Terms for Eternity: αίώνος and άΐδιος diow in Classical and Christian Texts.

This paper surveys the uses of two ancient Greek terms --αἰὠvıoς and ἀΐδıς--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 ἀΐδıς, and Plato's innovative introduction of a concept of a timeless eternity (sometimes described as αἰὠvıoς). It is argued that in the Greek Bible, αἰὠvıoς, as opposed to ἀΐδıς, does not necessarily denote absolute eternity. Since only αἰὠvıoς, and never ἀΐδıς, 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]