Our readings confront the difference between what is eternal and what is temporal. Origen explores whether matter itself can be dissolved and restored through successive ages, Augustine pictures a spiritual house fixed forever in God’s eternity, and Aquinas resolves the great question of the soul’s origin, showing that it is never inherited or recycled but given directly by God. The theme tying them together is this: eternity belongs to God, and all created things—whether worlds, bodies, or souls—depend moment by moment on His will and His creative act (2 Corinthians 5:1; John 17:24).

Readings:

Origen, De Principiis, Book 1, Chapter 3

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 19

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 118 (Combined Articles)

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