eek by means of punishment. The less we have of
punishment, the better. The more we have of life, the better.

My critic ought to have pondered the words of Dr. Taylor Lewis, before
he entered on this discussion. His words are, "The preacher, in
contending with the Universalist and the Restorationist, would commit
an error, and it may be, suffer a failure in his argument, should he
lay the whole stress of it on the etymological or historical
significance of the words, _ai[=o]n_, _ai[=o]nios_, and attempt to
prove that of themselves they necessarily carry the meaning of endless
duration." Lange's Eccl. p. 48. Beecher's "Retribution," p. 154. Prof.
Lewis says that _ai[=o]nios_ means _pertaining to the age or world to
come_. The only fault this definition has, is the addition of the
words _to come_. Jesus says, "These shall go away into the punishment
of the age, and the righteous into the life of the age." The age
referred to, is the Christian age or dispensation, that has already
come. It is the same as has all along been called, "the age to come,"
or about to come. It was to follow the Jewish age, which was soon to
end. Both together are referred to as "this age and that which is
about to come." But when the parable of the sheep and goats begins,
the age is already come.

The form here given by Taylor Lewis is the same as Jesus himself used,
if he spoke the Aramaic, as my critic says he did, and I agree with
him. He did not say, "These shall go away into _ai[=o]nion_
punishment," etc., which is the unwarranted Greek form. But his words
are, "These shall go away into the punishment of the age (or
pertaining to the age), and the righteous into the life of the age (or
pertaining to the age)." It is the same form in the Peshito-Syriac
version, made in the days of the Apostles. It is the same in the
Hebrew New Testament, translated by the Bible society, to circulate
among the modern Jews.

I have in my possession over a hundred passages, from classic Greek
authors, in which _ai[=o]n_ is used in a limited sense, generally
denoting human life, or the age of man. It is used, in a few
instances, to denote an endless age, by attaching to it another word
for _endless_. The adjective _ai[=o]nios_ is used very little by these
authors, and not at all, I think, by the more ancient ones. No lexicon
gives it the definition of eternal, till long after the time of
Christ; and the remark is added, when thus defined, that it is so
under