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The subject of this book is the relationship and the difference between the temporal everlasting and the atemporal eternal. This book treats the difference between a temporal postmortem life and eternal life. It identifies the conceptual tension in the religious idea of eternal life and offers a resolution of that tension.

Drawing on philosophy, theology, and literature, from the early Middle Ages to the present, Immemorial Silence traces a series of intertwined ideas. Exploring silence as the absence of language, which is nonetheless inherent in language itself, and eternity as the outside of time, cutting through time itself, the book unfolds a series of connections between these temporal and linguistic themes.

This book is a thorough analysis and discussion of the nature of time and eternity, focusing on the timelessness of God. After considering two theories of time in the light of modern science and philosophy, Padgett argues for a'process'notion of time. After an historical and biblical survey of the doctrine of eternity, Padgett rejects both the'everlasting'and the'timeless'theory of eternity, seeking to defend the intuition that God transcends time.