How Can “Eternal” in Romans 16:26 and 2 Corinthians 4:18 Be Temporary?

That God, according to Romans 16:26, is “the eonian God” means that He is the God of the eons. He is the King of the eons (1 Timothy 1:17). Just as “eonian times” (Romans 16:25) are “the times of the eons,” so “the eonian God” is the God of the eons.

As for 2 Corinthians 4:18, we read (literally translated):

And we are not noting the things that are being observed, but the things that are not being observed. For what is visible is for a moment, but the things that are not being observed are eonian.

In comparison with the glory of the coming eons, the suffering of the present time is only “for a moment” (Gr. “pros kairon”). In Matthew 13:21 and Mark 4:17 the same expression is used and translated as “of the moment.” “Pros kairon” does not refer to temporary things in general, but to the things of a moment.

That aion does not stand over against time (Gr. chronos) is evident, for example, from the expression “eonian times” (e.g., 2 Timothy 1:9, “chronôn aiôniôn”).

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