In Part 1 we considered time as both linear and circular. In Part 2 we considered time as both profane and sacred. In Part 3 we will consider time and eternity.
Christian philosophical theology draws our attention to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” It also draws our attention to John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Christian understanding of these two verses is time began in the beginning of creation. Therefore, eternity is more than just the totality of time and is understood as having no beginning and no end.
On these points, Christian philosophical theology again draws our attention toward understanding God is eternal and God’s creation is temporal. As a beginningless and endless duration that exists above and beyond time, to be eternal means to be non-temporal. God’s very being is not understood as existing for an especially long quantity of time. God’s own essence and existence have the eternal quality of timelessness.
In his Summa theologiae, St. Thomas Aquinas states, “God is not only his own essence . . . but also his own existence.” Thomas Aquinas draws this conclusion from Exodus 3:14 when God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” For God, his essence (what God is) and his existence (that by which God is) are both found in God himself.
I invite you to read Apologetics and Catechesis to better understand how time and eternity are relevant to better understanding the essence and existence of God.
~ Boethius ~