[[Augustine of Hippo]] wrote that time exists only within the created universe, so that God exists outside of time; for [[God]] there is no past or future, but only an eternal present. One need not believe in God in order to hold this concept of eternity: for example, an atheist mathematician can maintain the philosophical tenet that numbers and the relationships among them exist outside of time, and so are in that sense eternal. | [[Augustine of Hippo]] wrote that time exists only within the created universe, so that God exists outside of time; for [[God]] there is no past or future, but only an eternal present. One need not believe in God in order to hold this concept of eternity: for example, an atheist mathematician can maintain the philosophical tenet that numbers and the relationships among them exist outside of time, and so are in that sense eternal. |