the two sides does not preclude its being endless in the other direction. This is demonstrated by possibility, which has no beginning, although it has reached its endpoint with us. Likewise, the movements of the inhabitants of Paradise have no end, although they have a limit in the direction of their beginning.”

He said:

“The answer to their fifth argument—their question, ‘Did any event exist in past eternity or not?’—is that past eternity is not a particular state; rather, it denotes beginninglessness. An event occurring in time, meaning something preceded by nonexistence, cannot occur in past eternity.

“As for their statement, ‘Since no event occurred in past eternity, we have thereby identified a state in which no event existed,’ we reply: We have already explained that past eternity is not a particular time, such that one could say that this time was devoid of events. Rather, past eternity denotes beginninglessness. Thus, our statement, ‘No event existed in past eternity,’ means that no event exists without a beginning—that is, each individual event is preceded by nonexistence. Why, then, do you say that because an individual event is preceded by nonexistence, the whole must be so as well? This alone is the point in dispute.

“What dispels this misconception at its root is to counter it with the case of possibility. We say: The possibility