James Montgomery Quotes
Time is eternity begun.
Montgomery, James. "Time: A Rhapsody." The Poetical Works of James Montgomery, Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1841.
This is a fascinating quotation. During Augustine’s time and for hundreds of years thereafter, this was accepted as obvious truth and taught by the church. When rationality permeated the Enlightenment and science flourished, this view was realized to be clearly faulty—that time started with the creation of the universe by whatever means. However, in the 21st century, new understandings of the Big Bang together with the Einstein revelation of space-time as an entity, caused many scientists to think that it just might be possible that time began with the Big Bang, and Augustine might have been right after all, though for a different set of reasons. This is another example of a difference between the scientist and the political, philosophical or religious ideologue. To the later, truth is eternal. To the scientist all truth is ephemeral and changes as our perceptions, tools, calculations, and understandings improve.
James Montgomery was a Scottish-born hymn writer, poet and editor, who eventually settled in Sheffield. He was raised in the Moravian Church and theologically trained there, so that his writings often reflect concern for humanitarian causes, such as the abolition of slavery and the exploitation of child chimney sweeps.
