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A major problem in the development of the understanding of the origin of the world was
the relationship between the eternal and the temporal. 11 The works of Boethius present “the most
fully developed and sophisticated views on time and eternity.” 12 Boethius attributed to eternity
the following essential characteristics: simplicity, simultaneity, wholeness, exchangeability and
illimitability, and thus clearly distinguished it from an infinite temporal extension. 13 Since a
beginningless world would still fall short of divine eternity, Boethius did not consider eternal
creation to be impossible. However, a change during the Middle Ages in the meaning of the term
“perpetual” from having infinite temporal extension to having a beginning but no end led to a
mistaken interpretation that both Augustine and Boethius had claimed that the world had a
beginning in time. 14 An unknown author of the ninth century commentary on the Consolatione
Philosophiae of Boethius divided all things into three time-related categories: “eternal”,
“perpetual” and “temporal.” “Eternal” designated beings lacking both the beginning and end and
11
Ibid, 12.
Ibid, 13.
13
Ibid, 16.
14
Ibid.
12
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