Time and Eternity

“As if in present time for tense has no meaning
For that which stands outside of time” [1]
Creation

Anything created has a beginning; its creation is its beginning. God is the Creator of all things. God existed before all the things that God created. If God were created, then something would have to exist before God in order to create God. But God is the Creator of all things. Therefore, God must be Uncreated.

The Uncreated has no beginning, because a thing’s creation is its beginning. Anything that exists and has no beginning must always have existed. God exists and is uncreated, therefore God has no beginning and has always existed. God exists always, even before Time began, even beyond Time. Time is a created thing, and so Time had a beginning, but God has no beginning and no end. Time cannot always have existed, because then Time would be an uncreated thing, like God. There is only one God. God is the One Creator of all things, therefore there is only one uncreated thing. God alone is Uncreated.

Time and Place

Time is the ordering and separation of events into a fixed sequence of before and after. Within Time, events occur in a fixed sequence. First one event happens; next another event happens. The ordering is absolute in the sense that, once a sequence of events has occurred, the order of the events cannot be changed. The order is fixed and cannot be altered. Events are not only ordered by Time, they are also separated by Time. Time orders and separates events.

For example, if you (a) break a vase, and then (b) glue the vase together, you cannot then change the order of those events to (b) glue the vase, and then (a) break a vase. You could follow the gluing of the vase with a new third event, (c) breaking the vase again. But you cannot change the order of events. In another example, the things you did on Monday were followed by the things you did on Tuesday. But on Wednesday you cannot change the order, so that the things you did on Tuesday were placed before the things you did on Monday. And the things you did on Monday are separated in Time from the things you did on Tuesday, and so on. Events within Time are separated and ordered, and as a result, the order of events within Time is fixed. Time is the fixed ordering and separation of events into before and after.

Place is the ordering and separation of things. Place is the separation and ordering of things and events into here and there. Notice that the definition of Place is basically the same as the definition of Time. Time and Place are basically the same. Some scientists talk about a space-time continuum, i.e. that time and space are different aspects of the same thing. Time and Place order and separate events and things.

Time and Place is the ordering and separation of created things. Without created things, there is no Time or Place. God created all things from beyond Time and Place. God created Time and Place by creating all things.

Time and Place are basically the same, and so timelessness is basically the same as placelessness. Therefore, Eternity must be both timeless and placeless, must be both beyond Time and beyond Place. God created all things from Eternity.

God Is One

Saint Augustine said: “God is truly and absolutely simple.” [2] God is not divided into parts. God is not divided into qualities, such as love, mercy, justice, knowledge, etc. God is not divided into qualities that God possesses and the use of those qualities by God. God is not divided into who God is and what God does. God-is-good and God-does-good are the same in God. God is One.

Everything that God Is/Does is One

All that God is, and all that God does, is One Divine Act. [3] Love, mercy, justice, and every other good found in God, are all one in God. And God does not possess these as qualities or attributes. God does not possesses love or mercy or justice or knowledge. God is love, mercy, justice, knowledge, etc. And these words, when applied to God, are merely different descriptions of the same exact thing.

In God, being is doing and doing is being. God is love because God unceasingly and eternally loves. God unceasingly and eternally loves because God is love. Being love and doing love are one and the same in God. God does not possess any unused potential to love, nor any unused potential at all. If a human being stops loving, that human being does not stop existing. But if God stopped loving, then God would stop existing. Existence and Love (and all other good found in God) are One in God. Existence and Love are One Divine Act in God. Love, mercy, justice, patience, knowledge, will, thought, etc. are all the One Divine Act of being/doing that is God.

God is One Divine Eternal Act

God is not divided by Time. God is Eternal, existing beyond Time, unbounded by Time. God is able to be present throughout all Time and throughout all Creation, without being in any way limited by Time or Place. Everything is as if present tense to God, because God stands outside of Time. Everywhen—past, present, future,—is as if present tense to God, because God stands throughout Time and beyond Time. But even the expression “present tense” is not completely accurate, because God is beyond even the present tense of Time. Everything is timeless to God.

All that God Is and all that God Does is One Divine Eternal Act. The One Divine Eternal Act is Existence, Love, Mercy, Justice, Willing, Knowing, Creating, or whatever other descriptive terms our limited and imperfect human language might apply. God is One Divine Eternal Act.

God’s act of sending the just to Heaven and the wicked to Hell is One Act. And that One Act Is God. Is it God’s Justice that sends the damned to Hell? Yes, but God is One. Therefore, God’s Love and Mercy, as well as His Justice, send the damned to Hell. Is it by the Mercy of God that we enter into Heaven? Yes, but God is One. Therefore, God’s Justice, as well as His Love and Mercy, send the Elect to Heaven. The One Divine Eternal Act of Existence and Knowledge and Will (and Love and Mercy and Justice and so on) sends the just to Heaven and the wicked to Hell.

Everything that God is/does, throughout Time and beyond Time—every grace, every miracle, every act of Providence, everything without exception,—is One Divine Eternal Act. Everything that God is/does, throughout all Time and all Creation and beyond, is One Divine Eternal Act. And the One Divine Eternal Act is beyond Time and Place. And the One Divine Eternal Act is God.

Grace and Providence

Why does God do one thing and not another? The true complete answer is: God. All that God is/does is One, therefore, God’s “reason” for doing something with His Grace and Providence can only be one thing: God. All that God is/does is the reason for anything that God does. God is the Reason. Any other explanation for anything that God is/does can only ever be a partial explanation, because God is One. God’s reason for anything and everything must be One. God is the One Reason for everything God is/does. God is His own Reason.

Grace is the effects wrought by God in the soul. Providence is the effects wrought by God in the course of events. Since God understands all Creation, throughout all Time, all in One Divine Eternal Act, God dispenses His Grace and Providence all in One Divine Eternal Act. God does not give Grace and Providence to one situation, then see what the result is, then decide what to do next based on the result. God understands everything all at once, so God knows what to do with Grace and Providence all at once. Therefore, the future is not conditional to God.

Some people think that God waits to see what people will do, and then changes His plan for the future based on how people have responded to His Grace and Providence. Some people say that predictions which come from God, such as Bible prophecy or private revelation, are conditional and could change or be delayed based on our response to God’s Grace and Providence. Not so.

How does God decide which events to influence, and how to influence them, to produce a desired result? It is not the case that God sees an event in the present, then figures out what the effect of influencing that event will be in the future. Rather, God is present throughout all Time and all Creation, and beyond Time and Creation, as One Divine Eternal Act. Time is no obstacle to God. God is not stuck in Today, remembering Yesterday and figuring out Tomorrow. God exists beyond Time. God understands everything, throughout all Time and all Creation, all in One Divine Eternal Act. God is One Divine Eternal Act. Divine Revelation about future events, (such as the Book of Revelation), cannot be altered or delayed and cannot fail to occur. The One Divine Eternal Act has taken all things into consideration. God is never surprised. God is Eternal and Unchanging.

When a human being puts together a jigsaw puzzle, he connect the pieces one at a time. First he puts down one piece, then he finds a piece that fits that first piece, next he looks for another piece to fit those pieces. When God puts together a jigsaw puzzle, He sees and understands all the pieces and how they best fit together all at once. God puts together the jigsaw puzzle all at once. From the human point-of-view, the puzzle of human events is ordered and separated across Time and Place. We only understand the puzzle a little at a time; we only experience the puzzle one day at a time, from one place or another. But, to God, the puzzle—of Time and Place and all the events of Creation—is already complete. Consummatum Est.

God puts together Creation, by seeing and understanding all persons, things, and events—everywhere and everywhen—and how they all best fit together, all at once. God creates all things, answers all prayers, performs all miracles, dispenses all Grace, governs all Creation with His Providence, throughout all Time and all Place and all Creation, all in One Divine Eternal Act.

Trinity

God is Three Divine Persons as One Divine Being. The Three Persons are One Divine Eternal Act. Trinity is the One Act of Existence, Love, Mercy, Justice, and so on. Trinity is the One Act of everything God is/does throughout all Time and all Place and all Creation and beyond.

How can God be Three, since is God is so thoroughly One? The One Divine Eternal Act is the Act of Being the Father and of Being the Son and of Being the Spirit. The Father-Son-Spirit is One Divine Eternal Act. When a human person does one thing, only one thing is done. But the One Divine Eternal Act accomplishes All in One Act. The Act of the Father Existing and the Act of the Son proceeding from the Father and the Act of the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son is One Divine Eternal Act.

The Son proceeds from the Father; the Father does not proceed from the Son. The Son is dependent upon the Father; the Father is not dependent upon the Son. The Spirit proceeds primarily from the Father and secondarily from the Son. The Spirit is primarily dependent upon the Father and secondarily dependent upon the Son.

The First Person of the Trinity does not proceed from the Second Person of the Trinity or the Third Person of the Trinity. The Second Person of the Trinity proceeds from the First Person of the Trinity. The Third Person of the Trinity proceeds primarily from the First Person of the Trinity and secondarily from the Second Person of the Trinity. The Second Person of the Trinity is dependent upon the First Person of the Trinity. The Third Person of the Trinity is primarily dependent upon the First Person of the Trinity and secondarily dependent upon the Second Person of the Trinity. The First Person of the Trinity is not dependent upon the Second Person of the Trinity or the Third Person of the Trinity.

God is Eternity

Everything that God Is/Does is One Divine Eternal Act. God is Timeless and Placeless. God is everywhere at once and He is beyond Place. God is everywhen at once and He is beyond Time. God is within Time and beyond Time. God is within Place and beyond Place.

People say, “God is everywhere.” But God can only be everywhere because He is beyond Place. Otherwise, He would be distributed in pieces, part of Him here and the rest of Him there. God is One, therefore, God cannot be stretched out in Place or stretched out in Time. God is One, therefore, God must be beyond Time and beyond Place. God is unbounded by Time and Place.

It is not correct to say that God knows an event before it happens and remembers that event after it happens. God is beyond Time. God knows all events, throughout all Time and beyond Time, all in the One Divine Eternal Act that is God. His knowledge of events is Eternal, unbounded by Time.

God is present throughout all of Creation and throughout all of Time, and beyond Time and Place, all at once. God is so thoroughly One that He is not even divided by Time or Place. Everything that God is and everything that God does, everywhere and everywhere, is One Divine Eternal Act. Trinity. Unity. Eternity.

Eternity is God. Only God is Eternal. Eternity means that God is uncreated. Eternity means that God is before, beyond, and within all created things. Eternity means that God is everywhere and is before and beyond Place, is everywhen and is before and beyond Time. God does not literally “dwell in Eternity,” for Eternity is God. God cannot be contained within anything. God alone is Eternal.

To be truly and completely Eternal is to exist always, with no beginning and no end. Every created thing has its creation as its beginning. Therefore, no created thing is truly and completely Eternal. God alone is Eternal. God is Eternity.

God is truly and completely One. Eternity and Existence and Love and Will (and all other terms correctly applied to God) are the same in God. God is One Divine Eternal Act. Eternity is the One Divine Act. Everything that God is/does is Eternal, because God is One Divine Eternal Act.

Heaven is Timeless

“Not a word concerning things of earth entered into our conversation; but, just as in former days, we lifted longing eyes to Heaven, so now our hearts strained after the joys beyond time and space, and, for the sake of an eternal happiness, we chose to suffer and be despised here below.”— Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. [4]

Heaven is not divided into different times or different places. Heaven is not divided into different moments, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Heaven is not divided into different houses, streets, cities, states, countries, continents, planets, galaxies, etc. Heaven is timeless and placeless.

When someone travels, they start at one place and time, they move through different places at different times, and they arrive at another place at a later time. Heaven is not like travel. You cannot travel in Heaven, because Heaven is timeless and placeless. Events in Heaven are not ordered according to when and where. Heaven is like all Time put together at once, or like no Time at all. [5] Heaven is like all Place put together at once, or like no Place at all. Heaven is beyond Time and beyond Place. Heaven is both timeless and placeless. Heaven does not refer merely to timelessness, or timefullness, but also to placelessness, or placefullness.

Heaven is beyond Time and Place. Heaven is not a place in the material universe. Heaven is not closer to one city, and farther from another city. There is no set of directions by which one can travel to Heaven as a location. Heaven is just as close to, and just as far away from, one city as another, one planet as another, one galaxy as another. If you die in one city, your journey to Heaven is no shorter, nor any longer, than if you died in another city, or another country, or any other place in the universe. Heaven is no place within the universe. If Heaven were a place in the material universe, then it would be closer to one city and farther from another, and it would have a location that could be specified by a map and a set of directions.

Heaven contains created things, such as the souls of the Blessed, the body and soul of Jesus Christ, the body and soul of the Virgin Mary, and the angels. Heaven was created by God as a type of container for certain created things. Heaven is like all Place put together at once, or like no Place at all. Heaven could be called placeless, or even place-full. Yet Heaven is outside of Place and beyond Place. Heaven is for the Blessed who dwell with God, Who is Eternity. To be with God is to be beyond Time and Place.

Heaven is a created thing. God exists Eternally, but Heaven has not always existed. Heaven was created by God. Heaven has a beginning, just as all created things have a beginning. When was Heaven created? Heaven is outside of Time, so Heaven was not created within Time. You could say that Heaven began before Time began, but this is only a figure of speech. Heaven could not have had its beginning a certain length of time before Time began, because there was as yet no time. Heaven was created beyond Time and Place. From Heaven, the Blessed can see the creation of Time and the creation of the Universe as it happens, as if in present tense.

Heaven is not within Time. Heaven is with God, Who is Eternity. For the souls in Heaven, Time does not pass as on earth, hour after hour, day after day, year after year. Heaven is outside of Time and beyond Time. Heaven is timeless, but not Eternal, for Heaven has a beginning and the first Heaven has an end (Rev 21:1). Heaven is sometimes called eternity, because Heaven is with God, Who is Eternity. But, strictly speaking, Heaven is not Eternity, because Heaven has not always existed.

If you die today, and your spouse dies ten years later, you do not arrive in Heaven ten years before your spouse. You are not waiting in Heaven for ten years to pass, until your spouse dies and joins you in Heaven, because Heaven is outside of Time and beyond all Time. If you die today and your spouse dies ten years later, and if you both end up in Heaven, neither really arrives before the other.

Within Time, there is an absolute order to the occurrence of events. One event occurs before and another event occurs after. From the point of view of someone within Time, your spouse dies ten years after you died. But from the point of view of Heaven, you have both always been there, since Heaven began until this Heaven ends. You enter into the Timelessness of Heaven from a particular point in Time. Your spouse enters into the Timelessness of Heaven from another particular point in Time. But once you are within Heaven, you dwell in the Timelessness between the beginning of this Heaven and its end. Even so, the Blessed in Heaven, and Heaven itself, are not Eternal as God is Eternal. Heaven and the Blessed in Heaven have not always existed. However, within the boundaries of Heaven (its beginning and its end), the Blessed in Heaven dwell in Timelessness with God, Who is Eternal.

Since Heaven is beyond Time and unbounded by Time, within Heaven there is no absolute before and after. When you die, your friend welcomes you into Heaven. And when your friend dies, you are there to welcome your friend into Heaven, regardless of who died when. There is no fixed order of events within Heaven, for if there were, then Heaven would be within Time and limited by Time. On the contrary, those who are in Heaven are with God, Who is Eternity. Thus, Heaven takes on much of the aspect of Eternity. God is beyond all Time and unbounded by Time. God is Eternal. Therefore, those who dwell in Heaven are not within Time, but are with the Eternal God.

A child dies today, but her parents die many years later. When that child arrives in Heaven, her parents are already there to greet her. She does not have to wait and wait, as time passes, for her parents and other loved ones to finally join her in Heaven. There is no waiting in the Timelessness of Heaven. From the point of view of one bounded by Time, it seems as if one person arrives in Heaven before another. But from the point of view of Heaven, everyone who ever will arrive in this Heaven is already there. When a person goes to Heaven, they leave Time and all of its constraints. Heaven is ever present tense.

Heaven is sometimes called Eternity, but this is not literally true. Heaven is very similar to Eternity, because Heaven is with the Eternal Triune God. But only God is truly Eternal. Every created thing has a beginning and so no created thing is truly Eternal. Even the Blessed in Heaven, who dwell beyond Time and Place and who will never cease to exist, are not Eternal. The soul can be called “eternal” because, although each soul has a beginning, the soul will never cease to exist. However, this is a second and lesser meaning to the word eternal. The true and full meaning of Eternal can only ever apply to God, because He is the only uncreated thing, the only thing which has always existed. The first Heaven (Rev 21:1) cannot even be called eternal, even in the second sense of the word, for Heaven and earth will pass away, and then God will make a new Heaven and a new earth. The second Heaven is eternal in the second and lesser meaning of the word, for the second Heaven is never replaced by a third Heaven (as far as I know).

Heaven itself has a before and an after. Heaven had a beginning, for Heaven was created by God. And this Heaven will have an end. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Rev 21:1). This first Heaven is for the souls of the just. When someone dies and their soul goes to Heaven, their body is buried in the earth. This first Heaven is fitting for the souls of the just. At the time of the general Resurrection, on the last day, the souls of the just come down from Heaven and are united with their resurrected bodies. This event is said to take place on the last day (Jn 11:24), because on that day God takes away Heaven and earth and makes a new Heaven and a new earth. Time does not end on the last day, for “a new earth” must include both Time and Place. That day is the last day for the first Heaven and the first earth, but not the last day ever.

After the general Resurrection, the just are assumed into the new Heaven. The new Heaven is fitting for both body and soul. That is why a new Heaven is needed, because now the just have both body and soul in Heaven. Unlike the first Heaven, this new Heaven never ends. Even so, the new Heaven is not Eternal (in the sense that God is Eternal), for the new Heaven is just as much a created thing as the first Heaven.

Between the two events of Heaven’s beginning and its end, that is to say, within Heaven itself, there is no absolute ordering of events into before and after. You cannot arrive late for Heaven. When you get to Heaven, no one can say to you, “You should have been here yesterday. You missed the coolest thing.” Once you enter Heaven, there is no “before you entered Heaven”—you can’t miss anything by arriving late.

Once you enter Heaven, there is no division of the events occurring within Heaven into those occurring before, and those occurring after, you arrived. Once you enter Heaven, there is no division of the events occurring on earth into those occurring before, and those occurring after, you arrived. Once you are in Heaven, you have always been there, from the beginning of Heaven to its very end (i.e. the end of the first Heaven).

Once Christ entered into Heaven, He has always been there, from the beginning of the first Heaven to its very end. Heaven was created before and beyond Time. Even from the beginning of the creation of the universe, Christ was present in Heaven in His Human Nature as well as His Divine Nature. When Adam and Eve were created, Christ was present in Heaven, body and soul and Divinity. When Moses parted the Red Sea, Christ was already present in Heaven even in His Human Nature. When the Immaculate Virgin was conceived, Christ’s body and soul and Divinity were already in Heaven. When Christ walked this earth and taught and healed, He was also present in body and soul and Divinity in Heaven, beyond Time and Place.

Christ will descend from Heaven to earth at the end of the Antichrist’s reign, and again at the end of the Millennium of peace and holiness. But, when Christ descends to earth, He never actually leaves Heaven, because Heaven is beyond Time and Place.

Is God constantly surrounded by the angels and the souls of the just? Yes, and yet God exists Eternally, and created things do not exist Eternally. Thus, there is ever within God a certain solitude. No matter how many created angels and souls are with God in Heaven, there is ever that aspect of the Eternal Uncreated Triune God existing beyond Time and Place and Heaven and all created things, wherein God is alone.

The Son exists Eternally, beyond Time and Place. Yet the Son entered Time and Place to become Incarnate. The Son ascended to Heaven beyond Time and Place. When did the Son arrive, Incarnate, in Heaven? Since Heaven is beyond Time, the Son Incarnate has existed in Heaven, from Heaven’s beginning to the first Heaven’s end (Rev 21:1).

Heaven is outside of Time. When Time and the Universe were created, Christ Incarnate was in Heaven, with the Virgin Mary and all the souls who ever arrive in the first Heaven. Christ Incarnate dispenses Grace, with the assistance of the Virgin Mary, from the Timelessness of Heaven to all Creation, throughout all Time and Place.

Christ and Time

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’ ” (Jn 8:58). Jesus is God, and so Jesus says “I am,” using the present tense, rather than the past tense. Jesus did not say that before Abraham was, Jesus was, nor does He say that before Abraham was, Jesus existed. The past tense is not used because God exists Eternally, and Jesus is God.

Those who dwell in Heaven with God exist beyond Time and Place, but they do not exist Eternally. Jesus is God and so, in His Divine Nature, He exists Eternally, even before and beyond Heaven. The Blessed in Heaven have only been with God, Who is Eternity, from the beginning of Heaven. But the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ has always existed.

Ever since the Humanity of Christ was created, Christ’s Human Nature has remained always united to His Divine Nature. Even at the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, when Jesus’ body and soul were separated, each remained ever united to the Divinity of Jesus Christ, Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity.

“And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ ” (Luke 23:43). Jesus could be with the good thief on the cross that day in Heaven, because Heaven is beyond Time. There is no past or future in Heaven; everything is as if present tense. Christ, in both His Human and Divine Natures, is ever present in Heaven, even from Heaven’s very beginning, before the Universe was created.

The Human Nature of Jesus Christ had a beginning point within Time. At the Holy Conception of Jesus Christ, which is the Incarnation, the Human Nature of Christ began. The physical part and the spiritual part of the Humanity of Christ—His Body and His Soul—had a beginning within Time and Place. The Divinity of Christ exists beyond Place and Time, before and beyond all Creation, including Heaven. But the Humanity of Christ does not exist before and beyond Heaven, before and beyond Creation. The Humanity of Christ is a created thing. The Divinity of Christ is Uncreated and Eternal. Once the Humanity of Christ entered into Heaven, beyond Time and Place, Christ’s Humanity could be present to all Creation, throughout Time and Place, because Heaven is beyond Time and Place.

Even so, Christ’s Divinity is infinite and Eternal, whereas Christ’s Humanity is finite and has not always existed. Therefore, there is ever that aspect of the Divinity of Christ, which exists beyond the reach of even the Humanity of Christ, wherein God is alone.

God is Eternity. The Divine Nature of Christ is Eternity. The Divine Nature of Christ is intimately, thoroughly, and irrevocably united to the Human Nature of Christ . Therefore, Eternity is intimately, thoroughly, and irrevocably united to the Human Nature of Christ. It is not only Christ’s Divine Nature which saves all Creation. The One Person of Jesus Christ, in both His Human and Divine Natures, can pour out Grace and Mercy from Eternity to all Creation. The Humanity of Christ is beyond Time and Place, not only because Christ dwells in Heaven, but also because Christ’s Human Nature is united with His Divine Nature, which is Eternity. The Divine Nature of Jesus Christ is so intimately, thoroughly, and irrevocably united to His Human Nature that the One Person of Jesus Christ is truly and properly called Divine.

Even though things and events have a fixed order within Time and Place, any event can be reached, anywhere and anywhen, in any order, from the timelessness and placelessness of Heaven. Thus, Christ, even in His Humanity, can be present to all persons from the very beginning of Time, and can dispense His Merciful Grace to all persons throughout Time and Place. Sacred Scripture, in the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, speaks of this:

“I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” (1 Cor 10:1-4).

The word “Christ” is the title of the Messiah, who, when Saint Paul the Apostle wrote this letter, had only recently arrived, Incarnate, on earth and within Time. The word “Christ” refers to the Incarnation of God as our Savior and Messiah. Yet Saint Paul in Sacred Scripture tells us that Christ was present and dispensing Grace during the time of Moses. As the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son exists even before Time and beyond Heaven. But Sacred Scripture uses the word “Christ,” rather than the word “God,” or the words “Eternal Son of God,” because Christ was present to Moses and the Israelites, in both His Humanity and His Divinity, from Heaven and from Eternity.

The death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the source of salvation for all Creation, throughout all Time and Place. Those persons who lived and died before Christ’s Incarnation still received Grace from the Cross of Christ, because Christ dwells in Heaven and because Christ is Eternity. From Heaven and from Eternity, Christ pours out His Merciful Grace, which comes from the Cross of Eternal Salvation, on persons throughout all Time and Place.

Pope John Paul II, in his Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Church of the Eucharist), wrote that Christ and His saving work is beyond the limits of Time.
The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift—however precious—among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of himself, of his person in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work. Nor does it remain confined to the past, since “all that Christ is—all that he did and suffered for all men—participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times”. [6]
Christ’s saving work reached its apex in His sacrifice on the Cross. Therefore, the redeeming sacrifice of Christ on the Cross “participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times.” [7]

From Heaven, the blessed constantly view Christ suffering and dying for our salvation on the Cross. The Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is ever present tense to the Blessed in Heaven. Grace continually pours forth from Christ on the Cross to the Blessed in Heaven. Grace continually pours forth from Christ on the Cross to all of God’s children throughout Time and Place.

Jesus Christ has both a Human Nature and a Divine Nature, united in One Person. However, Christ is not half human and half Divine. The One Person of Jesus Christ is not partially Divine. The Divine Nature of Jesus Christ is so thoroughly, completely, and intimately united to His Human Nature that the One Person of Jesus Christ is entirely Divine. The Divine Nature of Christ is infinite; the human nature of Christ is finite. The Divine Nature permeates Christ’s entire Human Nature so thoroughly that Christ’s entire Person is correctly called Divine. However, the Human Nature of Christ is finite and can never completely reach to all that is Divine in Christ. The Human Nature within the One Person of Jesus Christ contains the fullness of human nature, but that One Person also has a Divine Nature. Jesus Christ is both Human and Divine, but, since Christ is One Person, Christ is also fully Divine.

Jesus Christ is Divine. Jesus Christ is God. God is Eternity. Therefore, Jesus Christ on the Cross is able to pour out Grace upon the whole of Creation, throughout all Time and all Place, and beyond Time and Place. Even the first persons to die and go to Heaven received the Grace of eternal salvation from the one true Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The Salvation of Christ on the Cross is Eternal, unbounded by Time, present everywhere and everywhen, because Christ is Eternity. Thus does Sacred Scripture tell us: “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God….” (Hebrews 10:12). Christ, Who is Eternity, makes His One True Sacrifice present and effective throughout all Creation, for all Time.

What is the Future to God?

To God, the future is not something which has not yet happened. God does not view the future as something to know beforehand. God does not figure out what will happen next. God’s knowledge of the future is not foreknowledge, because God is not trapped within Today, remembering Yesterday, and figuring out Tomorrow. God is beyond Time.

In a manner of speaking, the past, the present, and the future are all present tense to God, for God knows all things throughout all Time and all Creation in One Divine Eternal Act. It is as if God is even now present in the future. In a manner of speaking, the past, the present, and the future are all past tense to God, for God knows all things, throughout all Time, from beyond Time. Since God is beyond Time, God sees what we call the future as if it were the present or the past. To God, the future is like the present or the past. Past, present, and future are all the same to God.

Yet, it is not entirely accurate for us to refer to God’s knowledge of events within Time using the terminology of Time (past, present, future), for God is beyond Time. God knows all events throughout Time in a way which is Timeless and Eternal and One, that is, in a way which is neither past tense, nor present tense, nor future tense. The concepts of Time are insufficient to explain the Eternal Triune God.

God knows the whole future perfectly and infallibly. God knows every future person, place, thing, and event without error, omission, or imperfection. God’s knowledge of all Time, all Place, and all Creation is complete and flawless, because God is present throughout all Time, all Place, and all Creation, and beyond, all in One Divine Eternal Act. The future cannot be other than as God knows, because God’s knowledge of the future is from Eternity. God is Eternal. All is Now to God. All Time is Now to God. All Place is Here to God. All Place and all Time is Here and Now to God. Yet even these concepts of Time and Place are insufficient to explain the One Divine Eternal Act.

Time and Prayer

People often pray to God to obtain something in the present or in the future. But one can also pray to God to obtain something in the past. God is beyond Time. God is present throughout all Time and all Place, and beyond Time and Place, all in One Divine Eternal Act. The past, present, and future are all the same to God. Therefore, one can pray just as well for the past, as for the present or the future.

Suppose that on Wednesday you pray to God to obtain some favor, and on Thursday you receive that favor from God. But, on reflection, you realize that God had to begin to answer your prayer on Tuesday. God had to influence persons and events in advance in order to bring about the answer to your prayer. You prayed for something on Wednesday, but God began answering that prayer on Tuesday. Therefore, prayer can effect the past just as well as the present or the future.

A common objection to this idea is that the past has already happened and cannot be changed. But God is beyond Time. God understands all persons, things, and events, throughout all Time and all Creation, all in the One Divine Eternal Act that is God. Therefore, past, present, and future are the same to God. We can pray about the present or the future, so we can also pray about the past.

People say that the past cannot be changed. But to God, the future is already as God sees it and cannot be changed either. God is present throughout Time and beyond Time, and so the past, present, and future are one and the same. The future is the same as the past to God. Both are set in stone and cannot be changed. The past, present, and future are as God sees them. The past, present, and future cannot be changed. How then does God answer prayers? God effects the events of the past, present, and future as they are happening. Once these events occur they cannot be changed. When one prays about a past event, God can effect that event as it is happening, because God is beyond Time.

Therefore, one can pray to God concerning an event in the past just the same as one can pray to God concerning an event in the present or the future. As an example, suppose that your relative died yesterday and you did not find out until today. You can pray for that relative to receive the grace of God at the hour of their death, even though that hour is long past. God knows and answers that sincere prayer.

God is present throughout all Time and all Place, and beyond Time and Place, as One Divine Eternal Act. God knows and understands all prayer throughout all Creation, all at once. All prayers throughout Time are taken into account by the One Divine Eternal Act. Thus, God can answer a prayer about past events.

Free Will and the Knowledge of God

Some people say that there is an apparent contradiction between our free will and God’s knowledge of our future. If God knows infallibly that you will sin tomorrow, are you unable to avoid that sin? If God knows that you will turn left tomorrow, can you not use your free will to turn right instead? The solution to this apparent contradiction is simple.

God does not predict what you will do. God does not foresee what you will do. God is One Divine Eternal Act, Who understands everything, all at once. God knows what you freely decided to do in the future. What seems to you to be a future decision of yours is the same as your past decisions to God. What we call the future seems so uncertain to us, but, to God, it is just as certain as the past. Your free will is not compromised because God sees what you freely decided to do in the future just the same as God sees what you freely decided to do in the past. And God is present throughout all Time, past, present, and future, all at once.

Suppose that God knows that you will go for a walk tomorrow and take the left fork in the road. When you go for that walk tomorrow, can you, with your free will, decide to take the right fork in the road instead? You can, but you did not. God knows what you decided to do tomorrow. The future is the same as the present and the past to God. And everything that we call the future is said and done to God, because God is beyond Time.

Yesterday, you decided, with your free will, to have one thing for lunch and not another. You cannot change that free will decision, now that it is in the past. Nevertheless, the decision was made with free will. In the same way, all future decisions and events are known with complete certainty by God and cannot be changed. Yet, in no way does this diminish free will. God simply knows the decisions that were made in the future with free will.

The above explanation describes the future as if it were the past. Another way of explaining the same truth is to say that God is present throughout all of Time all at once, so that the future is the same as the present to God. Thus, God sees what you are doing in the future. He sees your future decisions and actions as you are making them. God also sees your past and present decisions and actions as you are making them. Every event throughout Time is as if present tense to God.

The above explanations, using the ideas of past tense and present tense, are not the whole truth. God is Eternal, beyond Time and unbounded by Time. Therefore, God is present throughout all Time and Place and all Creation and beyond in a way which cannot be completely expressed with the words and ideas of Time. God is present throughout all Time and beyond as One Divine Eternal Act.

The Cross and the Immaculate Conception

“We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” [8]

The singular grace of the Immaculate Conception was brought about by the One True Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Jesus Christ is God Incarnate. Jesus Christ has both a finite Human Nature and an Eternal Divine Nature, united as One Person. God is One Divine Eternal Act. Because Christ is Divine, His One True Sacrifice on the Cross, which occurred at one particular time and place, can transcend Time and Place and be present and effective throughout all Time and Place, and beyond. The Immaculate Conception occurred by means of the power and mercy and holiness and grace of the One True Sacrifice of Christ. Because Christ is Divine, His Sacrifice is Eternal. All persons saved throughout all Time and Place are saved by the One True Sacrifice of Christ. Even those persons who lived and died before Christ became Incarnate and before He died on the Cross, are saved by the One True Eternal Sacrifice of Christ.

Some theologians say that the Immaculate Conception occurred by the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ. The use of the word “foreseen” in this idea is incorrect, or, at least, inaccurate. (Notice that the infallible definition does not use the term “foreseen.”) God is Eternal, timeless, beyond Time, unbounded by Time. God does not “foresee” the future. God is present throughout all Time and Place, and beyond, all in One Divine Eternal Act.

One Timeless Sacrifice

There is only One True Sacrifice to God: the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. All other holy sacrifices for God are merely mystical participations in that One True Sacrifice. Thus, the suffering of Mary at the foot of the Cross was merely a participation in Christ’s One True Sacrifice. Mary does not offer to God her own sufferings for our salvation. Mary offers to God, through Christ, her humble participation in Christ’s One True Sacrifice. Christ is God Incarnate. Only through Christ and in Christ can our sufferings have meaning and value before God. Your sufferings and sacrifices for God are not yours, they are Christ’s. Your sufferings and sacrifices, if they are holy, devout, and humble, are merely a participation in the sufferings of Christ. But, in so far as we participate in Christ’s One True Sacrifice on the Cross, we also participate in the graces and benefits which come from the Cross.

One Consecration of the Eucharist

Whenever a priest or Bishop consecrates the Eucharist, it is really Jesus Christ who consecrates the Eucharist. But Jesus does not consecrate the Eucharist again and again. Jesus Christ consecrated the Eucharist only once, at the Last Supper. Jesus Christ is God and God is beyond Time. At the Last Supper, Jesus Christ consecrated the Eucharist in a way which is both beyond Time and Place, and effective throughout Time and Place—wherever and whenever a Mass is celebrated. At the Last Supper, Jesus Christ consecrated the Eucharist once for all. That One Act of consecration had the effect of consecrating all Eucharist’s throughout Time and Place. All other consecrations of the Eucharist, any where and any when, are simply that One Consecration effective throughout Time and Place.

“All the communions of a life-time are one communion. All the communions of all men now living are one communion. All the communions of all men, past and future, are one communion.” [9] All the consecrations of the Eucharist, throughout Time and Place, are One Consecration. All the Masses, throughout Time and Place, are One Mass.

The One Mass is the Mass at the Last Supper, celebrated by Jesus Christ. Every Mass is the Mass of the Last Supper, not by imitation or repetition, but by the timeless grace and power of God. At the Last Supper, Jesus Christ celebrated the Mass once for all Time and consecrated the Eucharist once for all Time. Every other Mass and consecration of the Eucharist is that same Mass and consecration of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Just as Jesus Christ suffered and died once for all Time and Place, so also did He celebrate the Mass and consecrate the Eucharist once for all Time and Place.

Whenever we attend Mass today, that Mass is truly the Mass of the Last Supper, celebrated by Jesus Christ. Any consecration of the Eucharist, by any priest or bishop who celebrates a Mass today, is truly that one same consecration of the Eucharist by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. Time is no obstacle to God. Would you like to attend the Mass of the Last Supper and receive the Eucharist consecrated by Jesus Christ? When you attend the Sacred Mass on any day of your life, you are truly attending the Mass of the Last Supper, not symbolically, but just as if you were at the Last Supper itself on the night before Christ died for our salvation.

Revelations of the Future

Sacred Scripture is entirely infallible: without flaw, omission, or imperfection. Therefore, the events predicted by Sacred Scripture cannot fail to occur. The Bible predicts certain future events with absolute certainty. Moreover, God knows our entire future with absolute certainty and unlimited clarity. God is entirely infallible: without flaw, omission, or imperfection.

The sufferings described in the book of Revelation are a punishment from God for sin. Could humanity make the right choices in the future, and avoid enough sin, so that the sufferings of Revelation would never occur? We could. But we did not. In the future, we did not avoid enough sin to prevent the sufferings of the Apocalypse from crucifying the world. God sees that we did not choose, as we were free to choose, in the future.

Some persons claim that revelations from God about the future are conditional and could be delayed or changed depending on our response to God’s grace. This claim is completely false. God understands all events throughout all Time and Place, all within the One Divine Eternal Act that is God. Revelations about the future found within Sacred Scripture are absolutely certain to occur, for Sacred Scripture is absolutely infallible. God is able to know the future infallibly because God is present throughout all Time, and beyond Time, all in the One Divine Eternal Act that is God. Our response to God’s grace, and our free will decisions and actions, are known by God with the same certainty and infallibility. Predictions of the future found in Sacred Scripture can be misunderstood and misinterpreted. But Sacred Scripture, and all that Sacred Scripture truly predicts for the future, is entirely certain and without error of any kind.

Private revelations from God about the future are infallible, because all that God is/does is infallible. However, private revelation is still subject to error through misunderstanding on the part of the recipient of the revelation and mistakes in the writing down or transmission of the revelation. If a private revelation about the future was correctly understood and written down, and if it truly came from God, then it cannot fail to occur.

My own predictions of the future based on my interpretation of Sacred Scripture could contain errors due to my own misunderstanding. My predictions of the future are based on my interpretation of Sacred Scripture and, to a certain limited extent, on my interpretation of well-known private revelation, such as Fatima and La Salette. I myself have not received private revelation of any kind.

Some persons have falsely claimed to have received private revelations about the future from God. In the present time, Christians must be careful about which private revelations they accept. False messages and false apparitions can lead Christians astray from God. The messages of false private revelation generally contain some truths mixed with the falsehoods, the better to deceive the faithful. Every prediction of a future event which comes from true private revelation will come true. If a predicted event does not occur, the explanation that the future is conditional is not valid. God knows the entire future with complete certitude.

Predestination and Free Will

Predestination is a simple and necessary result of the Eternal Nature of God. Heaven is with God, Who is Eternity. Those who enter Heaven dwell beyond Time and Place, with the One Eternal God. Therefore, everyone who ever will be saved and go to Heaven is there already. That is what is meant by predestination. The Elect are already in Heaven with God, and they always have been, since the beginning of the creation of Heaven (but not before Heaven was created). If you ever will get to Heaven, you are already there with God.

Some people say that there is an apparent contradiction between predestination and free will. If those who are predestined for Heaven must necessarily end up in Heaven, can they not use their free will to sin seriously and refuse to repent, and so end up in Hell? If free will can result in a person making choices, which cause them to end up in Hell, how is it that those who are predestined for Heaven have free will and yet cannot possibly end up in Hell? The solution to this apparent contradiction is simple.

Heaven is with the Eternal God, beyond Time and Place. Once someone enters Heaven, they have always been there, for Heaven is Timeless. Therefore, everyone who will ever enter this Heaven is already there, beyond Time. Everything is as if present tense to Heaven. Everyone who will ever die and leave Time to enter the first Heaven is already there, for Heaven is beyond Time.

Predestination is not a decision by God, made in advance, that certain ones will be saved and certain others will not be saved. Predestination is not the result of God foreseeing who will eventually be saved and enter Heaven. Predestination is not a gift given to some, and not to others, to necessarily end up in Heaven, no matter what they choose to do. Predestination is simply a necessary result of the existence of Heaven beyond Time. Because Heaven is not within Time, but is with the Eternal God, everyone who ever will go to the first Heaven is already there. [10]

Predestination is the fact that all those who ever will go to Heaven are already there, beyond Time. Those who are saved reach Heaven because, with their free will, they cooperated with God’s saving grace. They were predestined by God, in the sense that they have always been in Heaven, beyond Time. The Elect have always been in Heaven, since Heaven was created by God, until God takes away Heaven and earth, and makes a new Heaven and a new earth, (at the time of the general Resurrection; see Rev 21:1).

Predestination is the fact that God, as One Divine Eternal Act, is already with the Elect. Even though, from our point-of-view within Time, some of the Elect have not yet died and left Time to go to Heaven, all is complete for the One Divine Eternal Act. Predestination is the necessary result of the fact that the One Divine Eternal Act, by which we are all saved, is One and Eternal. Your salvation and your presence in Heaven with God could not possibly ever be future tense to God, because God is the One Divine Eternal Act.

When God created Time and Place, that is, when God created the Universe, Heaven already exists beyond Time and Place. And within Heaven exists the souls who have left Time and entered into Timelessness. When God created the Universe, the Elect watch from the timelessness of Heaven. When God created Adam and Eve, all those among their descendents who ever would leave Time to enter the first Heaven, yet who, within Time, had not yet even been conceived, watch from Heaven, beyond Time. When God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness….” (Gen 1:26), He says those words to the Elect in Heaven. When Moses saw the burning bush, all those who ever would be saved and enter the first Heaven watch with God, Who is Eternity. When Jesus suffered and died on the Cross, the Elect in Heaven watch His Salvific Act continually, without ceasing, in awe.

The Crucifixion is ever present tense to the Elect in Heaven. Jesus Christ continually pours out grace from the Cross, throughout all Time and all Place, and beyond Time and Place. The graces of Christ’s passion and death on the Cross pour forth to all Creation. Even those souls, who died before Christ’s Incarnation, are saved by the One Salvific Act of Christ on the Cross. Christ is God and God is Eternity; therefore, Christ on the Cross can pour forth Grace to all Creation, throughout all Time and Place, and beyond.

The Second Heaven

Does Heaven ever end? At the time of the general Resurrection, God takes away Heaven and earth and makes a new Heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1). The first Heaven is for the souls of the blessed. At the general Resurrection, all the Elect in Heaven are resurrected and given bodies like the glorified body of Jesus Christ, just as the Virgin Mary received at her Resurrection. Then all the blessed are assumed, body and soul, into the second Heaven, just as the Virgin Mary was assumed into Heaven. The first Heaven is for the souls of the just; the second Heaven is for the bodies and souls of the just. (The first Heaven does contain the body and soul of Jesus Christ and the body and soul of Mary, but no other human person is present in the first Heaven in both body and soul.) [11] The first Heaven ends, but, after the general Resurrection, all the blessed are then assumed alive into the second Heaven, which never ends (as far as I know).

The first Heaven does not contain the souls of every human person who ever will be saved. At the time of the general Resurrection, there will be some persons still left alive on earth. These persons do not die, but still receive the benefits of the Resurrection, that is, their bodies and souls are glorified. These persons are assumed into the second Heaven, but they have never been in the first Heaven. Therefore, the first Heaven does not contain the souls of everyone who ever will be saved.

The second Heaven exists beyond Time and Place, as does the first Heaven. However, the second Heaven replaces the first Heaven, so the souls of the blessed cannot be said to be in both Heavens at once. Even so, God is One Divine Eternal Act, therefore, God is present in both Heavens, and throughout all Creation, all at once.

Purgatory

The holy souls in Purgatory experience a type of passage of time. The souls in Purgatory are changing, becoming more like Christ, and this takes time. Time in Purgatory is not like Time in the material Universe. Time in Purgatory cannot be measured in hours or days or years. There are no bodies in Purgatory, (except if Christ and Mary visit,) nor any material objects, to mark the passage of time in the usual sense of the word. Thus, time in Purgatory is measured by the change for the better of the souls in Purgatory. Sinners do not spend a certain amount of time in Purgatory, more days for greater sins and less days for lesser sins. Sinners spend as much time in Purgatory as they need to complete the change in their souls: to completely abandon sin and the attachments which formerly led to sin, to understand the great benefits of doing good and the great harm of doing evil, and to become as much like Christ and Mary as each one is able.

Heaven has a certain timelessness not found in Purgatory, nor on earth, nor in Hell. Strictly speaking, only God is Eternal, because only God has always existed. God is Eternity. But Heaven is with God, Who is Eternity, and so the souls in Heaven experience a timelessness, an eternity-ness, not found even in Purgatory. Purgatory is close to God’s heart, because all the holy souls in Purgatory are being perfected through Christ.

Hell and Time

The souls in Hell are not with God, Who is Eternity, so they do not have the timelessness which comes from God. The souls in Hell do not dwell in Eternity. They go from one suffering to another to another, to another, unceasingly. Thus, they experience a type of passage of time. However, it is not like the passage of time on earth. The souls in Hell experience constant change, in that they go from one suffering to another, unceasingly. But the souls in the first Hell do not have bodies, (except for the Antichrist and the false prophet; Rev 19:20). The first Hell is for the souls of the damned, just as the first Heaven is for the souls of the Just. The passage of time in Hell is measured by the constant passage each soul experiences of going from one suffering to another.

Does Hell ever end? When God takes away Heaven and earth, and makes a new Heaven and a new earth, He also takes away Hell and makes a new Hell. The first Hell is for the souls of the damned. At the general Resurrection, all the damned in Hell are resurrected and given bodies befitting of their wickedness. Then all the damned are thrown, body and soul, into the second Hell. The first Hell is for the soul only; the second Hell is for body and soul. So, the first Hell ends, but all the damned are then thrown alive into the second Hell, which never ends.

“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mk 9:47).

The first Hell does contain the body and soul of the Antichrist and of the false prophet, for these two human beings were thrown alive into Hell, before the general Resurrection (Rev 19:20). Notice the parallel between the first Heaven and the first Hell. The first Heaven contains no human persons in both body and soul except Christ and Mary. The first Hell contains no human persons in both body and soul except the Antichrist and the false prophet. This parallel suggests that the false prophet will be a woman. The Antichrist is to the Christ as the false prophet is to the Virgin Mary. The false prophet will be an Antimary.

Does Time ever end?

“Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ ” (Jn 11:24). The general Resurrection of the just and unjust is said to occur on the last day, because, after the general Resurrection, God takes away Heaven and earth, and makes a new Heaven and a new earth. The general Resurrection is said to occur on the last day, at the end of Time, but after that day God makes all things new again and Time continues anew.

After the general Resurrection, God also makes a new Hell. Revelation calls Hell “the lake of fire that burns with brimstone.” (Rev 19:20). The new Hell is also referred to as a lake of fire, and it is called the second death. “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:14-15). This new Hell is for body and soul.

Hell is not Timeless and Placeless, as is Heaven: “…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Rev 20:10). The phrase “day and night” indicates a continual passage of time. The phrase “for ever and ever” indicates that this passage of time never ends.

Notice that God makes, not only a new Heaven, but also a new earth. The new Heaven is Timeless like the first Heaven, but the new earth is found within Time and Place, like the first earth. Therefore, Time and Place continue, even after the general Resurrection. Time never ends.

The Book of Life

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life….and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:12,15).

Sacred Scripture refers to “the book of life,” which is a symbolic representation of Heaven. Those whose names are written in the book of life are saved, meaning that those whose souls are in Heaven with God are saved. And these names have always been in the book of life. The book of Revelation describes those who will worship the Antichrist as those “whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.” (Rev 13:8). Notice that the names which are in the book of life have been there “before the foundation of the world.” This is true because the Blessed dwell in Heaven, which is beyond Time, with God, Who is Eternity. The Blessed have been in the Timelessness of Heaven since Heaven was created, before the foundation of the world, before Time began. God, Who is Eternity, is before, during, and after Time, all at once.

But notice that those who will be condemned to Hell have no separate ‘book of death’ in which their names are found. Hell is not found with God, Who is Eternity. Hell does not have the same character of Timelessness and Placelessness as Heaven. Hell is beyond the material Universe of Place and Time. You cannot travel to Hell by means of a set of directions and a map. Yet Hell has more in common with Time than with Heaven. The Blessed are ever present in Heaven, since Heaven began. But the damned are not ever present in Hell, since Hell began. Heaven is timeless, but Hell is governed by some kind of Time. Those who will arrive in Hell are not there already. But their souls are not in the Eternal Heaven with God already, so their names are said not to be in the book of life.

Hell is not with God, Who is Eternity, and so the condemned in Hell are for ever trapped in some form of Time. They go from one suffering to another, to yet another, without ceasing, for ever and ever, without any end.

by Ronald L. Conte Jr.

Endnotes:
[1] From the poem “Favor in My Sight” by Doug Tanoury, http://www.funkydogpublishing.com, 2001.
[2] Saint Augustine, De Trin. iv, 6,7 As quoted by Saint Aquinas in the Summa Theologica, First Part, Question 3, Article 7.
[3] Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part, Questions 1-26. Although Saint Thomas does not use the same wording, he expresses the same basic idea, that God Is One in His Being and all His Acts. The Roman Catholic theologian Peter Kreeft taught me this interpretation of Aquinas.
[4] St. Therese of Lisieux, The Story of the Springtime of a Little White Flower, (New York: P. J Kenedy & Sons, 1922), chapter 7, p. 115.
[5] Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation. Merton describes the timelessness of a contemplative experience.
[6] Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 17 April 2003, Vatican web site,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/special_features/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_20030417_ecclesia_eucharistia_en.html, n.11; Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1085.
[7] Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 11; Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1085.
[8] Ineffabilis Deus.
[9] Teilhard de Chardin, Le Milieu Divin, p. 124
[10] Is everyone who ever will go to the second Heaven already there? I don’t know.
[11] St. Bridget of Sweden, Revelations of St. Bridget, p. 69. The Virgin Mary said to St. Bridget: “Know, too, that there is no human body in heaven but the glorious body of my Son and mine.”