Astronomy and the Bible;

CHAPTERXXI

TheClockoftheUniverse

ETERNITY! Whataworditis,standingasit
does for unending duration! Yet, when we
come to consider our conception of duration,
wefindthatthemindcannotthinkofdurationasother
than endless. Forinstance, ifwelet the mind run
back into thedistant past, wecannotthink to some
timewhendurationbegan,andsay.Thiswasthefirst
ofit. Themomentwethusattempttosetupabarrier,
themindassuresusthatitcanthinkofjustasgreat
a period of durationbeyond as wehave previously
measuredoflF. Andthethoughtcomesthatifwebe-
lievethatthesetwoperiodsareallthereistoourcon-
ceptionofduration,wearemistaken,forthemindcan
conceiveofjustasmanyoftheseperiodsasitpleases.
Itcan countthemup intothe milHons andbillions;
andwhenithasthusgraspeda newperiod,wecare
nothowlong,thentheimaginationrunsoutintothe
conceptionthatallthesealmostmeasureless agescan
betakenasanewstandardofmeasurement,andmul-
tiplied as many times as we will, and this mental
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