Eternity

Eternity, in common parlance, means infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal.[1] Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas sempiternity corresponds to infinite duration.

Time
Major concepts
Fields of study
Philosophy
  • Presentism
  • Eternalism
  • Event
  • Fatalism
  • Religion
  • Mythology
Related topics

Philosophy
See also: Eternalism (philosophy of time) and Philosophy of space and time

Classical philosophy defines eternity as what exists outside time, as in describing timeless supernatural beings and forces, distinguished from sempiternity which corresponds to infinite time, as described in requiem prayers for the dead. Some thinkers, such as Aristotle, suggest the eternity of the natural cosmos in regard to both past and future eternal duration. Boethius defined eternity as "simultaneously full and perfect possession of interminable life".[2][lower-alpha 1] Thomas Aquinas believed that God's eternity does not cease, as it is without either a beginning or and end; the concept of eternity is of divine simplicity, thus incapable of being defined or fully understood by mankind.[3]

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and many others in the Age of Enlightenment drew on the classical distinction to put forward metaphysical hypotheses such as "eternity is a permanent now".[4]

Contemporary philosophy and physics

Today cosmologists, philosophers, and others look towards analyses of the concept from across cultures and history. They debate, among other things, whether an absolute concept of eternity has real application for fundamental laws of physics; compare the issue of the entropy as an arrow of time.

Religion

Eternity as infinite duration is an important concept in many lives and religions. God or gods are often said to endure eternally, or exist for all time, forever, without beginning or end. Religious views of an afterlife may speak of it in terms of eternity or eternal life.[lower-alpha 2] Christian theologians may regard immutability, like the eternal Platonic forms, as essential to eternity.[5][lower-alpha 3]

Symbolism
See also: Alpha and Omega, Armenian eternity sign, Engagement ring, and Eternity ring

Eternity is often symbolized by the endless snake, swallowing its own tail, the ouroboros. The circle, band, or ring is also commonly used as a symbol for eternity, as is the mathematical symbol of infinity, . Symbolically these are reminders that eternity has no beginning or end.

  • The ouroboros
  • The "endless knot," a symbol of eternity used in Tibetan Buddhism
  • Infinity symbol variations
  • Folk art allegorical map "The 3 Roads to Eternity" from Matthew 7:13-14 by the woodcutter Georgin François (1801–1863) in 1825.
  • An allegorical classical woman c. 1670s, representing eternity.[lower-alpha 4]

See also

Notes
  1. Boethius (523), book 5, prose §. 6, quote: "Aeternitas igitur est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio."
  2. For examples: Bassali (2008), p. 138, quote: "In the next life, there will be two places only - heaven and hell. ... In heaven, you will spend an eternity of bliss, light, and glory with God. In hell, you will spend an eternity of woe, darkness and torment apart from God. Which of these two places would you prefer to spend your eternity?"
  3. Deng (2018), quote: "Augustine connects God's timeless eternity to God's being the cause of all times and God's immutability."
  4. She holds up an hourglass, her elbow above a human skull and in her lower hand two flowers in maturity, one of which is a dandelion blowball or clock (seed head), reminders of transience. An Ouroboros, snake swallowing its own tail, floats above her head as a halo - symbols of eternity.

References
  1. "eternity". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. Boedder (1902), book 2, ch. 2, "The Eternity of God".
  3. Helm (2010), §. 6, "Medieval thinkers".
  4. Hobbes (1662), p. 50.
  5. Deng (2018), §. 3.1, "The Loci Classici".

Works cited

Further reading
  • Entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Eternity.
  • Entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on the relationship between God and Time.
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