Eternity and Time's Flow (S U N Y Series in Philosophy) (Suny Series in Religion)

Neville returns eternity to the center of consideration by analyzing the obsessive culture that attempts to get along denying it; and he analyzes the nature of time's flow itself, the nature of divine eternity, and the subtle problems of personal immortality. He argues that time and eternity constitute one topic and that, therefore, time itself is beyond understanding, beyond personal grasp, and beyond civilized orientation without a proper comprehension of eternity.Robert Cummings Neville is Dean of the School of Theology and a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Boston University. He was President of the Metaphysical Society of America in 1989, of the American Academy of Religion in 1992, and of the International Society for Chinese Philosophy in 1992. He is the editor of New Essays in Metaphysics and he is the author of The Tao and the Daimon: Segments of a Religious Inquiry; The Puritan Smile: A Look Toward Moral Reflection; A Theology Primer; God the Creator: On the Transcendence and Presence of God; Recovery of the Measure: Interpretation and Nature; Reconstruction of Thinking; Behind the Masks of God: An Essay Toward Comparative Theology; and The Highroad Around Modernism, all published by SUNY Press. Artist's Preface / Beth Neville -- Pt. 1. Eternity And The Time Passion Of The Modern World. 1. A Time To Rethink Eternity. 2. The Fall From Eternity To Immortality. 3. The Philosophical Passion For Present Time. 4. No Time Without Eternity -- Pt. 2. Time's Flow Within Eternity. 5. A Metaphysics Of Time And Eternity. 6. Times Relations Of Otherness. 7. Time's Flow. 8. Eternal Togetherness Of The Temporal Modes -- Pt. 3. Divine Eternity. 9. Eternity And God's Being. 10. Eternal Creation. 11. Creation Of All Times. 12. God's Eternal Life -- Pt. 4. Eternal Life. 13. The Eternal Identity Of Persons. 14. The Divine Identity Of Persons. 15. God With Us. 16. God Beyond Us. Robert Cummings Neville. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 245-253) And Index.