J. Jump said:
Netreply I found this quote of yours rather curious in light of this discussion:
So obviously you realize there are words that have changed meanings from then to this point in history. So why is it that "eternal" has remained a constant over these hundreds of years despite what etemological dictionaires say to the contrary?
Wow, you missed the point by about a gazillion light years. The word in TODAY'S TRANSLATIONS is "eternal". Look up eternal in TODAY'S DICTIONARY.
Main Entry: 1eter·nal
Pronunciation: i-'t&r-n&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin aeternalis, from Latin aeternus eternal, from aevum age, eternity -- more at AYE
1 a :
having infinite duration :
If the meaning has changed and it SHOULD mean something else (like 1,000 years) then the English translators made a mistake by using the word "eternal". It is MORE than reasonable to assume the translators knew what they were doing when they translated it as "eternal" in order to convey the MEANING OF THE WORD WHEN IT WAS USED IN NT TIMES.
Just as English translators would border on being mistaken to use the word "terrible" today, because it no longer means what the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE meant. I say "border on" because "terrible" is at least CLOSER to meaning "awesome" even today than "eternal" is to meaning "1,000 years". "eternal" never meant 1,000 years. Never. Ever. The etymology shows it could, at one time, mean an "age", but never did it ever mean 1,000 years. Never. Did you get that yet? Never.
So you have to break the word twisting it to mean what you want it to mean. You have to bypass the obvious translation as "eternal", go to the etymology, and then add a liberal dose of speculation, after which you manage to mangle the word into meaning 1,000 years. Remember what I said about self-deception? Bingo.