167. Since angels have no notion of time, so they have an idea of eternity different from that which men on earth have. By "eternity" angels perceive infinite state, not infinite time.# Once, I was thinking about eternity and was able, with the idea of time, to perceive what "to eternity" means, namely, without end, but not what "from eternity" means, thus not what God did from eternity before creation. When anxiety on this account arose in my mind I was raised up into the sphere of heaven, and thus into the perception which angels have in respect of eternity. It was then made clear to me that eternity must be thought of not from time but from state, and then the meaning of "from eternity" can be perceived, which is also what happened with me. # Men have an idea of eternity associated with time, but angels apart from time (n. 1382, 3404, 8325).