Prayer of submission

God in Space and Time Perspective

Time and Eternity

Important Note. A clearer vision of this subject may be seen at Eternal "ideas" in God, and on a more recent essay Schema about... The "presentnes" of God.

Why these concepts. Concepts time-eternity are important to be able to "place" an eternal God in relationship with time, and to arrange God's transcendence with his immanence.

The Eternal-simultaneous can not be "measured" with the measures of time; measure or "mold" time is not appropriate to apply to the Eternal; eternity doesn't "fit" in time. However the Eternal enters his own way in time and to some extent he "adapts" to time and space, without changing the laws of the universe.

Time and eternity. Is eternity an infinite, indefinite time? Or is time a "portion" of eternity, of an "eternal" time?" They are not.

Time and eternity are two different and mutually exclusive concepts and realities; although, in the regular way of talking, we speak of eternity as if it would be an infinite time; a time without beginning and without end. This is not true; an endless time is not the real eternity.

We do not know if there might be a time without beginning; most scientists think that there was not, but rather that time started at one point; that it was created at the big bang. So, most probably there is not a time without beginning and without end, but time started and will end.

Definition of eternity. Eternity on the other hand is a different thing. The essence of eternity is that it does not have succession, as time has, but that it is an all simultaneously present. Boethius defined eternity as "interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio," which translates as "the total, simultaneous and perfect possession of an interminable life." The key words are total and simultaneous, that is, that the whole existence is present, simultaneously and without succession. This is the opposite of time, which is an existence in succession. They exclude one another; they are contrary to each other.

There is no duration for eternity, because duration implies succession, continuance in time. Thus, there are not two kinds of duration, one temporal and the other one eternal; transitory beings last for a period of time, but eternity simply is, without transition of time.

However, time and eternity coexist, and what is time for us, moving from past to future, is always present for eternity. It is in this sense and only in this sense, that time and eternity are the same act of existing, one successive and measurable, and the other one simultaneous and immeasurable.