Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and many others in theAge of Enlightenment drew on the classical distinction to put forward metaphysical hypotheses such as "eternity is a permanent now".[31]
Eternity as infinite duration is an important concept in many lives andreligions.God or gods are often said to endure eternally, or exist for all time, forever, without beginning or end. Religious views of anafterlife may speak of it in terms of eternity oreternal life.[f] Christian theologians may regardimmutability, like the eternalPlatonic forms, as essential to eternity.[47][g]
The ancient greek word for everlasting and, or, eternal exists in theOrphica Hymni.[48]
Boethius stated eternity was: interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio,[49] which is translated as "simultaneously full and perfect possession of interminable life".[50][h] and nunc permanens, which in English is a: permanent now.[49]Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225 – 1274) believed in an eternal God, without either a beginning or end; the concept of eternity is ofdivine simplicity, thus incapable of being defined or fully understood by humankind.[51]
Eternity is often symbolized by the endless snake, swallowing its own tail, theouroboros. The circle, band, or ring is also commonly used as a symbol for eternity, as is the mathematicalsymbol of infinity,. Symbolically these are reminders that eternity has no beginning or end.
^Cicero used the word aeternitatis, written at some uncertain time between the years 88 - 81 BC[1] (work:De Inventione 1, 27, 39.[2]: tempus autem est—id quo nunc utimur, nam ipsum quidem generaliter definire difficile est—pars quaedam aeternitatis cum alicuius annui, menstrui, diurni nocturnive spatii certa significatione.[3]) which is an early or the earliest extant written form from which the English word is derived;[4] first shown in history in an approx. 1374 translation byChaucer.[5] The first usage in French is 1175: eternitez:B. de Ste-Maure, 'Ducs Normandie.[6]
^Earliest / oldest extant source: 1599[7]:[8] "thy muse to sempiternity"[9]
^Deng (2018), quote: "Augustine connects God's timeless eternity to God's being the cause of all times and God's immutability."
^Boethius (523), book 5, prose §. 6, quote: "Aeternitas igitur est interminabilis uitae tota simul et perfecta possessio"
^She holds up anhourglass, her elbow above a human skull and in her lower hand two flowers in maturity, one of which is adandelion blowball or clock (seed head), reminders of transience. AnOuroboros, snake swallowing its own tail, floats above her head as ahalo - symbols of eternity.
^Noah Webster (1856)."ETH EUD".A Dictionary of the English Language Exhibiting the Origin, Orthography, Pronunciation and Definitions of Words.George Routledge & Company. p. 369.Eternity the state or time after death: as, at death we enter oneternity
^Clare, I. S. (1906). Library of universal history: containing a record of the human race from the earliest historical period to the present time; embracing a general survey of the progress of mankind in national and social life, civil government, religion, literature, science and art. New York: Union Book. p. 1519 (cf., Ancient history, as we have already seen, ended with thefall of the Western Roman Empire; [...])
^United Center for Research and Training in History. (1973). Bulgarian historical review. Sofia: Pub. House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences]. p. 43. (cf. ... in the history of Europe, which marks both the end of ancient history and the beginning of the Middle Ages, isthe fall of the Western Roman Empire.)
^Robert Parker (March 7, 2016)."Aion: Extract".Oxford Classical Dictionary.Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.227.In early Greek αἰών means...'whole lifetime'...perhaps through application to the kosmos, the lifetime of which is never-ending, that the word acquired the sense of eternity (cf. Pl. Ti. 37d; Arist. Cael. 279a23–8)
^Aristotle. "BOOK I. 9".DE CAELO(PDF). Translated byJ. L. Stocks; H. B. Wallis.St John's College, Oxford University:Humphrey Milford 1922. p. 279, lines 25-28, footnote – via Robert Parker (2016) Oxford Classical Dictionary doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.227.On the same principle the fulfilment of the whole heaven, the fulfilment which includes all time and infinity, is 'duration' a name based upon the fact that it isalways1 duration immortal and divine.1 αἰών is derived from άεἰ ὢν. (Preface textual notes -Prantl taken as basis.)
^J.R.G.; J.C.B. (1880)."LETTER VIII".A Discussion on the Doctrine of Endless Punishment BETWEEN Rev. J.R.Graves, D. D., L. L. D., Editor of "the BAPTIST," Memphis Tenn. AND Rev. John C. BURRUSS, Editor of the "UNIVERSALIST HERALD" Notasulga Ala. ATLANTA, GA.: J.O. Perkins & Co. p. 136.
^Giannis Stamatellos (December 2013).Eternity in Plotinus: Abstract. DEREE-Αμερικανικό Κολλέγιο Ελλάδος,Athens – via Giannis Stamatellos (2007) Plotinus and the Presocratics: A Philosophical Study of Presocratic Influences in Plotinus' Enneads: "Plotinus’ central discussion on eternity (αἰών) and time (χρóνος) appears in Ennead III.7, On Eternity and Time." SUNY Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Deng, Natalja. Edward N. Zalta; Uri Nodelman (eds.)."Eternity Theloci classici".The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2025 Edition).(Following the work of Boethius and Augustine) [ed.:ofThagaste] (divine timelessness became the dominant view.)...what came to be the dominant account of eternity in western philosophy and theology, are to be found in
^D. A. Ziborova."TIME-ETERNITY: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPORAL CONCEPTIN THE CONTEXT OF ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY".UDC.94 (32). V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University: 79.ancient Egyptians temporal categories: nHH (neheh) and Dt (djet) and their comparison with the tradition of ancient Greek philosophy. It is shown that these terms can be defined as time-eternity. Attention is focused on the definition of the term nHH as associated with the solar god and the cyclic movement, innite duration of recovery and cyclic length, and term Dt as the eternity associated with Osiris, the other world of the dead, imperishableness, constancy and "eternal sameness".
^Janice Kamrin (February 1, 2017)."Timeline of Art History Telling Time in Ancient Egypt". 1000Fifth Avenue New York:The Metropolitan Museum of Art.two kinds of eternity. Linear time, or djet, associated with the funerary god Osiris, had a beginning and would have an end, albeit in the infinitely far future. Neheh, cyclical time, was tied to the passage of the sun through the sky during the day and the Netherworld during the night. Ideally, an Egyptian who had lived according to the precepts of maat by supporting and maintaining the proper order of a just cosmos, and who had been accorded a proper burial, would live forever (djet) and ever (neheh).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^abOleh Uwe Hummel (June 2016)."NAMA ALLAH: DIMULIAKAN ATAU DIPERALAT?"(PDF).PAMBELUM: Jurnal Teologi Kontekstual (in Indonesian).6 (1).Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Gereja Kalimantan Evangelis: stt-gke.ac.id: 9.El –Olam: Nama םל וֹע לאberarti "Allah yang Kekal". Olam sebenarnya berarti jagad raya (universe) atau kekekalan (eternity). El Olam identik dengan "TUHAN" (הוהי), yaitu Allah yang disembah oleh para leluhur Israel di Bersyeba (lihat Kej. 21:33; Maz. 90:1-3; Yes.26:4).
Boedder, Bernard (1902).Natural Theology. Longmans, Green, and Co. Archived fromthe original on March 26, 2023. RetrievedJuly 29, 2022 – via University of Notre Dame.
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