Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) - William West (top ten ebook reader .TXT) 📗

6:22; Galatians 6:8; Titus 1:2].
Christ was speaking of life after the judgment when He said, "and in the age to come."
Paul speaking to those in the Christian Age, those that were saved by grace when he say,
“THAT IN THE AGES (aions) TO COME (ages to come after the Christian Age) he
422
might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”
[Ephesians 2:6-7].
There may be no way we can know, but it is possible that there was a time before God
made anything, where there was just God, was one age. Then after He made Heaven and
all was perfect was another age. After Satan and other angels sinned was another age, and
things we know nothing about could be the beginning and ending of ages. There is no
way we can know something God has not revealed to us, and it is unreasonable to think
that we with our limited knowledge could know even the hem of the garment when it
comes to knowing what an infinite God has done before He made this world and will do
throughout all eternity. "Unto the ages of the ages" may mean that eternity after the
judgment will have "ages." God does not change, but there is no reason to believe that
after the judgment He will just sit and do nothing that could be the end of one age and the
beginning of another. In all of time we know anything about, God has used ages that had
begins and ends, and there is no reason to believe He cannot or will not always use them.
There is no man in Heaven now but the saved will be in Heaven after the judgment; when
all the saved of mankind are in Heaven will that not be one change from what Heaven is
now, maybe the beginning of a new age? And there could be others changes later that
would be the beginning and ending of ages. I do not believe He is a sleeping God who
woke up one day and made the world in six days and went back to sleep. What He has
done and will do throughout eternity is beyond my imagination and as He has not
revealed it, no one can know, but eternity is a long time and it is not reasonable to believe
He is now sleeping and will not frequently do many things as great or greater than
making the earth; things that will be the beginning of an endless number of new ages.
Angels are not self-existing being as God is, they were created by God; therefore, their
creation may have been the beginning of an age in Heaven. Heaven itself was created;
only God is self-existing, unchanging and without a beginning, not created things. All the
things that God created that we know about and all the beings, angels and mankind, were
not created at the same time there is no reason to believe that God will not go on creating
both new things and new beings.
PAST AGES, A PRESENT AGE, FUTURE AGES: If, as many teach, "aion" did
means "forever" or "eternity" then there would be past eternities, present eternities, and
future eternities to come, both singular and plural.
SINGULAR
• A PAST AGE, NOT A PAST ETERNITY [singular] Acts 15:18 "From the
beginning of the aion" Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26; Luke 1:55.
• A PRESENT AGE, NOT A PRESENT ETERNITY [singular] Galatians 1:4
"From this present evil aion" Matthew 12:32; 13:22; 13:39; 13:40; 24:3; 28:20;
Mark 4:19; Luke 1:70; Luke 16:8; 20:34; John 9:32; Acts 3:21; 15:18; Romans
12:2; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 2:8; 3:18; 8:13; 10:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 1:4;
Ephesians 1:21; 2:2; 6:12; 1 Timothy 7:17; 2 Timothy 4:10. The present aion
(age) is clearly distinguished from a past aion or a future aion, not a past or future
eternality.
• A FUTURE AGE, NOT A FUTURE ETERNITY [singular] Luke 20:35
"Worthy to obtain that aion." Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30 "In the aion to come."
Luke 18:30; 20:35; Ephesians 1:21; 2:7; Hebrews 6:5.
423
PLURAL Of the one hundred twenty four times aion is used in the New Testament sixty
six are in the plural, more than one age, not more than one eternality and in twenty one
others that there is more than one age, the plural is implied by “this aion” or “that aion,”
this age or that age, not this or that eternality.
• PAST AGES, NOT PAST ETERNITIES [plural] Colossians 1:26 "Hid from
aions" Luke 1:33; Hebrews 1:2; 11:3.
• PRESENT AGES, NOT PRESENT ETERNITIES [plural] Hebrews 1:2 "By
whom also he made the aions" Romans 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 16:27; 2 Corinthians
11:31; Hebrews 13:8.
• FUTURE AGES, NOT FUTURE ETERNITIES [plural] Galatians 1:5;
Philippians 4:20; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews 13:21; 1 Peter 4:11;
5:11; Revelation 1:6; 1:18; 4:9; 4:10; 5:13; 5:14; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7;
19:3; 20:10; 22:5. It may be that what we think of as eternality as being one
endless time period will be an infinite number of aions (ages).
• PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE AGES, not past, present and future eternities.
"Throughout all ages" Ephesians 3:21 King James Version.
Singular/singular – age of the age (aiona tou aionos) Hebrews 1:8
Singular/plural – age of the ages (aionos ton aionon) Ephesians 3:21
Plural/plural – ages of the ages (aionas ton aionon) Revelation 20:10, 1 Peter 4:11
In the Bible there are:
1. Aion [age] in the SINGULAR.
2. Aions [ages] in the PLURAL
3. Aions [ages] in the PAST.
4. Aion [age] in the PRESENT.
5. An aion [age] TO COME.
6. Aions [ages] TO COME.
7. The ENDS of the aions [ages].
The Greek is "unto the aions of the aions." It is not "ever + ever," not one "ever"
added to another "ever" as in the King James Version. It is ages that last UNTO, not a
plural of eternities which none can end. "Forever and ever" is a contradiction of itself.
There cannot be more than one infinite eternity. Not more than one forever. There cannot
be eternities after eternities. An age will fit into eternity, but eternity will not fit into an
age. It is infinitely bigger. Neither can one eternity fit into another eternity, or two
eternities exist at the same time. Neither can one eternity come after the end of another
eternity.
“For ever (aionas) AND (ton) ever (aionon)” [Revelation 4:11]. Both Greek words
are in the plural, “ever” that is used in the King James Version is singular; there is no
plural of “ever” in English; it cannot be translated “for everS and everS.” The “and”
between the two everS is from “ton” and never means “and” in the Greek. “For ever and
ever” totally changes what the Greek says.
"Ages" long periods of time followed by more long periods of time might have been
the nearest concept the early Hebrew people had to "eternity" as we understand the word
"eternity" today. CAN "OLAM" OR "AION" EVER MEAN ETERNAL AS THE
WORD IS USED TODAY? Endless is not inherent in either of the two words and in over
90% of the times they are used it is unquestionably that they mean a limited time - a time
that has ended or will end. When they are applied to God [as in Exodus 3:15; Genesis
424
21:33] and things that are intrinsically endless, some say it takes on a meaning not
inherent in the word itself but from the thing that is endless, but it is more likely that God
was speaking to them using the only words that they would understand, words with
nearest concept the early Hebrew people had to an eternity without beginning or end. The
concept we have of eternity was is not in the Old Testament and may not have came
about unto after the New Testament.
Marvin R. Vincent, "Word Studies In The New Testament" Note On Olethron Aionion (eternal
destruction). "The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a
period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying
expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting.
To deduce that meaning from its relation to aei is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the
meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, aei does not signify endless duration.
When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always (aei) liars
(Tit. 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts
7:51; 2 Cor. 4:11; 6:10; Heb 3:10; 1 Pet. 3:15. Aei means habitually or continually within the limit
of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. 'The boy is
everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.' In the New Testament the history of the world
is conceived as developed through a succession of aeons. A series of such aeons precedes the
introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world
and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. Eph. 1:21; 2:7;
3:9,21; 1 Cor 10:11; compare Heb. 9:26. He includes the series of aeons in one great aeon, 'o aion
ton aionon, the aeon of the aeons (Eph. 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews
describe the throne of God as enduring unto the aeon of the aeons (Heb 1:8). The plural is also
used, aeons of the aeons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of
the ages collectively. Rom. 16:27; Gal. 1:5; Philip. 4:20, etc."
AIONIOS the adjective of aion is used 71 times in the New Testament and in the King
James Version is translated (1) age, (2) eternal, (3) for ever and ever, (4) course, (5) for
ever, (6) evermore, (7) everlasting, (8) world, (9) beginning of the world, (10) world
began, (11) world without end.
FOREVER - UNTO THE AGES
[A] "Unto the ages" eiv touv aiwnav Wigram ("The Englishman's Greek
Concordance" Page 19), Footnote in American Standard Version "Gr. unto the ages."
Alfred Marshall in "Parallel New Testament In Greek And English" translates eiv touv
aiwnav "unto the ages."
1. Luke 1:33 "Over the house of Jacob FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the ages)."
2. Romans 1:25 "Who is blessed FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the ages)."
3. Romans 9:5 "God blessed FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the ages)."
4. Romans 11:36 "To whom be glory FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav unto the ages)."
5. Romans 16:27 "Through Jesus Christ FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav unto the
ages)."
6. 2 Corinthians 11:31 "Which is blessed FOR EVERMORE (eiv touv aiwnav unto
the ages)."
7. Hebrews 13:8 "Yesterday, and to day, and FOR EVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the
ages)."
[B] "Unto the ages of [the] ages" eiv touv aiwnav twn aiwnwn is used twenty-one
times in the New Testament, seventeen times it is applied to God or Christ, one time to
425
Satan, one time to worshipers of the beast, one time to the great harlot, and one time to
those who are in the book of life.
• Alfred Marshall translates it "Unto the ages of the ages," "Parallel New
Testament In Greek And English" Page 747. "To whom [be] the glory unto the
ages of the ages. Amen" Galatians 1:5.
• Adam Clarke translates it "To the ages of ages."
• Robert Young translates it "To the ages of [the] ages." Young's Analytical
Concordance to the Bible, Page 310, and in "Young's Literal Translation."
• Ashley S. Johnson “Ages of ages, or ages upon ages” Founder and president of
the Johnson Bible College.
• Jamieson, Fausset and Brown "Unto ages of ages."
• The Amplified Bible "Through all the ages of