In the previous blog post, we considered the meaning of aeonian judgment and related terms, such as aeonian punishment. In many translations, these expressions are rendered as “eternal judgment” and “eternal punishment,” which assumes a judgment or punishment without end. But that doesn’t correspond to the meaning of the Greek aionios, which refers to an age and not an endless duration.
the life of the future aeon
But that might raise the question of what is meant by “eternal life.” Is that life also finite? Let’s first look at the meaning the Bible itself gives to “eternal life,” or better: aeonian life. In the Gospels, we find two texts in which Jesus explicitly speaks of aeonian life. For clarity, I will only quote the verses where this term appears.
Mark 10 GES
30 or he will receive a hundredfold: now, in this period, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and fathers, and children, and fields, with persecutions, and in the aeon to come, eternal life.
Luke 18 GES
30 who will not receive absolutely a multiplied return, in this period, and in the aeon to come, eternal life.
Both texts make it clear that “eternal life” belongs to the aeon to come. Even in traditional translations, such as the Statenvertaling (State Translation) and the NBG (Dutch Bible), this remains visible: “… and in the aeon to come, eternal life.”
This shows that “eternal life” (=aeonian life) is not an abstract, timeless concept, but that this is the life of the aeon to come. The CLV has translated it correctly: and in the coming eon, life eonian. Or the YLT: and in the age that is coming, life age-during.
imperishable
In that aeon to come, Satan will be bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3), and Christ will establish His Kingdom worldwide. Before the beginning of that Kingdom, the dead are raised to reign with Christ for those thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6). These resurrected ones receive imperishable life: they die no more.
This is confirmed in Jesus’ conversation with the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. They try to ensnare Jesus with a case about levirate marriage. Jesus’ answer is telling:
Luke 20 GES
34 … The sons of this aeon marry, and they are given in marriage,
35 but those who are considered worthy to inherit that aeon and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
36 For they cannot die anymore, for they are like the messengers (>angels), and they are sons of God, because they are sons of the resurrection.
The aeon ends, life does not
Scripture calls the present aeon; the present evil aeon. After this age comes the future aeon, in which the resurrection takes place. Whoever partakes of that aeon and the resurrection from the dead receives life untouched by death: imperishable life.
This reveals an important distinction: the aeon is finite, but the life received in the resurrection is not. Aeonian life takes its name from the future aeon, but it does not end when that age ends.
In short:
the aeon comes to an end,
but life does not.