Still, there are many that say that I am a liar and that, when I die, that “hell” will be my final destination. I’ve heard a lot of objections from “Christians” (some very sarcastic). Here now are some common objections to universal salvation/the salvation of all:
“But, it is says that people perish and will go either to heaven or hell forever and ever!”
How do you add “and ever” to “forever,” if “forever” means eternity? That reminds me of two kids arguing with each other and trying to “get each other back.” One says, “I got you back!” The other replies, “I got you back times two!” “I got you back times three!” And on and on it goes until one says, “I got you back times infinity!” Not wanting to be bested, the other yells, “Oh yeah? Well, I got you back infinity times infinity!!” In the same way, how do you multiply infinity, which means forever, to itself? Doesn’t make sense and it sounds really childish! As well, don’t we as adults say the term “forever” and not have it really mean “forever?” An example of this would be, “Man, I’ve been waiting here forever! What is taking so long??”
And, no, the term “perish” does not mean “eternal torment” or “eternal separation,” either. One of the verses in the Bible that is most famous is probably John 3:16. Everyone should know this, but let’s read it, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal (aionian) life” (NASB). In another more accurate translation, the verse is rendered, “For thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only-begotten Son, that everyone who is believing in Him should not be perishing, but may be having life eonian” (CLT, italics mine). There’s a big difference between “shall not perish” and “be perishing.” One is still future, the other is current and ongoing. What He meant was, not believing in Him now, you will miss out on His Life for you now, not just in the future! To know Jesus is to know peace that transcends all understanding, and to have assurance of where you will go after this life is over – but having it now, in the present, instead of finding out later on. And, may I say, we are in an age of grace – take advantage of it! I believe that it is easier to be saved now, rather than later. I know that some will simply not believe in this age, and that’s ok, God is still in complete control and He is still not done with them.
Anyway, the English word translated as “perish” is the Greek word ἀπόλλυμι or apollumi (Strong’s G#622) and it is defined as “to destroy (utterly or completely)1.” This word is also used in Lk 15:4, “…does not (the Good Shepherd) leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?” (NASB). That word translated “lost” is the same word used for “perish.” And, also notice that it was not up to the sheep to realize its lost state, and come and confess and profess its faith in the shepherd. It was actually the shepherd’s responsibility to go after the lost sheep who strayed. It was his job to gather and keep all of the sheep. He would get in big trouble if he did not bring back ALL of the sheep back home from the pasture. Bringing back 99 out of the 100 sheep was completely unacceptable to his master! That shepherd would need to pay restitution and/or be fired for losing that one sheep! But, our Lord Jesus is no ordinary shepherd, nor is He a hired hand. He is our Great God’s Good Shepherd and He will bring ALL back to His Master!
“Well, “forever and ever” is just God’s way of saying He’s going to torture you until the end of time and beyond!”
And you actually claim that He loves you..? How the verses containing the words “forever and ever” are written in the Greek (as well as Hebrew) is “ages of the ages.” Now, what does that mean? God works through ages. It’s not this common misunderstanding of, “when you die, you go to Heaven or Hell – the end!” There are many different ages in God’s plan. Right now, we are in the “evil age.” The curse from the fall is still on us and death still reigns. Christ has not come back and we have not resurrected into new bodies. The next age will be the Kingdom age, which will commence when Christ comes down from Heaven and will destroy His enemies. He will then sit down on His throne, and righteously judge all people – men, women, and children. Some will receive rewards, and some will receive punishment, depending on what they believed and what they did in this life. But, both those things are going to be temporary. Even the good things? Yes, even those. Christ will do such a good job at ruling that He will eventually put an end to all authority, which will put the saints out of a job, but afterwards, there will be no need. He will then turn the Kingdom over to the Father, and then – finally - all of us will go into eternity with God. Read 1Cor 15:20-28,
“20 (Yet now Christ has been
roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are
reposing.
21 For since, in fact, through a man came death,
through a Man, also, comes the resurrection
of the dead. 22 For even as, in Adam, all are dying,
thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. 23
Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those
who are Christ's in His presence; 24 thereafter the consummation,
whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father,
whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority
and power. 25 For He must be reigning until He should be
placing all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy is being
abolished: death. 27 For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever
He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is
outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. 28 Now, whenever all may be
subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him
Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all)”
(Concordant Literal Translation, hereafter, the “CLT,” bold and
italics mine).
The word translated as “eternal/everlasting” or “forever” in most of today’s Bibles came from two words: “עוֹלָם or olam” in Hebrew, and “αἰών or aion” in Greek. We know they are the same word because, again, the term “olam” was translated “aion” in the Septuagint, which was the Greek OT and the Bible of the Apostles. They both mean “an age,” “a period of long duration” or “an indefinite (not infinite) period of time.” The word for “age” in Latin is “aeturnum,” from where we get our English word “eternity.” Do you see a problem with this?? Also, early Latin manuscripts translated sheol, the Hebrew word for the place of the dead, as inferno. This imagery was used in Dante’s Divine Comedy, a fictional work that was popular around that time. Actually, a lot of what we know of this fiery torture chamber called “hell” is based on fictional pieces like Dante’s and other works. The KJV does horrible violence to the true meaning of Scripture! Not even mentioning that it puts the pagan term “Easter” into the Bible (Acts 12:4), it also says the word “hell” where it simply is not there – it also renders this same word “aion” as an “age,” “eternity,” and even, “world!” In Titus 2:12, for instance, the KJV renders the passage, “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Italics mine). That word for “world” is “aion,” mistranslated so it doesn’t say “age,” like it should. That same passage in the much more accurate CLT, says, “training us that, disowning irreverence and worldly desires, we should be living sanely and justly and devoutly in the current eon” (Italics mine). Are you beginning to see why accuracy in translations is so very important? But, don’t take my word for it. Look this word “aion” up for yourself. Easy to do on sites such as biblehub.com or with a good concordance.
As the Bible says, “The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly” (Ecc 12:10, NASB, underline mine) and “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the Law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie” (Jer 8:8, NASB, italics mine). There was lying going around even before the time of Christ, even more so now than ever! We must always be on guard, as this is an evil age of deception! Did you know that even God Himself is not described as “eternal” – although we know He is, having no beginning and no end! He is the only One in the Universe to have “Eternal Life,” specifically because He is Eternal, with no beginning and no end. But, He is not described in Scripture in that matter. He is described in the Bible, rather, as the aionian, or “age-abiding” God. In other words, He travels with humanity through the ages! It’s comforting to know He is always with us!
In the beginning of the Middle Ages, Constantine became emperor of the new Holy Roman Empire, and adopted Augustine’s belief in eternal conscious torment. Constantine was a military man, and a tyrant (seems to be a trend), and he ruled through fear. If he ruled his kingdoms like this, what makes you think he didn’t rule the Church like this, as well? Throughout the centuries, conquered people had to be converted into the Catholic (meaning “universal”) Church. What afterlife doctrine do you think they used to instill fear into their new converts? That’s right – they said that if they did not obey them, they would suffer an eternity in this horrible place called “hell.” It was a dark time, when the only copies of the Scriptures were scarce and locked up or chained to the church pulpit, to prevent people from reading it for themselves. Only in the Renaissance and afterwards, especially after the printing press was invented, were Bibles more common and people began to translate for themselves from the Ancient Hebrew and Greek texts.
There came after the Protestant Reformation, which took place in the 16th century. It began when a Catholic monk named Martin Luther came up with a list of grievances that he disagreed with the Church on, and nailed the list to the Church doors – what came to be known as the ninety-five theses. Eventually, they broke away from the Catholic Church and formed the Protestant (protesting) movement. Unfortunately, when the Protestants broke off from the Catholic Church, they did not remove the teaching of eternal torment nor the Trinity. There is also a third major branch of the Christian religion that is Eastern Orthodox. They broke off from the Catholic church in the great schism of 1054. They don’t really preach on “Hell,” but they still have traditions passed on from their elders, including monks and the wearing of robes for the priests. That’s where we are today. I believe eternal torment to be a doctrine of demons.
Anyway, back to the mistranslated word for eon. Here are just a few examples of olam/aion found in Scripture:
Isa 32:14 -
“For the palace has been
neglected, the populated city abandoned.
Hill and watch-tower
have become caves forever,
A
delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 Until
the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,
And the
wilderness becomes a fertile field,
And the fertile field is
considered as a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the
wilderness,
And righteousness will remain in the fertile
field.
17 And the work of righteousness will be peace,
And
the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
Jer 5:22 -
For I have placed the sand as
a boundary for the sea,
An eternal
decree, so it cannot cross over it.
Remember than in the future, according to Rev 21:1, there will be no more sea!
Jer 23:39 -
“Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. 40 I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”
...and yet, He says in the very next chapter…
I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God…” (Jer 24:6-7, underline mine).
Did you know that, in comparison to Sodom, God said that Israel was worse??
There are quite a few places in the OT that say “forever” or “everlasting,” but then are followed by “until.”
Jonah lamented, “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever” (Jonah 2:6, NASB, underline mine). How long was forever for Jonah? Three whole days. Then, the giant fish threw him up on land. This was a Messianic prophecy, as Jesus was also dead in the grave forever…until He rose from it three days later, becoming the First-born from among the dead (Mt 12:40)!
Compare the two translations for Ps 139:23-24, between the King James Version and Young’s Literal Translation:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (KJV).
“Search me, O God, and know my heart, Try me, and know my thoughts, And see if a grievous way be in me, And lead me in a way age-during” (YLT).
I can come up with more, but for now, this should suffice.
1 https://biblehub.com/greek/622.htm
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