Bible Encyclopedia: Perdition

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

PERDITION

per-dish'-un (apoleia, "ruin" or "loss," physical or eternal): The word "perdition" occurs in the English Bible 8 times (John 17:12 Philippians 1:28 2 Thessalonians 2:3 1 Timothy 6:9 Hebrews 10:39 2 Peter 3:7 Revelation 17:11, 18). In each of these cases it denotes the final state of ruin and punishment which forms the opposite to salvation. The verb apolluein, from which the word is derived, has two meanings:

(1) to lose;

(2) to destroy.

Both of these pass over to the noun, so that apoleia comes to signify:

(1) loss;

(2) ruin, destruction.

The former occurs in Matthew 26:8 Mark 14:4, the latter in the passages cited above. Both meanings had been adopted into the religious terminology of the Scriptures as early as the Septuagint. "To be lost" in the religious sense may mean "to be missing" and "to be ruined," The former meaning attaches to it in the teaching of Jesus, who compares the lost sinner to the missing coin, the missing sheep, and makes him the object of a seeking activity (Matthew 10:6; Matthew 15:24; Matthew 18:11 Luke 15:4, 6, 8, 24, 32; Luke 19:10). "To be lost" here signifies to have become estranged from God, to miss realizing the relations which man normally sustains toward Him. It is equivalent to what is theologically called "spiritual death." This conception of "loss" enters also into the description of the eschatological fate of the sinner as assigned in the judgment (Luke 9:24; Luke 17:33), which is a loss of life. The other meaning of "ruin" and "destruction" describes the same thing from a different point of view. Apoleia being the opposite of soteria, and soteria in its technical usage denoting the reclaiming from death unto life, apoleia also acquires the specific sense of such ruin and destruction as involves an eternal loss of life (Philippians 1:28 Hebrews 10:39). Perdition in this latter sense is equivalent to what theology calls "eternal death." When in Revelation 17:8, 11 it is predicated of "the beast," one of the forms of the world-power, this must be understood on the basis of the Old Testament prophetic representation according to which the coming judgment deals with powers rather than persons.

The Son of Perdition is a name given to Judas (John 17:12) and to the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This is the well-known Hebrew idiom by which a person typically embodying a certain trait or character or destiny is called the son of that thing. The name therefore represents Judas and the Antichrist (see MAN OF SIN) as most irrecoverably and completely devoted to the final apoleia.

Geerhardus Vos

Greek

684. apoleia -- destruction, loss
... 684 ("perdition") does imply "annihilation" (see the meaning of the root-verb, 622 ,
"cut off") but instead "loss of -being" rather than (, 165; cf. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/684.htm - 7k

Library

Then Shall the Son of Perdition be Brought Forward...
... Piece XL. Then shall the son of perdition be brought forward� Then shall
the son of perdition be brought forward, to wit, the ...
/.../the extant works and fragments of hippolytus/piece xl then shall the.htm

The Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition
... Names And Titles of the Antichrist 2. The Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition. ... "The
Son of Perdition." And again we are forced to exclaim, what a frightful name! ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the antichrist/2 the man of sin.htm

Whosoever do not Persevere are not Distinguished from the Mass of ...
... A Treatise on rebuke and grace, Chapter 16."Whosoever Do Not Persevere are Not
Distinguished from the Mass of Perdition by Predestination. ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/chapter 16 whosoever do not persevere.htm

The Patience of the Heathen Very Different from Christian Patience ...
... Chapter XVI."The Patience of the Heathen Very Different from Christian Patience
Theirs Doomed to Perdition. Ours Destined to Salvation. ...
/.../tertullian/of patience/chapter xvi the patience of the.htm

Thereafter He Expounds the Appellation of "Son," and of "Product ...
... he expounds the appellation of "Son," and of "product of generation," and very many
varieties of "sons," of God, of men, of rams, of perdition, of light, and ...
/.../gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/section 6 thereafter he expounds.htm

The Antichrist Will be Judas Reincarnated
... Life" is of the true Christ. Nor is this verse in Isa.28 the only one where
the Son of Perdition is so denominated. In Rev.6 a four ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the antichrist/iii the antichrist will be.htm

Idols not to be Made, Much Less Worshipped. Idols and Idol-Makers ...
... together. And again: "I swear to you, sinners, that against the day of
perdition of blood [181] repentance is being prepared. Ye ...
//christianbookshelf.org/tertullian/on idolatry/chapter iv idols not to be.htm

Because the Rapture of a Part of the Church Only, Would Leave the ...
... days of the apostle Paul and which has been hindered from coming to complete fruition
will yet head up in the appearing of the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the redeemers return/4 because the rapture of.htm

Eternal Election...
... We believe that, all the posterity of Adam being thus fallen into perdition and
ruin by the sin of our first parents, God then did manifest Himself such as He ...
/.../various/the belgic confession /article xvi eternal election.htm

The Present Working of the Mystery of Iniquity Proves that There ...
... deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition" (2:Thess.2 ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the redeemers return/4 the present working of.htm

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death.

2. (n.) Loss of diminution.

Topical Bible Verses

Matthew 25:46
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Topicalbible.org

2 Thessalonians 1:9
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Topicalbible.org

Thesaurus

Perdition (14 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) Loss of diminution. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. PERDITION.
per-dish'-un (apoleia, "ruin" or "loss," physical or eternal ...
/p/perdition.htm - 14k

Damn
... to sentence; to censure. 2. (vt) To doom to punishment in the future world;
to consign to perdition; to curse. 3. (vt) To condemn ...
/d/damn.htm - 13k

Damnation (11 Occurrences)
... in the New Testament, and is always translated in the King James Version and the
Revised Version (British and American) by either "perdition" or "destruction ...
/d/damnation.htm - 18k

Damnable (1 Occurrence)
... in the New Testament, and is always translated in the King James Version and the
Revised Version (British and American) by either "perdition" or "destruction ...
/d/damnable.htm - 14k

Premillennial
... the falling away," or apostasy, and the appearing of a powerful adversary, whom
he calls "the Man of Sin," and describes as "the Son of Perdition." Neither the ...
/p/premillennial.htm - 23k

Millennium
... the falling away," or apostasy, and the appearing of a powerful adversary, whom
he calls "the Man of Sin," and describes as "the Son of Perdition." Neither the ...
/m/millennium.htm - 24k

Wild (147 Occurrences)
... 17:8 "The Wild Beast which you have seen was, and is not, and yet is destined to
re-ascend, before long, out of the bottomless pit and go his way into perdition...
/w/wild.htm - 50k

Guarded (27 Occurrences)
... While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me: and I guarded
them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the ...
/g/guarded.htm - 14k

Gavest (36 Occurrences)
... I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me
I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the ...
/g/gavest.htm - 17k

Inhabitants (254 Occurrences)
... 17:8 "The Wild Beast which you have seen was, and is not, and yet is destined to
re-ascend, before long, out of the bottomless pit and go his way into perdition...
/i/inhabitants.htm - 41k

Bible Concordance

Perdition (14 Occurrences)

John 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the Message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are on the way to perdition, but it is the power of God to those whom He is saving.
(WEY)

2 Corinthians 4:3 If, however, the meaning of our Good News has been veiled, the veil has been on the hearts of those who are on the way to perdition,
(WEY)

Philippians 1:28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
(KJV ASV WBS)

Philippians 3:19 whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and 'whose' glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
(ASV)

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
(KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS RSV)

2 Thessalonians 2:10 and by every kind of wicked deception for those who are on the way to perdition because they did not welcome into their hearts the love of the truth, so that they might be saved.
(WEY)

1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
(KJV ASV WBS)

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS)

2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
(KJV WBS)

Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
(KJV WEY ASV WBS RSV)

Revelation 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
(KJV WEY ASV WBS RSV)

2 Samuel 22:5 For the waves of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
(See RSV)

Psalms 18:4 The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
(See RSV)

Subtopics

Perdition

Related Terms

Damn

Damnation (11 Occurrences)

Damnable (1 Occurrence)

Premillennial

Millennium

Wild (147 Occurrences)