We have elsewhere[207] shown that it would be absurd to suppose that
the world ever had a beginning. This however implies that it will
never cease to exist. Why indeed should it not continue to do so? Its
component elements are not, like wood, and similar things, exposed
to wastage. Their continued subsistence, however, implies that the
universe that they form must also ever subsist. On the other hand, even
if they were subject to a perpetual change, the universe must still
subsist because the principle of this change subsists continually.
Moreover, it has elsewhere been shown[224] that the universal Soul is
not subject to repentance, because she governs the universe without
difficulties or fatigue, and that even in the impossible case that the
body of the universe should happen to perish, she would not thereby be
altered.