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I NTRODUCTION .
The question of the eternity of the world is among the most prominent questions of
human thought. The earliest known treatment of it dates back to 2000 B.C. in the Assyro-
Babylonial Enuma Elish. 1 Since the introduction of the Big Bang Theory, the question of the
origin of our universe has reemerged in modern cosmological research and in contemporary
philosophy with a renewed vigor. 2 The enduring fascination of human thought with the notion of
an actual infinity hides in the background of this question. Is it possible for an actual infinity of
things to exist and if yes, in what way? Can an actual infinity be increased or multiplied? Can it
be defined and comprehended? Is God the only infinite being? These questions led to numerous
paradoxes and heated debates both in the Middle Ages and the Modernity.
1
Francis J. Kovach, "The Question of the Eternity of the World in St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas - A Critical
Analysis," Southwestern Journal of Philosophy 5, no. 2 (1974): 141.
2
Robert J. Spitzer, New Proofs for the Existence of God (Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010), 13.
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