Editor ' s Note EASTER 2019
One of the most fundamental teachings presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church states : “ We firmly believe and confess without reservation that there is only one true God , eternal , infinite ( immensus ), and unchangeable , incomprehensible , almighty and ineffable , the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit ; three persons indeed , but one essence , substance or nature entirely simple ” ( CCC 202 ).
This is an elegant explanation that seems as well remarkably simple . It is , of course , fraught with the deepest implications , and it is for a very sound reason that we declare in the Profession of Faith , “ I believe in Life Everlasting .”
Pope St . John Paul II taught in a General Audience in 1985 :
“ When with our human language we say : `God is eternal ,' we indicate an attribute of the divine Being . And since each attribute does not distinguish itself concretely from the very essence of God ( while the human attributes are distinguished from the man who possesses them ), saying : `God is eternal ,' we intend to affirm : `God is eternity '… Since God is the absolute fullness of being ( `ipsum Esse subsistens '), its eternity `inscribed in the terminology of being ' must be understood as “ indivisible , perfect and simultaneous possession of a life without end ,” and therefore as an attribute of to be absolutely `beyond time .'”
We , as creatures , in comparison to God are contingent beings . In the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth , then-Pope Benedict XVI wrote about eternity and its relevance to us today living in this present time in this present world . “ `Eternal life ' is life itself ,” he wrote , “ real life , which can also be lived in the present age and is no longer challenged by physical death . This is the point : to seize `life ' here and now , real life that can no longer be destroyed by anything or anyone .”
The task of pondering eternity , then , has been one of the great enterprises in the history of theology . In the modern era , eternity with its interrelated questions of time , mathematics , and physics has also become the focus of much attention . John Paul II understood this , which is why he took part in so many scientific seminars and gatherings at the Vatican during his pontificate . One notable one was held in August 2003 , part of an ongoing series of seminars under the title of “ Science , Religion , History .” The pope told the participants :
In contemporary culture , fundamental questions regarding meaning and the truth , beauty , suffering , the infinite and contingency cannot be omitted . I thank you because we have been able to deal with them from a prospective in which science ' s new findings , together with reflection on classic philosophy , reciprocally complement each other … The Church cannot be indifferent to the achievements of science that have come about and developed within Christianity ' s cultural sphere of influence . It is also necessary to remember that truth and freedom are inseparably united in the great work of the edification of culture at the service of the complete maturation of the human person . Calling to mind the words of Christ , " the truth will make you free " ( Jn 8 : 32 ), we want to build the gospel culture , free from those illusions and utopias which brought great suffering in the 20th century .