Abstract

RAMELLI, Ilaria  and  KONSTAN, David. Terms for Eternity: αἰὡνιος and ἀΐδιος in Classical and Christian Texts. Nova tellus [online]. 2006, vol.24, n.2, pp.21-39. ISSN 0185-3058.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.nt.2006.24.2.176.

his paper surveys the uses of two ancient Greek terms - αἰὡνιος and ἀΐδιος- commonly translated as “eternal”, from their earliest occurrences in poetry and pre-Socratic philosophy down through the Septuagint and the New Testament, and culminating in the Christian theologian Origen. It examines the rise of the idea of infinitely extended time (generally denoted by ἀΐδιος), and Plato’s innovative introduction of a concept of a timeless eternity (sometimes described as αἰὡνιος). It is argued that in the Greek Bible, αἰὡνιος, as opposed to ἀΐδιος, does not necessarily denote absolute eternity. Since only αἰὡνιος, and never ἀΐδιος, is applied to punishment in the afterlife, Origen could find support in this usage for his doctrine of universal salvation and the finite duration of hell.

Keywords : ἀΐδιος; αἰὡνιος; Biblia; Christian Texts; Classical Texts; Eternity; Origen.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )