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[This is an unfinished reply by L. Ray Smith to the Tekonics web site] Over the years I've had frequent requests
to answer the many accusations against my ministry and teachings by a certain James Patrick Holding, a.k.a. Robert Terkel host of TEKTONICS. Mr. Terkel refers to me as: "Just another nut in the fruitcake." "An article from Tektonics Apologetics Ministries refuting L. Ray Smith's position that there is no "eternal torment". Ray is an annihilationist, universalist, denies the trinity and is a moron. If he does not repent, he will find out that there is a hell. " Well, let's see how credible the arguments of this scholastic genius really are.
Okay then, for all of you who have only heard the first case presented against my teachings, I the associate, will now come and put this guy to the test.
Mr. Terkel's comments will be in blue. [1] The New Testament in Modern Speech, by Dr. R. F. Weymouth: Eternal: Greek: "aeonion," i.e., "of the ages." Etymologically this adjective, like others similarly formed, does not signify "during," but "belong to" the aeons or ages." Bibliography: Richard Francis Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech: an Idiomatic Translation into Everyday English from the Text of 'The Resultant Greek Testament' by the Late Richard Francis Weymouth, London: James Clarke and Co., 1903. Weymouth was the first to receive the degree of doctor of literature at London University, after a severe examination in Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic, and French and English language and literature... On textual criticism of the Greek Testament Weymouth spent many years' study. The latest results of critical research he codified in 'Resultant Greek Testament, exhibiting the text in which the majority of modern editors are agreed. [2] The Interpreter's Dictionry of the Bible (vol. IV, p. 643): Time: The O.T. and the N.T. are not acquainted with the conception of eternity as timelessness. The O.T. has not developed a special term for "eternity." The word aion originally meant "vital force," "life," then "age," "lifetime." Bibliography: Five volumes (sells for $300-$400). Keith R. Crim is Author of Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions and The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Coauthor of The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions. [3] Elliot's Commentary on the Whole Bible (Matt. 25:46(. Everlasting punishment--life eternal. The two adjectives represent the same Greek word, aionios-it must be admitted that the Greek word which is rendered "eternal" does not, in itself, involve endlessness, but rather, duration, whether through an age or succession of ages, and that it is therefore applied in the N.T. to periods of time that have had both a beginning and ending (Rom. 16:25). Elliot's Commentary on the Whole Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub-lishing House, 1959 [4] Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament (Vol. I, p. 542, art. Christ and the Gospels): Eternity. There is no word either in the O.T. Hebrew or the N.T. Greek to express the abstract idea of eternity. (Vol. III, p. 369): Eternal, everlasting-nonetheless "eternal" is misleading, inasmuch as it has come in the English to connote the idea of "endlessly existing," and thus to be practically a synonym for "everlasting." But this is not an adequate rendering of aionios which varies in meaning with the variations of the noun aion from which it comes. (p. 370): The chronoios aioniois moreover, are not to be thought of as stretching backward everlastingly, as it is proved by the pro chronon aionion of II Tim. 1:9; Titus. 1:2. (Note: pro chronon aionion means "BEFORE times eonian." Since this Scripture tells us that there was time "before" eonian, eionian cannot possibly mean eternal, for nothing can be "before" eternity.) [5] The large Catholic Bible dictionary, The Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible (p. 693): ETERNITY: The Bible hardly speaks of eternity in the philosophical sense of infinite duration without beginning or end. The Hebrew word olam, which is used alone (Ps. 61:8; etc.) or with various prepositions (Gen. 3:22; etc.) in contexts where it is traditionally translated as 'forever,' means in itself no more than 'for an indefinitely long period." Thus me olam does not mean 'from eternity' but 'of old' Gen. 6:4; etc.). In the N.T. aion is used as the equivalent of olam. [6] Dr. R. F. Weymouth, a translator who was adept in Greek, states in The New Testament in Modern Speech (p. 657), Eternal, Greek aeonion, i.e., of the ages: Etymologically this adjective, like others similarly formed does not signify, "during" but "belonging to" the aeons or ages. Bibliography: Given above. [7] Dr. Marvin Vincent, Word Studies of the New Testament (Vol. IV, p. 59). The adjective aionios in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective in themselves carries the sense of "endless" or "everlasting.' Anionios means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Bibliography: Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature in Union Theological Seminary New York. [8] Dr. F. W. Farrar, author of The Life of Christ and The Life and Word of St. Paul, as well as books about Greek grammar and syntax, writes in The Eternal Hope (p. 198), "That the adjective is applied to some things which are 'endless' does not, of course, for one moment prove that the word itself meant 'endless;' and to introduce this rendering into many passages would be utterly impossible and absurd." Bibiogaphy: Dr. Farrar was educated at King William's College on the Isle of Man, King's College London and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] At Cambridge he won the Chancellor's Gold Medal for poetry in 1852.[2] He was for some years a master at Harrow School and, from 1871-1876, the headmaster of Marlborough College. Farrar became successively a canon of Westminster and rector of St Margaret's, Westminster (the church near Big Ben), archdeacon of Westminster Abbey and the Dean of Canterbury. He was an eloquent preacher and a voluminous author. [9] In Dr. Farrar's book, Mercy and Judgment, (p. 378), "Since aion meant 'age,' aionios means, properly, 'belonging to an age,' or 'age-long,' and anyone who asserts that it must mean 'endless' defends a position which even Augustine practically abandoned twelve centuries ago. Even if aion always meant 'eternity,' which is not the case in classic or Hellenistic Greek-aionios could still mean only 'belonging to eternity' and not 'lasting through it." Bibliography: See above. [10] The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, (Vol. 4, p. 641), "The O.T. and the N.T. are not acquainted with the concept of eternity as timelessness." Page 655: "The O.T. has not developed a special term for eternity." Page 645: "The use of the word aion in the N.T. is determined very much by the O.T. and the LXX. Aion means long, distant, uninterrupted time. The intensifying plural occurs frequently in the N.T. but it adds no new meaning." Bibliography: This five volume work contains 8,400 articles written by 900 scholars from forty different countries. The general editor is Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, Professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ. According to Professor Sakenfeld, the purpose of this work is to provide "scholarship in the service of the church." [11] Dr. Edward Plumptre, an eschatologist, "I fail to find, as is used by the Greek Fathers, any instance in which the idea of time duration is unlimited." [12] Time and Eternity by G. T. Stevenson, (p. 63), "Since, as we have seen, the noun aion refers to a period of time it appears, very improbable that the derived adjective aionios would indicate infinite duration, nor have we found any evidence in Greek writing to show that such a concept was expressed by this term." [13] Professor Herman Oldhausen, German Lutheran theologian, "The Bible has no expression for endlessness. All the Biblical terms imply or denote long periods." [14] Professor Knappe of Halle wrote, "The Hebrew was destitute of any single word to express endless duration. The pure idea of eternity is NOT FOUND IN ANY OF THE ANCIENT LANGUAGES." (CAPS emphasis are mine). [15] An Alphabetical Analysis by Charles H. Welch (Editor of The Berean Expositor and a man well versed in Greek), (Vol. 1, p. 279), "Eternity is not a Biblical theme." (Vol. 1, p. 52), "What we have to learn is that the Bible does not speak of eternity. It is not written to tell us of eternity. Such a consideration is entirely outside the scope of revelation." [16] Dr. Mangey, a translator of the writings of Philo, says, "Philo did not use aionios to express endless duration." [17] The Complete Works of Falvius Josephus. Josephus obviously did not consider anionios to be "everlasting," seeing that he uses the word to represent the period of time between the giving of the law of Moses and that of his own writing [clearly not an eternity]. He also assigns aionios to the period of imprisonment of the tyrant John by the Romans [clearly he was not imprisoned for an eternity], and also for the period during which Herod's temple stood [since Herod's temple was not even standing at the time Josephus wrote, it too proves that Josephus did not mean 'eternity' when he wrote 'aionios']. [18] Saint Gregory of Nyssa speaks of anionios diastema, "an eonian interval." How many intervals do you know of that are "endless" or "eternal?" [19] Saint Chrysostum, in his homily on Eph. 2:1-3, says that, "Satan's kingdom is aeonian; that is, it will cease with the present world." [20] Saint Justin Martyr, in the Apol. (p. 57), used the word aionios repeadedly: aionion kolasin... all ouchi chiliontaete periodon, "eonian chastening but a period, not a thousand years," or as some translate this clause "but a period of a thousand years only." Hence, to Justin Martyr, aionios was certainly not "endless." COMMENT: Does anyone desire to turn their academic ignorance into total scholastic buffoonery by suggesting that not one of my 20 references is a "critical scholar on this subject?" None of the arguments from these sources are presented; much less is there interaction with other authorities who say the opposite. COMMENT: It is not necessary for me to present all of their arguments, as that could easily take five pages each, times 20, equal an additional one hundred pages. Many readers feel that my papers are already too long. I do state the conclusion of their findings, which is the most important purpose for me making reference to them. Furthermore, there ARE no legitimate arguments against the teaching that aionios means a period with a beginning and an ending. And I do cover the one argument which claims aionios means eternity. But the real problem is made clear with a look at some of the sources cited: The New Testament in Modern Speech, by Dr. R. F. Weymouth: Eternal: Greek: "aeonion," i.e., "of the ages." Etymologically this adjective, like others similarly formed, does not signify "during," but "belong to" the aeons or ages." The problem? Smith is quiet about giving full bibliographic data; Weymouth's "modern" work was written in 1902. Another work he cites by Marvin Vincent was written in 1887. While this does not itself prove error, it does show that Smith is being less than careful with the scholarship -- and has clearly avoided looking for anything later that might be better informed. COMMENT: What? He finds fault in the fact that Weymouth's work was written in 1902, as though it is a sin to quote anyone who lived before 1902. It matters not whether Weymouth was written in 2002, 1902, or 1492. What matters is WHAT he said, not WHEN he said it. If we can only cite works later than 1902, then we cannot even cite the Scriptures as being authoritative, as they for sure were written before 1902. He suggests that by citing such works as Weymouth and Vincent, "Smith is being less than careful with the scholarship--and has clearly avoided looking for anything later that might be better informed." Seriously readers, what do all of these ridiculous arguments and statements have to do with proving that aionios means eternity? NONEOF IT! It's all nonsensical smoke and mirrors.
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