Dear Alex and friends,
It’s a thrill to know that people are taking such an interest in what we did. In answer to the first question, the published version is basically the same paper, but with some footnotes. The real detail is, I’m afraid, in the book, where case after case is examined: we tried to be exhaustive (and it was exhausting!), so we covered as many examples as possible.
On the second question, perhaps the following formulation will help. One meaning of eternity is infinite time; if I live eternally, I live forever, with no end. But at any given moment, I’m right here, with a past and a future, just like anyone else. But another meaning of eternity is outside of time. For example, when God created the universe, did he also create time, or did time exist before? If time existed, why did God decide to create the universe at one time rather than another? In addition, is Christ younger than God, because He is the son? The ancient thinkers worried about this, and some held that before the universe was created, there was no time at all. Besides, God sees all the past and the future simultaneously: it’s there like a picture to Him, not unfolding moment by moment but altogether present. It is thoughts like that which lead to a conception of eternity in which time, is, as it were, folded up. That was Plato’s intuition. It’s a hard thing to grasp, needless to say.
Very best,
David