Editing Eternalism (philosophy of time) (section)

=== Middle ages ===
The philosopher Katherin A. Rogers argued that [[Anselm of Canterbury]] took an eternalist view of time,<ref>Katherin A. Rogers (2007). [http://philpapers.org/rec/ROGAEA "Anselmian Eternalism"]. Faith and Philosophy 24 (1):3-27.</ref> although the philosopher [[Brian Leftow]] argued against this interpretation,<ref>Brian Leftow (2009). [http://philpapers.org/rec/LEFAP-2 "Anselmian Presentism. Faith and Philosophy"] 26 (3):297-319.</ref> suggesting that Anselm instead advocated a type of presentism. Rogers responded to this paper, defending her original interpretation.<ref>Katherin Rogers (2009). [http://philpapers.org/rec/ROGBTE "Back to Eternalism"]. Faith and Philosophy 26 (3):320-338.</ref> Rogers also discusses this issue in her book ''Anselm on Freedom'', using the term "four-dimensionalism" rather than "eternalism" for the view that "the present moment is not ontologically privileged", and commenting that "[[Boethius]] and Augustine do sometimes sound rather four-dimensionalist, but Anselm is apparently the first consistently and explicitly to embrace the position."<ref>{{cite book |first=Katherin |last=Rogers |year=2008 |title=Anselm on Freedom |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199231676 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lg-swy7JcEAC&pg=PA159 |page=159}}</ref> Taneli Kukkonen argues in the ''Oxford Handbook of Medieval Philosophy'' that "what Augustine's and Anselm's mix of eternalist and presentist, tenseless and tensed language tells is that medieval philosophers saw no need to choose sides" the way modern philosophers do.<ref>From Kukkonen's chapter on "Eternity" in ''The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Philosophy'' edited by John Marenbon (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=2TbPp5I6nL8C&pg=PA529 p. 529].</ref>

[[Augustine of Hippo]] wrote that [[God]] is [[eternity|outside of time]]—that time exists only within the created universe.  [[Thomas Aquinas]] took the same view, and many theologians agree.  On this view, God would perceive something like a block universe, while time might appear differently to the finite beings contained within it.<ref>John Polkinghorne (2011). ''Science and Religion in Quest of Truth'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=pdeUz0_WXP8C&pg=PA64 p. 64].</ref>