1885 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

harmony with the sense of thepassage.----------We are thankful to our Brother forthe above correction. We probably hadin mind when writing the paragraph referredto, a class of people who mightbe termed--"Universalist-Adventists."The Brother is right, we would not willinglymisrepresent any. The definitiongiven above is entirely satisfactory to us.It occurs to us that our views on themeaning of the word aionios were notfully apprehended by some. We werecontroverting the view--that this wordalways means a limited period. Wehave never claimed that it always meansnever ending but rather a space orepoch of time upon which no limit hasbeen placed. Thus in the Old Testamentthe corresponding word olam isused with reference to laws and regulationsthen in force "This shall be astatute unto you [olam] forever" i.e. ithas no limitation it would last until forsome cause God its mandator should replaceit with another.Apply this same definition (continuous--unlimited) to the word aionios inMatt. 25:46, and it would read therighteous into continuous life, but thewicked into continuous [i.e. uninterrupted]punishment, [elsewhere shownto be the second death.] Whatever isclaimed for the word aionios toward theone class must be admitted towardthe other.To our understanding, the "fire" ofMatt. and of Rev. is figurative of destruction,to the evil class spoken ofas cast into it. Hence substitutingthe definition for the figure it wouldread everlasting destruction--the seconddeath.