Over at James Attebury’s blog, he has written “Part 16: The Trinity in Hebrews” in his series against David K. Bernard’s “The Oneness of God.” There he repeated the same error that he made in “Part 11: John 1:1” regarding the prologue of John’s Gospel.
“But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
This is the same claim he made about Jesus creating the world in John 1.
Here is what I had written previously:
Indeed, the etymology of the English word world is, roughly speaking ,an “old man age” or an era of time (e.g. an age of mankind). However, in the Greek it goes beyond merely a time period to encompass the realities or essence of life in an era, as in an “age of life.” In doing so, it captures the sense of eras as life transitioning from one kind to another over time. So we can speak of the age of prophets or the age of Noah, but we can also speak of an age of childhood or an age of evil, or even the spirit of the age because “age” does not pertain to specific time periods, but more so to the qualities of each era.
So corrupt is this verse in the Bible, that the NIV translated ages not as world but as universe! Consequently, given these ridiculously misleading translations, it is difficult for many Christians to understand that when the Bible speaks of the ages past, it is not talking about the creation of the physical world (or universe), but of all the many worlds—spheres of life and action—that saw their fulfillment in Jesus.
In English, the word “world” is used a 8 times in the book of Hebrews in the ESV translation that Attebury uses. Let’s look at them all and see what we find.
…but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world [aiōnas].
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world [oikoumenēn], he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world [oikoumenēn] to come, of which we are speaking.
For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world [kosmou].
…for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world [kosmou]. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Consequently, when Christ came into the world [kosmon], he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world [kosmon] and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
…of whom the world [kosmos] was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Here are the 3 different words used in 5 different forms in a total of 8 uses:
(1x) aión:— age, cycle (of time), forever, everlasting, long period of time, world
(2x) oikoumené:— world, inhabited earth, inhabited land, place where humans are, the extent of the Roman empire
(5x) kosmos:—world, universe, order(ed system), arrangement, adornment, inhabitants of the world, worldly systems.
First, there is another Greek word that refers to the earth or land proper. It is “ge.” That word is used eleven times in Hebrews is translated as ground (or soil), land, or earth. It is the Greek word that emphasizes the physical aspect of the world. It typically excluded water. It’s almost never translated as “world” in English since “earth” is a better choice, but it possibly could be as it is here in the KJV.
Second, the word that Attebury relies on—aiōnas—is not found elsewhere in Hebrews where “world” is the intended meaning. Properly it means “ages” or “cycles of time.” As noted above, it can only mean “world” in the uncommon English sense of an age or era of life. It carries connotations of time as well as metaphorical spiritual and moral overtones (e.g. “fallen world”). It does not denote or connote physicality, and thus does not refer to all of creation. Translating it as “world” is extremely misleading. Translating it as “universe” (as the NIV does) is arguably fraudulent.
Third, the second Greek word—oikoumené—more properly translates to the geographical place of habitation where mankind dwells. This is close to the English word “world” with the addition that it implies habitation. It does not refer to the world entirely without respect to humanity. So, like “age,” it does not refer to all of creation. Translating it as “world” is potentially, but not necessarily, misleading.
Fourth, the third Greek word—kosmos—from which we get our word cosmos (meaning universe) is a more proper word for “world.” It has strong idiomatic connotations (the world as an arrangement or ordered system) and carries the active sense of being or having been ordered. It’s not a terrible translation for the English word “creation” (referencing the ordered system God created). It can also refer to the inhabitants of the world, rather than being a purely physical aspect. This reference to the people of the world is especially notable in 10:5, 11:7, 11:38. It may also be implied in 4:3 and 9:26 where “foundation of the earth” (literally, the “thrown down world”) refers to the earthly inhabitants being deposited by God on earth, but it may simply refer to the act of creation in general. Translating it as “world” is generally reasonable, even if it is unclear whether it refers to the earth itself, the inhabitants of the earth, or both.
Fifth, the Greek word kosmos—the closest match to the English words “creation” or “world”—was not used in the passage where Jesus is supposedly said to have “created the world.” The word used here is plural, not singular. Jesus didn’t create the cosmos (singular), creation (singular), world (singular), or universe (singular). Rather, he is said to have created the ages (plural) or eras (plural). The former connotes land and habitation, the latter connotes time and state. Regardless of the identification of those ages, Jesus cannot be said to have created all of creation—kosmos—on the basis of the word aión.