Do Atheists believe in Eternity?

Eternity is Now.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

Thanks for the link. It seems that choosing the right words goes far when doing a search.

I notice that that was posted 1 year ago. It took a year before anyone gave it an upvote.

That indicates to me that that particular viewpoint of eternity is not readily understandable or appreciable.

The question arises: "What exactly can I do with this eternal now ?"

The answer is "Nothing."

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I will read some of the other views, click on some links, and read some stuff, perhaps even think about what I read.

a reply to: pthena
Can you do anything with the future?
Can you do anything with the past?

You are always now.
Never not here .......never not now.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

I listen to music one note at a time. Not really, some notes occur simultaneously; harmony and such.

Now is a point of 0 duration. It adds to the timeline without being time.
The present can be said to not exist,
and yet there can be no past without it.

When an Astronomer says, "A new nova has appeared", she means by that, an event from millions of years ago.

The now experience of going nova was only available to that discrete individual star. All other individuals in the Universe experience it as an observation of the past.

All observers subjectively experience in the now what was the past experience of the actual now experiencer.

To the observer, only the past exists to be observed, even the previous example which I provided of the bird 20 feet away from me. Now is the exclusive reserve of the experiencer. No other can be in another's now.

Can you do anything with the future?
Can you do anything with the past?

I liked what the speaker said in one of those videos. The beginning is so far back and the end is so far in the future that we don't speak of those in polite conversation.

As far as the past goes, yes, I can observe the past. I can't avoid it, as long as I can see, hear, and smell.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: Itisnowagain

I listen to music one note at a time. Not really, some notes occur simultaneously; harmony and such.

Now is a point of 0 duration. It adds to the timeline without being time.
The present can be said to not exist,
and yet there can be no past without it.

When an Astronomer says, "A new nova has appeared", she means by that, an event from millions of years ago.

The now experience of going nova was only available to that discrete individual star. All other individuals in the Universe experience it as an observation of the past.

All observers subjectively experience in the now what was the past experience of the actual now experiencer.

To the observer, only the past exists to be observed, even the previous example which I provided of the bird 20 feet away from me. Now is the exclusive reserve of the experiencer. No other can be in another's now.

This ^ is all coming from mental knowledge.

Look now at direct experience and answer the questions honestly.

What can you do with the past?
What can you do with the future?

Are you not always now?

a reply to: pthena
The past is a dead image. The future is unborn.

You cannot see the past......you see a memory now.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

The past is a dead image.

Ghosts! All is a ghost!

I, I alone, exist now.
Well, I did, but that's a memory.
Oh look! I am still here!

Sorry,
if you look,
you will only see my ghost.
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I would like to reconsider whether I can do something about the future.

Yes. What I can do with the future is:
whatever I do or don't do is leaving a ghost for others to observe or not observe in their now, which is my future.
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My now exists for me alone.
To be obsessed with my now seems sort of selfish.
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Suppose for a moment that you are attempting to convert me to your religion.

If you succeed in converting me, has anything changed? Is anything improved? No. My now is still my now. Well, it was.

a reply to: pthena
It's not 'your' now.

Now does not move..... it's always right here......now just appears to move but doesn't go anywhere.

Like a tv screen it stays right where it is.......but the image is moving.

a reply to: pthena
"A Case of Mistaken Identity"

Everything will change when you find out what you are not.

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: MidnightHawk

You cannot point me in any direction towards a god let alone the abrahamic God, at all. So how can I even begin to disprove what you're suggesting?

Do you see the predicament we are in now?

God can be found in the Bible. In fact we are told:

"And he made out of one man every nation of men to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he decreed the appointed times and the set limits of where men would dwell,  so that they would seek God, if they might grope for him and really find him, although, in fact, he is not far off from each one of us.  For by him we have life and move and exist, even as some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his children.’"-Acts 17:26-28.

So God is not far off from any one of us. We are given this promise and assurance:

"Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you."-James 4:8.

And again in another place, speaking personally to those who take heed we are told:

"While you throw all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."-1 Peter 5:7.


So, God is not far off from his human progeny, including you and me. He promises to draw close to you if you will draw close to him. And, dear sir, he is willing to do so because he cares for you. And not just "you" as in general, but you personally.

Is it not reassuring that God is not far off from each one of us and is willing to form a relationship with us? The question is how do you draw close to God?

You can do so by praying to him. And by reading his word the Bible. Prayer is communication to God. Reading the Bible is his communication with us. His holy spirit is operative upon those who are sincere and pray with faith. And it moves you to both read his communication in the Bible and opens your mind to understand he is communicating directly with you.

This I know to be true.