Homicida ab initio. Albert the Great on Time and Eternity of Evil

The present paper aims to explore how Albert the Great conceptualizes the relationship between evil and time. The starting point is a controversial quotation from the Gospel of John 8:44: “He was a murderer from the beginning” (Ille homicida erat ab initio), which Albert examines by looking at the idea of initium according to three distinct meanings of the term “time”. This interpretation allows him to shed light on the close dependence between the exercise of free will and temporal extension. The second part of the study interrogates the concept of the end of time, in close relation to expressions such as “eternal life” and “eternal punishment”. A careful analysis of the various uses of the adjective “eternal” reveals the existence of two distinct functions of time: time as a medium for redemption and time as a conduit to endless death.