The Watchtower promises the majority of JWs everlasting life on a paradise earth. This promise is based on the bible and their interpretation of it. All JWs I've talked with assume that "everlasting life" means living forever and the WT promotes this idea with phrases such as, "Millions ... will never die" and "live forever on a paradise earth" etc... But lets look at some other things which the bible says were (or will be) "everlasting". There's the Sabbath Law, the Aaronic priesthood, the Old Covenant, the New Covenant, and Jesus' 1000 year reign. All of these things which had (or will have) a beginning and an end are called "everlasting" in the bible. Clearly everlasting in the bible dosn't mean something will last forever.
I did some research to find out why this is so. Starting with Youngs Literal Translation we see that the word 'everlasting' is literally 'age-lasting' (or age-during). This means something that lasts for an age. The greek word which is translated in the NWT (and many others) as everlasting is aionios, it's hebrew equivalent is ohlam. Aionios is an adjective of the noun aion, an age. In the greek language an 'age' always refered to a period of time with a beginning and an end.
Here's some links to check out why aionios doesn't mean forever:
<http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Aion_lim.html>
<http://www.godstruthfortoday.org/Library/miscellaneous/allin.htm>
I also looked up aionios on the 1999 WT library CD. It is referenced a total of 5 times. Here's a few quotes:
" Both `oh·lam' (Heb.) and ai·on' (Gr.) relate basically to a period of time of indefinite length. (Ge 6:3; 17:13; Lu 1:70)"
w95 10/15
"El
Evangelio de Mateo notes: "Eternal life is definitive life; its opposite is definitive punishment. The Greek adjective aionios does not primarily denote duration, but quality. "w85 1/15
Although the Hebrew word ‘oh·lam is rendered by some as "forever," according to Hebrew authority William Gesenius, it means "hidden time, i. e. obscure and long, of which the beginning or end is uncertain or indefinite."
These statements are true.
Here's an interesting question:
w80 7/1
"Questions from ReadersWhy does the November 15, 1979, issue of The Watchtower (pages 26, 27) speak of the "new covenant" being near the end of its operation, when Hebrews 13:20 speaks of this covenant as being "an everlasting covenant"?"This part of the answer is true:
"At Hebrews 13:20 the apostle Paul speaks of Jehovah resurrecting "the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an everlasting covenant [Greek, di·a·the'ke ai·o'ni·os], our Lord Jesus." The Emphatic Diaglott translates this as "the Blood of an aionian Covenant" (interlinear: "age-lasting"). This same Greek expression was used by the translators of the Septuagint Version in translating the Hebrew words berith' `oh·lam' at Exodus 31:16, with reference to the Sabbath law (part of the Law covenant) that came to an end, although many translations speak of this also as an "everlasting covenant." (Ex. 31:17, LXX; Col. 2:13-16) Similarly, the covenant with Aaron and his sons for an "everlasting [Hebrew, `oh·lam'; Greek, ai·o·ni'a] priesthood" (American Standard Version) was only "to time indefinite" (New World Translation).-Ex. 40:15; Num. 25:13; Heb. 7:11, 12."But, the next line is just wishful thinking:
" The Hebrew word oh·lam' and the Greek equivalent ai·o'ni·os can mean forever in the sense that something never comes to an end or they can mean something that lasts into the indefinite future."So where did the WT get the idea that an age can be endless? As shown in the Insight Book, this is just their own silly assumption:
it pg 57
The Greek "Aion." "Age" may also refer to a period of time in man’s history, whether having or not having datable bounds. It is frequently used to translate the Greek word ai·on' (plural, ai·o'nes) in some translations. Greek lexicographers show the word to mean "space of time clearly defined and marked out, epoch, age," and also "lifetime, life," or "age, generation." Since an epoch, or age, can begin and end or it can go on forever, it follows that ai·on' could refer to a period of time that is endless, though having a beginning.But this assumption is refuted by their own research:
In the Christian Greek Scriptures, the word ai·on' may denote a time period of indefinite or indeterminate length, a period of remote, but not endless, time.So how is it that JWs will enjoy everlasting life in paradise? This quote makes it clear that everlasting is just a relative phrase that doesn't really mean forever:
The benefits of that Kingdom by Christ will be "everlasting," though it actually will have been only "age-lasting," in one sense of the Greek word ai·o'ni·os used at 2 Peter 1:11. Relatively speaking, his reign of 1,000 years is eternal.Questions From ReadersWhat is the difference between immortality and everlasting life?Endless life will be enjoyed both by anointed ones receiving spirit life in heaven and by humans whom God declares righteous for life on the Paradise earth. So if you think about the outcome, immortality in heaven and everlasting life on earth result in basically the same thing-living forever.
Relatively speaking that is............
thinker