Eternity

Classical Discussions

Perhaps one of the oldest discussions of a timeless eternity goes back to Parmenides of Elea (5th century BCE) and surrounds his notion of the One, though scholars disagree about this. Clearly, however, in Plato's Timaeus (37E6–38A6) there is a contrast between eternal and timeless forms and the world of change and becoming (with time being at least the measure of change). Time is famously termed by Plato “the moving image of eternity.” Eternity here is a “movingless” realm. Aristotle, in contrast, more modestly claims that the existence of necessary things (like a God) only requires that such necessary things be unbounded by time—but only in the sense that they cannot age (Physics 221 b30). Aristotle could be viewed as being an early proponent of eternity as everlastingness. Later, Philo Judaeus (20 BCE-50 CE) ascribes, possibly as the first Jewish philosopher, timelessness to the Jewish God. Plotinus (204–270 CE) goes further in identifying timeless eternity and life. Nous (or soul) for Plotinus is eternal and beyond time, enjoying duration without succession.

Subsequent ancient discussion of eternity in Western philosophy and theology has centered on the manner of God's existence. Book XI of the Confessions of Augustine and Book V of The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius are the most famous ancient sources.

Boethius distinguishes between timeless eternity, which only God enjoys, and the temporal everlastingness of the world itself. God's existence, however, being that of a living being could not be like the timeless existence of lifeless abstract objects like numbers or ideas. For Boethius, God has life, yet its life is all “at once,” or simultaneous. This atemporal simultaneity helps resolve the puzzle of how God's foreknowledge of all events is compatible with humans' real free will. (If God knows my choices in advance, then how can I really have the power to avoid making those choices?) For Boethius this is not a problem, because God does not know anything “in advance” but knows what happens atemporally

The puzzle that leads Augustine to agree with the atemporal view of eternity is this: How can God precede all times in order for God to create all times? After all, the notion of precedence is itself a temporal notion. Augustine concludes that only by being outside of time can God “precede” all times. God's type of eternity is “always in the present.” This divine present, of course, is not a moment in time or of time. There is no temporal sequence in God's manner of existence. God transcends time. Unlike his creation, God is changeless and exists necessarily. Augustine shares this view with Plato, that is, the assumption that change is a mark of imperfection. God's perfection, therefore, rules out its being subject to change and thus to time. If God were temporal, then God could in principle change, and perhaps the changing of a perfect nature could only lead God away from perfection. God must exist as a finished and perfect unity. Unlike material objects, God cannot be spread out in time (or in space). God must exist all at once.

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