Eternal life
Eternal life is the term frequently used by Jesus to describe the endless happiness enjoyed in heaven,[1] and to some extent the fullness of life in this lifetime to those that embraced his lessons on living a good life.
Today a more powerful term may be "infinite life" to best convey the original meaning, which includes benefits now and not merely in the distant future.
The concept of eternal life exists in the Old Testament also. In Proverbs 12:28 (ESV):
“ | In the path of righteousness is life,
and in its pathway there is no death. |
” |
Eternal life is the same as infinite time, and the development of the concept of infinity was primarily Christian. Before Christianity, the Greeks mocked the idea of infinity.
New Testament
All the explicit references to "eternal life" are in the New Testament, totaling 44 (18 of which are in the Gospel of John). The far higher frequency by which John the Apostle uses this phrase both in the Gospel of John and in First Epistle of John confirms that the author of these two works were the same person, in spite of liberal denial by some modern-day "scholars" who claim that the Gospel and Epistles of John were written by different authors.
- Gospel of Matthew (3)
- Gospel of Mark (2)
- Gospel of Luke (3)
- Gospel of John (18)
- Acts of the Apostles (2)
- Romans (4)
- Galatians (1)
- 1 Timothy (2)
- Titus (2)
- 1 John (6)
- Jude (1)
See also
References
- ↑ Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:44; Luke 18:30: John 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, and 12.