Aevum, aeterna tempora, and tempus generale between history and metaphysics. A note on the Patristic reading of time and duration

Medieval thinkers are often seen as “accountants” engaged in a classification of all substances forming the world with their modes of duration. This image, corresponding to the approach of some 13th-century theologians, does not reflect the origin of the problem. In the Patristic tradition the existence of durations beyond eternity and time is not related to an inventory of the world, but rather aimed at explaining the sequence of different stages in salvation history (from the creation to the end times). The present study considers some examples of the Patristic approach to the problem of duration, exploring sources and possible links with later medieval reflection on the matter.