The Order of the Ages: World History in the Light
of a Universal Cosmogony
By: Robert Anthony Bolton
Pub. Date: 6/01
Publisher: Sophia Perennis
Format: Paper, 288pp.
ISBN: 0900588314
Our Price: $21.95 
Related books: Comparative
Religion
Synopsis
The
Order of the Ages is a study of time--the laws of temporal processes,
and the essence of time itself, using a Platonic perspective to analyze
the relationships between temporal and nontemporal realities, and
their implications to our world and our lives. An explanation of the
inner workings of history give the reader an understanding of cosmic
laws, and the means of escaping the potential for evil that underlies
the cosmic reality.
The
book begins with a discussion of theoretical methods of proving the
essentially cyclical processes of time. The long-term development of
time cycles is a descent from a higher or more integral state of being
to progressively lower states, with opposition by the ultimately impotent partial
reversals and by a progression of things that cannot counter the
dominant tendency.
Several
subsequent chapters use quotations from ancient wisdom
literature--traditional teachings from East and West--in support of the
author’s conception of universal history. Bolton explores how the
cyclical view of the world is based on scientific principles as much as
on metaphysics and ancient authority; many observable phenomena support
the scientific, entropic paradigm.
Bolton
returns to traditional sources to discuss the vast tracts of time
through which time develops cyclically. He shows the extent to which
Jewish and Christian doctrine accommodate the notion of endless time and
endless worlds. Using biblical texts as source material, he examines the
classical arguments for and against the endless time.
The
reader’s attention is then directed to the intrinsic nature of time,
the manner of its origin, and the interconnectivity of the past,
present, and future. The quantitative and calculable aspects of time-cycles
are examined, including the proportional relationships of the various
cycles, and the role of history in explaining the relative length of
recent cycles. Bolton uses traditional data and wisdom to analyze the
possible end-times of the present universal era, with the final chapters
of the book used to interpret the Apocalypse, the Last Times in which we
find ourselves searching for answers, which are supported with the
initial metaphysical foundation. In an important evaluation of the
entropic world order and the cyclical nature of time, Bolton clarifies
the context in which individuals understand how their inner lives and
free wills are not necessarily bound by the inevitable evils associated
with the outside world and cosmic laws.
