26 Oct '07 20:59>2 edits
Originally posted by ivanhoeSo how are they going to circumvent Matthew 25:46?
The Roman Catholic Church is preparing a document in which will be stated that we, as Christians, can live in the hope that hell is and will be empty.
"And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:46).
In both cases, referring to both hell and heaven, Jesus uses the word, aionios. If hell will eventually be empty, as the RCC wants to be able to say, then aionios would have to be translated "temporary" rather than "everlasting." However, if aionios were translated "temporary," then the life which Jesus gives the faithful would also have to be considered "temporary" rather than "eternal." That is, if hell is temporary, then heaven would have to be temporary, too.
So what happens to those in hell after their time is up? Do they go to heaven? If they go to heaven, then where do they go after their time is up there? You see, attempting to prove an empty hell introduces irreconcilable absurdities.
The correct interpretation of aionios is "everlasting" and "eternal." Hell is everlasting, and life in heaven is eternal, just as Christ describes.