Editing Universalism (section)

==== Questions of Biblical Translation ====
Christian universalists point towards the mistranslations of the Greek word αιών (literally "age," but often assumed to mean "eternity") and its adjectival form αἰώνιος (usually assumed to mean "eternal" or "everlasting"), as giving rise to the idea of an endless hell and the idea that some people will never be saved.<ref name="christianuniversalist.org" /><ref name="tentmaker1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tentmaker.org/articles/EternalPunishmentNotTrueToGreek.html|title="Eternal" Punishment (Matthew 25:46) Is NOT Found In The Greek New Testament.|website=www.tentmaker.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://carm.org/universalism/a-look-at-the-word-aionion/|title=A look at the Greed word "aionion" used by universalists &#124; carm.org|date=December 15, 2008}}</ref> For example, Revelation 14:11 says "the smoke of their torment goes up εἰς αἰῶνας αἰώνων" which most literally means "until ages of ages" but is often paraphrased in translations as "forever and ever."<ref>See ''The Greek-English Interlinear ESV New Testament'', 1061; or the following [https://biblehub.com/interlinear/revelation/14-11.htm online interlinear].</ref>

This Greek word is the origin of the modern English word [[Aeon|eon]], which refers to a period of time or an epoch/age.

The 19th century theologian [[Marvin Vincent]] wrote about the word ''aion'', and the supposed connotations of "eternal" or "temporal":
<blockquote>'''Aion''', transliterated '''''aeon''''', is a period of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. [...] Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of ''endless'' or ''everlasting''."<ref>{{cite web|last=Vincent|first=Marvin|title=Note on Olethron Aionion (eternal destruction)|url=http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/vincent.html|work=Word Studies in the New Testament|access-date=18 June 2012|archive-date=21 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521042920/http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/vincent.html|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>A number of scholars have argued that, in some cases, the adjective may not indicate duration at all, but may instead have a qualitative meaning.<ref>See [[William Barclay (theologian)|Barclay]] (''New Testament Words'', 35); and [[Ilaria Ramelli|Ramelli]] & [[David Konstan|Konstan]] (''Terms For Eternity''), who prefer "otherworldly" as the best rendering of αἰώνιος.</ref> For instance, [[David Bentley Hart|Dr. David Bentley Hart]] translates Matthew 25:46 as "And these will go to the chastening of that Age, but the just to the life of that Age."<ref>[[David Bentley Hart|Hart]], ''The New Testament'': ''A Translation'', 53 (see also his explanation in the postscript, 537-543).</ref> In this reading, Jesus is not necessarily indicating how long the life and punishment last, but instead what kind the life and punishment are—they are "of the age [to come]" rather than being earthly life or punishment. [[Thomas Talbott|Dr. Thomas Talbott]] writes:<blockquote>[The writers of the New Testament] therefore came to employ the term ''aiōnios'' as an eschatological term, one that functioned as a handy reference to the realities of the age to come. In that way they managed to combine the more literal sense of "that which pertains to an age" with the more religious sense of "that which manifests the presence of God in a special way."<ref>[[Thomas Talbott|Talbott]], ''The Inescapable Love of God'', 85.</ref></blockquote>Dr. Ken Vincent writes that "When it (aion) was translated into Latin Vulgate, 'aion' became 'aeternam' which means 'eternal'.<ref name="christianuniversalist.org" /> Likewise, [[Ilaria Ramelli|Dr. Ilaria Ramelli]] explains:<blockquote>The mistranslation and misinterpretation of αἰώνιος as "eternal" (already in Latin, where both αἰώνιος and ἀΐδιος are rendered ''aeternus'' and their fundamental semantic difference is blurred) certainly contributed a great deal to the rise of the doctrine of "eternal damnation" and of the "eternity of hell."<ref>[[Ilaria Ramelli|Ramelli]], ''A Larger Hope'', 11.</ref></blockquote>Among the English translations that do not render αἰώνιος as "eternal" or "everlasting" are [[Young's Literal Translation|Young’s Literal Translation]] (“age-during”), the [[Weymouth New Testament]] ("of the ages”), the [[Concordant Version|Concordant Literal Version]] ("eonian"), [[Emphasized Bible|Rotherham's Emphasized Bible]] ("age-abiding"), [[David Bentley Hart bibliography|Hart's New Testament]] ("of that Age"), and more.<ref>See Beauchemin, ''Hope For All'', 52, 160.</ref>