Time As A Psalm In St. Augustine

Augustine follows a Platonic method in his treatment of time in Confessions XI. The 'in principio' of Genesis is the theme of the book and introduces the problem of the relation of time to the divine in a most direct way. The argument then centres on the problem that the present has no extension: "praesens autem nullum habet spatium" (XI, 15). The problem having been solved Augustine concludes that God's knowledge of time is far more wondrous and secret than that gained through these arguments but that we know better now what an eternal knowing of time might mean (XI, 31). In the Enneads (III, 7, 1) Plotinus outlines his approach: look to eternity, seeking the paradigm for time, but if one looks directly to time, through recollection one will be reminded of the world there, that is, of the nature of the eternal. And it will be clear from both approaches in what sense time is an image of eternity. In Augustine's text then we have these Platonic moments and in a wonderfully mature form.