Re: OT: Prayer, ritual and magic // was conlang website

Nik Taylor wrote:

> It seems to me to be the most reasonable interpretation, given that
> Jesus contrasted, not paradise with suffering (generally speaking) but
> life with death, salvation with destruction.  I don't see any strong
> reason to believe that souls are inherently eternal.
Cutting and pasting from my website some quotes from Barclay's "The Plain
Man Looks at the Apostle's Creed. The Biblical passage referred to is the
passage about the sheep and the goats.

  The word for punishment is KOLASIS. This word was originally a
  gardening word, and its original meaning was pruning trees. In Greek
  there are two words for punishment, TIMoRIA and KOLASIS, and there is
  quite a definite distinction between them. The difference is quite
  clear in Greek and it is always observed. TIMoRIA is retributive
  punishment; KOLASIS is remedial discipline. KOLASIS is always given to
  amend and to cure.

  The word AIoNIOS [eternal] is difficult to translate. It is used in
  the Old Testament ot describe Israel's possession of the holy land
  (Genesis 17:8, 48:4); Aaron's priesthood (Numbers 25:13), great
  mountains and hills (Habakkuk 3:6). In all the cases we have quoted
  AIoNIOS means lasting for a very long time; it can even mean lasting
  for as long as the present world lasts.

  The Greek use of AIoNIOS is even more suggestive. Plato in the Laws
  (10:12) says that body and soul are indestructable (ANoLETBRON), but
  they are not eternal (AIoNIOS) like the gods. The fact is that in Greek
  AIoNIOS can properly describe that which is divine; in the true sense
  of the term only God is AIoNIOS.

  AIoNIOS KOLASIS is therefore the disciplinary punishment, designed
  for the cure of men, which may last throughout many ages, and which
  only God can give.

(btw, lower case 'o' means 'o' with diacritic)

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