “eternal punishment”) is from the Greek “kolasis aionios” and cannot coherently be translated “never ending” since it is REFERRING to “kolasis” which carries with it the idea “curative rehabilitation” administered BY God. The omnipotent divine will has to achieve its intended end at some point. Simply put, God “will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4. 

 

So, again, I think the better translation of God’s “aionios kolasis” is “rehabilitation age” (rather than “eternal punishment”) because God’s punishments are always curative, which mandates that they are necessarily only for a season. So, the term “never-ending rehabilitation” would be a bit of an oxymoron as it would mandate that God can’t ever fully succeed in restoring us to a pristine spiritual state). 

 

To review, the Greek word “aionios,” which is sometimes translated as “everlasting” in Scripture (as in “everlasting punishment”), does NOT in fact always mean “unending or everlasting in quantity of time.” Rather, “Aionios” frequently speaks to an “indeterminate age set by God alone”–William Barclay. The word refers to a certain quality (not quantity) of being – – whether it be “aionios life” or “aionios remedial-punishment.”

Aionios is always qualified by what it is describing.

 

For instance, the word “great,” when applied to a merciful “sentence” imposed by a kind-hearted judge, might refer to a small amount of time in jail. Conversely, “great,” when applied to an atrocious crime, for which the judge “throws the book” at the defendant, might refer to a “life-sentence” in jail. Thus, a great sentence might be mercifully light or wrathfully heavy DEPENDING on the specific context.

 

Similarly, the nature and quality of aionios, applied to the life of God, is entirely different than when it is applied to the chastening or punishment of God. “GREAT life” in God is certainly unending, since death will have been completely defeated, but the unending length is not the primary essence of that “GREAT life.” Rather, the limitless quality of love and peace which come from being totally at one with the Lord is the key aspect of this “GREAT life.”

On the other hand, “GREAT punishment” by God will not be unending since He punishes to correct and rehabilitate and He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Pet. 3:9. 

 

What’s “great” about God’s punishments, in other words, is that they restore and rehabilitate.

 

Life in God is not everlasting because it is aionios, but rather aionios is everlasting because it is referring to life in God. Conversely, aionios punishment is not temporary because aionios means temporary, but rather aionios is temporary in this context since God’s chastening is curative and incapable of being eternally resisted. “For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a life-time: Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy ‘cometh’ in the morning.” Psalm 30:5.

 

Aionios then, by itself, means an “indeterminate age,” not an “unending age.” Only the context of the passage provides guidance as to the actual quality and duration of the age. It can mean “unending” only if the theological context of the term throughout Scripture calls for it. It does call for it when referring to “aionios life” (as “death” will have been abolished), BUT but it doesn’t call for it when referring to “aionios punishment” as God’s punishments are always curative. 

 

The Greek "kolasis" is the only word in the Gospels for "punishment" with regard to God punishing evildoers. Aristotle, who knew Greek word meanings better than anybody who ever walked the planet, said that "kolasis" is the kind of punishment which "is inflicted in the interest of the sufferer," which means it is for the betterment or improvement of the person being punished. This is contrasted with "timoria," which Aristotle said is the kind of punishment which is "inflicted in the interest of him who inflicts it, that he may obtain satisfaction." (Rhet. 1369b13).

The Gospels reveal a God who never punishes to gratify Himself, but rather punishes to heal and help the evildoers improve and be restored. William Barclay, who was professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at Glasgow University and the author of many Christian commentaries and books, including a translation of the New Testament and the very popular Daily Study Bible Series, traces the word "kolasis" back, through Plato, to an original term used to describe the pruning of trees back to allow fuller and healthier growth. Revenge motives are "timoria," and only gratify the lust for an eye for an eye payback. But "kolasis" motives are always looking for a way to restore and repair that which is lost and broken. 

 

1 Corinthians 3:15 explains God's "wise fire," where the man whose life is NOT built on Christ WILL nonetheless "be saved," even though he himself "suffers loss, yet so as by FIRE.”

 

God’s restorative nature fits this above-described process like a glory glove.

 Richard Murray