Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


1 posted on 10/21/2008 1:22:51 PM PDT by Truth Defender
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]


To: Mad Dawg; Petronski

Here is an interesting take on the terms mention in it. I invite you to lead the way in a discussion on them.


2 posted on 10/21/2008 1:26:52 PM PDT by Truth Defender (History teaches, if we but listen to it; but no one really listens!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Truth Defender

It depends on what the definition of “meaning” is...


3 posted on 10/21/2008 1:28:06 PM PDT by Old Sarge (Illic Est Haud Deus)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Truth Defender

Eternal is what this election cycle has been


5 posted on 10/21/2008 1:34:37 PM PDT by bigbob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Truth Defender

“Eternal Life” is knowing Jesus Christ. 1 John chapter 1. It is a QUALITY of life.

“Everlasting Life” is a QUANTITY of life.


6 posted on 10/21/2008 1:47:51 PM PDT by ROTB (Our Constitution [is] for a [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate [for] any other. -John Adams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Truth Defender
Seculum is defined in Latin dictionaries as meaning: 1) a generation, 2) an age, 3) the world, 4) the times, 5) the spirit of the times, and 6) a period of a hundred years.

Except for 6), this is pretty much the range of meaning my Hebrew dictionary (Alcalay) gives for olam: "world, humanity, space, community, existence, assembly, pleasures of life [cf. "the world, the flesh and the devil" -- just my note], eternity, ages, distant future."

"World" seems to be the most basic meaning (whatever "world" meant to the ancient Jews!). In the Midrash, a very common periphrasis for God is "Mi she'amar v'hayah ha-olam" -- He Who spoke and the world was," which sounds as if it encompasses all Creation. Ha-olam ha-ba is also in Rabbinic Hebrew for "the world to come."

Just a note on sæcula -- the phrase in sæcula sæculorum (lit. "in ages of ages") is very, very common in liturgical Latin for "forever." I don't know if a construction like "olam olamim" occurs in the Bible, but I think it's likely, since it's a common Hebrew structure, as in shir ha-shirim, Song of Songs. In fact, I believe the structure appears in English only because it was lifted from the Bible.

7 posted on 10/21/2008 2:09:10 PM PDT by maryz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Truth Defender

Eternal can also mean “outside time” as God is.


8 posted on 10/21/2008 2:39:20 PM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Truth Defender
A comparison:

ETERNAL LIFE

The term used by Christ to describe the state of endless happiness enjoyed by the just in heaven (Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:44; Luke 18:30; John 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12). It means not only everlasting duration but also fullness of life, which the believer possesses already here and now through participation in the life of God.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
 
 

ETERNAL DEATH

The lot of the wicked who die estranged from God. It is called death because the person is deprived of the possession of God, who gives life to the soul. And it is eternal because it will never end.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

21 posted on 10/22/2008 12:00:00 PM PDT by Salvation ( †With God all things are possible.†)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: Truth Defender

ETERNITY

in its full sense, duration of being without beginning, succession, or ending. Only God possesses the fullness of eternity, since only he always existed (no beginning), has no succession (no change), and will never end (no cessation). It is defined Catholic doctrine that God possesses the divine Being in a constant undivided now. His eternity is the perfect and simultaneous total possession of interminable life.

Rational creatures share in God's eternity, but only approximate it, by participation. Angels have a beginning, and they have a succession of past, present, and future, but they have no cessation since they are pure spirits that will never die or cease to be. Human beings likewise have a beginning and they have succession, but unlike the angels they will die in body, to be later resurrected, while the souls live on forever. In God's absolute power, however, angels and human souls could be deprived of existence. Their eternity depends on the goodness and will of God.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

22 posted on 10/22/2008 12:00:55 PM PDT by Salvation ( †With God all things are possible.†)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson