A.  A BRIEF DISCUSSION STARTER ON THE ADJECTIVE TRANSLATED "ETERNAL"
 

Are there any grounds for thinking that the eternal punishment to which Jesus alludes in Matthew 25:46 is literally punishment without end? None whatsoever.

But what about the fact that Jesus uses the same adjective, "aionios," to describe both the life and the punishment?

Well, even on the assumption that “aionios” is correctly translated as “eternal,” which is itself debatable, there are a host of ways in which a punishment of limited duration might nonetheless qualify as an eternal punishment. It might be eternal in the sense that its causal source lies in the eternal God himself, or in the sense that it expresses God’s eternal purpose for the world, or in the sense that its corrective effects last forever. Because “aionios” is an adjective, it must also function like an adjective; and when an adjective qualifies an action, it frequently describes the causal source of the action and just as frequently describes the effects of the action. A selfish act, for example, is one that springs from, or has its causal source in, selfish motives, and a harmful act is one whose effects are harmful to someone or other. Similarly, the fire that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 7) can be thought of as a form of judgment that expressed God’s eternal righteousness and therefore his eternal love. It is thus eternal not in the sense that it continues burning today, but in the sense that its causal source lies in the eternal God himself. Accordingly, just as eternal life is a special quality of life, associated with the age to come, whose causal source lies in the eternal God himself, so eternal punishment is a special quality of punishment, associated with the age to come, whose causal source lies in the eternal God himself. In that respect, they are exactly parallel.

Or, if you like, here is another way in which one can think of eternal life and eternal punishment as exactly parallel. If you think of eternal life as life that literally lasts forever, then just think of eternal punishment as punishment whose corrective effects literally last forever.

-Tom
 
 

Posted by Tom Talbott (158.104.99.92) on January 04, 2000 at 02:54:06:

 In Reply to: Hi Tom, posted by Mark U. on January 03, 2000 at 21:18:10:

Hi Mark. You asked:

"Could you tell me if you know of any early century, non-church, non NT Greek sources that use the word 'kolasis' to clearly indicate even a portion of corrective intention, as opposed to portraying a purely retributive or vindictive aspect?"

If by "early century, non-church, non NT Greek sources" you mean classical Greek sources, then the place to begin is with Aristotle. In Rhetoric 1369b,13, Aristotle writes: "But there is a difference between revenge and punishment; the latter (kolasis) is inflicted in the interest of the sufferer, the former in the interest of him who inflicts it, that he may obtain satisfaction." Plato seemed to accept the same distinction, and in Protagoras 324, we read: "For if you will consider punishment, Socrates, and what control it has over wrong-doers, the facts will inform you that men agree in regarding virtue as procured." The clear implication here is that the proper function of punishment is the production of virtue. According to the Greek scholar, William Barclay, moreover, "in all Greek secular literature kolasis is never used of anything but remedial punishment."

Not being a Greek scholar myself, I am, of course, in no position to verify such a strong claim as Barclay makes. But I would nonetheless point out the following: Even where a punishment may seem harsh and unforgiving, more like retribution than parental chastisement, this in no way excludes a corrective purpose. Check out the punishment that Paul prescribes in I Corinthians 5:5. One might never have guessed that, in prescribing such a punishment--that is, delivering a man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh--Paul had in mind a corrective purpose, had Paul not explicitly stated the corrective purpose himself ("that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus"). So as this text illustrates, even harsh punishment of a seemingly retributivist kind can in fact serve a redemptive purpose.

-Tom