Bob Evely > Quotes

“Marvin Vincent, author of “Word Studies in the New Testament” says of “aionian” (see his notes on 2 Thessalonians 1: 9), “( It is) a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself… The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting… The adjective… in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting… Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material cannot carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render (the word) everlasting. Of course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God (by this Greek word), it was intended to describe the duration of His being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated.”
― Bob Evely, At the End of the Ages; The Abolition of Hell

“If an earthly ruler condemned even the vilest criminal to be kept alive just to be tortured forever, we would shudder at his cruelty. But we have inherited the current orthodox teachings about God that calmly attribute such activities to Him, while also teaching that He is a God of love.”
― Bob Evely, At the End of the Ages; The Abolition of Hell

“Of Origen the historian Phillip Schaff writes: “It is impossible to deny a respectful sympathy to this extraordinary man, who with all his brilliant talents, and a host of enthusiastic friends and admirers, was driven from his country, stripped of his sacred office, excommunicated from part of the church, then thrown into a dungeon, lead with chains, racked by torture, doomed to drag his aged frame and dislocated limbs in pain and poverty, and long after his death to have his memory branded, his name anathematized and his salvation denied; but who nevertheless did more than all his enemies combined to advance the cause of sacred learning, to refute and convert heathens and heretics, and to make the church respected in the eyes of the world.”
― Bob Evely, At the End of the Ages; The Abolition of Hell

“How can one be chastised and corrected if the punishment lasts forever? How can God, who places such emphasis on forgiveness, come to the point where He refuses to forgive? How can God, who places importance on the one lost sheep, be satisfied if all the sheep are not securely in the fold when all is said and done? Does it not make better sense that the purpose of judgment is for correction, in preparation for a future day when every knee shall bow before Him? Is this not more consistent with God’s character of love and forgiveness?”
― Bob Evely, At the End of the Ages; The Abolition of Hell

“Here, for the first time, we see that Saul “is also Paul.” (Acts 13: 9) Saul is a Hebrew name, while Paul is Greek. It is interesting that we are told of Saul’s new Gentile name at the precise point where a Jew attempts to stop the word of God from going to a Gentile. Also interesting are the words spoken to Elymas when he is blinded “until the appointed time.” This is very similar to Paul’s explanation in Romans 11: 25 that the callousness of Israel has come “until the complement of the nations may be entering,” after which time all Israel shall be saved. The incident with Elymas seems to be a picture of God’s plan to set aside (or blind) Israel, for a time, while the word goes to the Gentiles.”
― Bob Evely, At the End of the Ages; The Abolition of Hell

“Cox notes in this work a quotation from Charles Kingsley: “The word aion is never used in Scripture or anywhere else in the sense of endlessness (vulgarly called eternity). It always meant, both in Scripture and out, a period of time. Else how could it have a plural—And how could you talk of the aeons, and aeons of aeons, as the Scripture does? Nay, more, how talk of ‘outos o aion’ (this age), which the translators, with laudable inconsistency, have translated ‘this world’, i.e., the present state of things, age, dispensation, or epoch. Aionios therefore means, and must mean, belonging to an epoch, or the epoch; and “aionios kolasis” (aeonial punishment) is the punishment allotted to that epoch.”
― Bob Evely, At the End of the Ages; The Abolition of Hell