How to convey "everlasting/eternal life"

[eleison]

Hi,

I'm trying to convey the meaning of eternal life (in the Christian sense). So far online, im getting this:

Is that correct? Would most Chinese understand this if they saw these two characters together?

Thank you!

[muyongshi]

Yes that is the typical term or you could say 永远的生命 if you want to be clear on it. But just like most things, this concept will need to be explained in context, as really no nation on earth originally had this concept.

[Lu]

Wouldn't it be something like 長壽不死? There must be a nice four-character expression for this idea.

永生 looks a bit stunted to me, more translated English than real Chinese.

[skylee]

I would say that it is usually 永生 if the term is used in the Christian sense.

[eleison]

I checked a bunch of Bibles in Chinese (John 3:16) and all of them use "永生"... A lot of chinese church websites also use 永生 to convey eternal life... I asked on a japanese message board and they said 永生 is recognizable, but usually use 一生or 永遠

[imron]

I asked on a japanese message board and they said 永生 is recognizable, but usually use 一生or 永遠

Well, I guess it just depends then on whether you want to use the Chinese word, or the Japanese word.

[monto]

长生不老 or 万寿无疆

these are terms for "everlasting/eternal life" in matter-of-fact way.

永生 has the meaning of everlasting/eternal life, but sometimes can be used to mention a heroic or sacred death.