The term "world" has three distinct meanings:
1. In modern secular usage, it means simply the planet Earth.
2. In traditional Christian usage, it means the visible universe subject to God's will. "World" in English is the translation of "kosmos" from biblical Greek and "mundus" from the Latin Vulgate. Phrases such as "world without end" mean "God's universe without end," not "Earth without end."
3. In certain Christian usage, it means the world of sin and estranged from God. This is the sense when Christ said, "I am not praying for the world."
- ↑ John 17:9