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{{Short description|Endless time or timelessness}}
:''For other senses of the word "eternity", see [[eternity (disambiguation)]].''
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Other uses}}
{{redirect|Sempiternal|the album by Bring Me the Horizon|Sempiternal (album)}}


[[File:Unnecessarily complicated gears a.gif|thumb|upright=1.23|A neverending animation loop of gears turning]]
While in the popular mind, '''eternity''' often simply means existing for an [[infinity|infinite]], i.e., limitless, amount of [[time]], many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether '''outside of time'''. There are a number of [[arguments for eternity]], by which proponents of the concept, principally [[Aristotle]], purported to prove that matter, motion, and time must have existed eternally.
{{Time sidebar}}


'''Eternity''', in [[common parlance]], is an [[Infinity|infinite]] amount of [[time]] that never ends or the quality, condition or fact of being everlasting or eternal.<ref>{{Cite OED|eternity|id=64704}}</ref> [[Classical philosophy]], however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas '''sempiternity''' corresponds to infinite duration.
==Eternity as a timeless existence==


== Philosophy ==
[[Augustine of Hippo]] wrote that time exists only within the created universe, so that God exists outside of time; for [[God]] there is no past or future, but only an eternal present. One need not believe in God in order to hold this concept of eternity: for example, an atheist mathematician can maintain the philosophical tenet that numbers and the relationships among them exist outside of time, and so are in that sense eternal.
{{see also|Eternalism (philosophy of time)|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.{{which|date=March 2021}} Some thinkers, such as [[Aristotle]], suggest the [[Eternity of the world|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".{{sfnp|Boedder|1902|loc=book 2, ch. 2, "[https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/nath34.htm The Eternity of God]"}}{{efn|{{harvp|Boethius|523|loc=book 5, prose §. 6}}, quote: "{{lang|la|Aeternitas igitur est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio.}}"}} [[Thomas Aquinas]] believed that God's eternity does not cease, as it is without either a beginning or an end; the concept of eternity is of [[divine simplicity]], thus incapable of being defined or fully understood by humankind.{{sfnp|Helm|2010|loc=§. 6, "[https://stanford.library.sydney.edu.au/archives/sum2010/entries/eternity/#:~:text=Medieval%20thinkers,-It%20is%20in&text=For%20Aquinas%20God%27s%20eternity%20is,fully%20grasped%20by%20a%20creature. Medieval thinkers]"}}
[[Near-death experience]] testimonies typically speak of eternity as a timeless existence by stating that portions of experiences in the eternal world lasted, say, "an hour or a month, I don't know. There was no time."{{Who|date=July 2007}}


[[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".{{sfnp|Hobbes|1662|p=50}}
Another facet of eternity is that it is permanent in some aspects. Supposing we are in a state of eternity; a [[person]] could not break a [[pencil]] in two, or walk from a place to another since those actions have a before and an after: a [[time]] in which the pencil was whole and a time in which it no longer was. These changes correspond to time. Basically nothing can happen in eternity in the sense we understand it. In order for actions to happen, there must be a tense that corresponds to a continuing action: a tense in which past, present, and future are combined to form a continual action. One doesn't break the pencil, but one broke the pencil, breaks the pencil, and will break the pencil all at the same instant.


=== Contemporary philosophy and physics ===
== God and eternity ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Open theism]] -->
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 [[entropy as an arrow of time]].


== Religion ==
Theists say that [[God]] is ''eternally existent''. How this is understood depends on which definition of eternity is used. On the one hand, God may exist ''in'' eternity, a ''timeless'' existence where categories of past, present, and future just do not apply. On the other hand, God may exist ''for'' or ''through'' eternity, or at ''all times'', having already existed for an infinite amount of time and being expected to continue to exist for an infinite amount of time.
{{see also|God and eternity|Unto the ages of ages}}


Eternity as infinite duration is an important concept in many lives and [[religion]]s. [[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 [[Immortality|eternal life]].{{efn|For examples: {{harvp|Bassali|2008|p=138}}, quote: "In the next life, there will be two places only - heaven and hell. {{omission}} 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?"}} Christian theologians may regard [[immutability (theology)|immutability]], like the eternal [[Platonic realism|Platonic form]]s, as essential to eternity.{{sfnp|Deng|2018|loc=§. 3.1, "[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/eternity/#LociClas The {{lang|la|Loci Classici}}]"}}{{efn|{{harvp|Deng|2018}}, quote: "Augustine connects God's timeless eternity to God's being the cause of all times and God's immutability."}}
Whichever definition of eternity is understood, it is common to observe that finite human beings cannot fully understand eternity, since it is either an [[infinity|infinite]] amount of the time we know or something other than the time and space we know. For the ''infinite'' definition, there are parallels that give some notion of an infinity -- of at least a [[potential infinity]], or a [[sequence (mathematics)|series]] that begins and has not ended. A series of moments that has begun and not ended is however, not potentially eternal by that definition. A series of moments that has begun and not ended cannot be eternal, because even if it were to continue for the rest of (infinite) time, there would still be time prior to the initial moment in the series.
The series of moments could not ever exist for '''all''' eternity because no matter what happened during the series of moments, nothing would ever cause the series of moments to have existed since the beginning of "eternity", and thus could never achieve the status of ''eternal'' or even ''potentially eternal''.


== Symbolism ==
Related to the notion of eternal existence in the concept of God as Creator, as a being completely independent of "everything else" that exists because he created everything else. (Contrast this with [[panentheism]].) If this premise is true, then it follows that God is independent of both space and time, since these are properties of the [[universe]]. So according to this notion, God exists before time began, exists during all moments in time, and would continue to exist if somehow the universe and time itself were to cease to exist.
{{see also|Alpha and Omega|Armenian eternity sign|Engagement ring|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]], {{math|<math>\infty</math>}}. Symbolically these are reminders that eternity has no beginning or end.
Related to 'eternal life', the biblical [[revelation]] first indicated that Man as a special created being is able to grasp the abstract concept in contrast with the lower animal world which did not have the ability to understand the concept of "eternity". See book of [[Ecclesiastes]] 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set ''eternity'' in the hearts of men .." (from [[Bible]] translation in the N.I.V.). Contrast this with the ''timeless existence'' definition, which would imply animals are blessed with ''eternal life'' from birth (''because'' of their inability to grasp the concept of eternity or even ''time'') , which is something mankind gave up when he was cast out of the "Garden of Eden". It is commonly believed among theists that although mankind can grasp the abstract concept of "eternity", one may only obtain "eternal ''life''" once returned to God.


{{gallery|width=300px|height=300px
It is also equally possible that God can choose not to exist as he is all powerful, but eternity does not have this choice. After God there may be "nothing", and God himself will be powerless to prevent this so the state of "nothing" may remain forever. This is the very idea of eternity, where a state of series of events or motion or matter will continue in some way or another. This aspect of God and eternity leads to the human mind assuming that both are completely separate entities, and God himself is bound by the rules of eternity. There are no examples of this, and there never will be. Both entities in this aspect are beyond the "finite" capabilities of the human mind as mentioned above. It cannot be proven or unproven, for if it happened there would be no life or device to document this.
|File:Ouroboros.png|The [[ouroboros]]
|File:EndlessKnot03d.png|The "[[endless knot]]," a symbol of eternity used in [[Tibetan Buddhism]].
|File:Infinity symbol.svg|[[Infinity]] symbol variations
|File:Georgin François, The 3 Roads to Eternity, 1825 Cornell CUL PJM 1040 01.jpg|[[Folk art]] allegorical map "The 3 Roads to Eternity" from [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 7:13–14 by the woodcutter Georgin François (1801–1863) in 1825.
|File:Jacopo da Sellaio - Triumph of Eternity - 1485-90.jpg|Jacopo da Sellaio, Triumph of Eternity, 1485–1490
|File:Cagnacci Allegoria.jpg|An [[allegorical]] classical woman {{circa|1670s}}, representing eternity.{{efn|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 (religious iconography)|halo]] - symbols of eternity.}}
}}


== See also ==
See also [[the nature of God in monotheistic religions]].
{{Columnslist|colwidth=30em|

* [[Aeon]]
== Science and eternity ==
* Akal (Sikh term)

* [[Chronology of the universe]]
The modern [[theory of relativity]] provides a physical description of the universe in which the past and future may exist alongside the present. Some scientific theories of consciousness such as [[space-time theories of consciousness]] propose that the [[space-time]] continuum permits consciousness.
* [[Eternal Now (New Age)|Eternal now]]

* [[Eternal return]]
The physics taught in most schools describes the universe in terms of [[Galilean relativity]] in which only the durationless present exists. This concept is known as [[presentism (philosophy of time)|presentism]] and is widely believed.
* [[Everlasting life]]

* [[Eviternity]]
The modern [[theory of relativity]] provides a physical description of the universe which began at the [[Big Bang]]. [[NASA]] has been able to verify the time of the origin of the universe using the background radiation left over from the big bang. According to [[NASA]], time, space, and matter began 13.7 billion years plus or minus 1%.[http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/mr_age.html Nasa WMAP AGE] Since the discovery of the Big Bang scientists who agree to this theory consider time to have moved in a uni-direction forward direction. In this model the past precedes the present which precedes the future.
* [[Kalpa (aeon)|Kalpa]]

* [[Philosophical presentism]]
Opposite to the cosmic level, in the quantum world, the smallest distance that makes sense is the [[Planck length]]; at this level space-time itself becomes extremely distorted ([[quantum foam]]). Here the uncertainty principle allows particles and energy to briefly come into existence, and then annihilate, without violating conservation laws . Beyond the [[Planck time]] (1.855×10<sup>43</sup>), time itself as we know it is meaningless.
* [[Planck epoch]]

* [[Time perception]]
{{quotation|''One finds that time just disappears from the [[Wheeler-deWitt equation]], it is an issue that many theorists have puzzled about. It may be that the best way to think about quantum reality is to give up the notion of time - that the fundamental description of the universe must be timeless.'' Carlo Rovelli, physicist, University of the Mediterranean in Marseille, France. <ref>article Time May Not Exist, http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/in-no-time?</ref>
* [[Temporal finitism]]
* [[Wheel of time]]
}}
}}


== Symbolism and eternity ==
== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}


== References ==
Eternity is often symbolized by the image of a snake swallowing its own tail, known as [[Ouroboros]] (or Uroboros), though the symbol can also carry a number of other connotations.
{{Reflist}}


=== Works cited ===
The circle is also commonly used as a symbol for eternity. The related concept, [[infinity]], is symbolized by <math>\infty</math>.
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Bassali |first1=Maurice |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aoEha2bAEvgC |title=Where Will You Spend Eternity? |publisher=Xulon Press |isbn=9781606473276 |access-date=30 April 2021 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Boedder |first1=Bernard |year=1902 |url=https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/nath.htm |title=Natural Theology |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |via=University of Notre Dame |access-date=July 29, 2022 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326021842/https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/nath.htm |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite Wikisource |last1=Boethius |first1=Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus |title=De philosophiae consolatione Boethius |wslanguage=la |wslink=De_philosophiae_consolatione/Liber_Quintus#XI |ref={{harvid|Boethius|523}} |author-link=Boethius}}
* {{Cite SEP |author-last1=Deng |author-first1=Natalja |url-id=eternity |title=Eternity in Christian Thought |edition=Fall 2018 |ref={{harvid|Deng|2018}}}}
* {{Cite SEP |author-last1=Helm |author-first1=Paul |url-id=eternity |title=Eternity |edition=Summer 2010 |ref={{harvid|Helm|2010}}}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hobbes |first1=Thomas |title=Mr. Hobbes considered in his loyalty, religion, reputation, and manners, by way of a letter to Dr. Wallis |year=1662 |author-link=Thomas Hobbes}}
{{Refend}}


== Further reading ==
There is a folk story where a wise shepherd boy is brought to a king to answer three questions. The third question he is asked to answer is "How many seconds are in eternity?" The boy responds by telling the king there is a mountain that is one hour deep, one hour long, and one hour wide. It is comprised entirely of diamond and every century a little bird comes to sharpen its beak on the mountain. The boy tells the king that when the mountain is entirely worn down one second of eternity will have passed.
* {{Cite book |last=Yu |first=Jiyuan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5pRlUoAbmIC&pg=PA188 |title=The Structure of Being in Aristotle's Metaphysics |publisher=Springer |year=2003 |pages=188–|isbn=9781402015373 }}


== See also ==
== External links ==
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/eternity/ Entry] in the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] on Eternity.
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/g/god-time.htm Entry] in the [[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] on the relationship between [[God]] and [[Time]].


{{Time Topics}}
* [[Eternal return]]
{{Time in religion and mythology}}
* [[Pantheism]]
* [[Presentism (philosophy of time)|Presentism]]
{{Time in philosophy}}
{{Infinity}}
* [[Steady-state universe]]
{{Spirituality-related topics}}
* [[Block time]]
{{Authority control}}
* [[Theory of everything]]
{{sister bar|auto=yes|wikt=eternity}}
* [[Theory of everything (philosophy)|Theory of everything]] (philosophy)
* [[Teleology]]
* [[Perennial philosophy]]
* [[Eternalist]]


[[Category:Metaphysical properties]]
<references/>

[[Category:Christian eschatology]]
[[Category:Philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Philosophy of science]]
[[Category:Philosophy of science]]
[[Category:Theology]]
[[Category:Philosophy of time]]
[[Category:Philosophy of religion]]

[[Category:Infinity]]

[[da:Evighed]]
[[de:Ewigkeit]]
[[es:Eternidad]]
[[fr:Éternité]]
[[id:Keabadian]]
[[it:Eternità]]
[[he:נצח]]
[[la:Aeternitas]]
[[nl:Eeuwigheid]]
[[pl:Wieczność]]
[[pt:Eternidade]]
[[ru:Вечность]]
[[sk:Večnosť]]
[[sv:Evighet]]
[[tr:Sonsuzluk]]

Latest revision as of 08:08, 30 September 2024

For other uses, see Eternity (disambiguation).
"Sempiternal" redirects here. For the album by Bring Me the Horizon, see Sempiternal (album).
A neverending animation loop of gears turning
Time
Major concepts
Fields of study
Philosophy
Related topics

Eternity, in common parlance, is an infinite amount of 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.

Philosophy

[edit]
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.[which?] 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][a] Thomas Aquinas believed that God's eternity does not cease, as it is without either a beginning or an end; the concept of eternity is of divine simplicity, thus incapable of being defined or fully understood by humankind.[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

[edit]

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 entropy as an arrow of time.

Religion

[edit]
See also: God and eternity and Unto the ages of ages

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.[b] Christian theologians may regard immutability, like the eternal Platonic forms, as essential to eternity.[5][c]

Symbolism

[edit]
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.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  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

[edit]
  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

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
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