'''Infinity''' means beyond enumeration.<ref>This improved definition comports best with the use of the term in mathematics, in everyday life, and across cultures and languages.</ref> Appreciation of infinity -- particularly infinite time -- is remarkably useful mentally, emotionally, and personallyemotionally. "Paradise" is infinite [[happiness]] and [[joy]] eternally; "[[Hell]]" is infinite distress; in electronics, an "open circuit" has infinite resistance.<ref>Anxiety or fear about infinity is a psychiatric condition known as "apeirophobia", which exists because infinity is real.</ref> '''''Recognition of infinite time can overcome almost any anxiety'''''. Financial-related stress can be reduced by recognizing that money as being is infinite. A human being has infinite potential.
The existence of infinity tends to prove the existence of [[God]]. Nature and the The universe reflect reflects mathematical truths, and denying the existence of God implicitly denies the existence of infinity, contrary to logic, evidence, and the infinity's enormous usefulness of the concept.
The food supply is essentially infinite in cultures where obesity is a problem; wealth is essentially infinite for those who cannot spend it all in their lifetime; and time is infinite for those who waste it. "More" in those situations is meaningless; less is nothing to have anxiety about. Some scoff at primitive cultures that use infinity rather than large numbers, but that is a productive way to view quantities larger than meaningful. Also, infinity reinforces the primacy of the future (which is infinite) over the past (merely finite). Given that "time is money," "infinite time" ([[eternal life]]) is "infinite money" and the concept which helps deal with reduce financial anxiety.
[[File:Abbey Church Saint Louis.jpg|right|200px|thumb|church's infinite accessibility and outreach]]
Understanding infinity has advanced many fields, including:
*movies: ''From Here to Eternity'' (1953), ''Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), ''Infinity'' (1996), and the TV show ''Forever'' (2014-15); famous lines from movies include "To Infinity and Beyond!" (Buzz Lightyear in the ''Toy Story'' films).
*understanding other terms: infinity helps define other terms concisely, such as "open circuit" (infinite resistance);
*[[Resurrection]]: personal awareness of infinite time implies, as a matter of logic, personal actual realization of infinite timethrough resurrection;
*[[Abraham Lincoln]]: "Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality";<ref>https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/abraham_lincoln_121271</ref>
*in [[baseball]], there is infinite time;
*in [[probability]], impossibility is what is infinitely unlikely;
*as to dignity, "Infinite Dignity" is the title of a [[Vatican]] document condemning transgender procedures as published on April 8, 2024;<ref>https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/04/08/240408c.html</ref>
*in [[infinity in engineering|engineering]]: in a DC circuit, a capacitor has infinite resistance, while [[Earth]] has infinite capacitance;
*in an [[eclipse]], the refraction of light around the [[Moon]] results in the equivalent of infinite light intensity (which can damage the naked eye); *in [[currency]], devaluation to zero occurs if and only if there is infinite [[inflation]]; and
*in carpentry and [[materials science]]: wood of infinite density is needed to build a spiral staircase with multiple twists and no supporting column, which can hold a dozen people at once - see [[Loretto spiral staircase]].
== Infinity and biblical theology ==
In a biblical [[theological]] context, the concept of infinity used to describe God's limitless nature, meaning that God is not bound by the constraints of space, time, or any other limitations (Other than not being able to engage in evil such as lying or engaging in illogical actions such as making a square round). God being omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. God's limitless nature places God beyond human comprehension. The limitless nature of God passage of Scripture in Psalm 139:1-12 is often cited by both theologians and the wider Christian community.
As a result of God's limitless nature, [[Christianity|Christian]] theologians commonly declare that the world was the best of all possible worlds, as it was created by [[God]]. Therefore, even what appears to many as bad is actually part of God's perfect plan. For example, adversity improves Christian character.
[[Eternity]] is infinite time, a concept that was also first introduced and emphasized by Jesus. The [[Old Testament]] has few references to "eternity" and "eternal", while the [[New Testament]] repeatedly teaches it. For example, Jesus taught about infinity in connection with [[Judgment Day]] when "these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."<ref>Matt 45:26 ([[NAB]]).</ref>
=== Mistranslated as "unsearchable" ===
Many translations of the [[Bible]] mistakenly use the term "unsearchable" when "infinite" is the intended meaning. Ancient Greek lacked a word for "infinity", and instead used "apeiron" for indefinite or unlimited.<ref>Some say that the obscure Greek term "aphorismenon" was closer to the modern term of infinity.</ref>
== Anselm and Shakespeare ==
[[File:Anselm-CanterburyVit.jpg|thumbnail|right|300px|A 19th-century stained-glass window depicting [[Anselm]] as archbishop]]
[[Anselm]] focused on infinity to prove the divinity of [[Christ]]. [[Chaucer]] referenced "infinity" in 1374, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. But [[Shakespeare]] used infinity more than anyone up until his time, in such classics as [[Hamlet]] ("A king of infinite space") and [[Romeo and Juliet]] (“My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.”). This passage from Hamlet is particularly memorable in referring to the infinite:<ref>Hamlet, 2.2.314</ref>
{{cquote|What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!}}
In [[baseball]], a pitcher has an infinite Earned Run Average (ERA) when he allows earned runs without obtaining any "outs" by the opposing team, because the ERA is a pitcher's average earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched (i.e., 27 outs obtained). In 2019, Nationals relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal had an infinite ERA until he finally obtained an out.<ref>https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/04/11/trevor-rosenthal-nationals-reliever-infinity/3433399002/</ref>
Baseball has a potentially infinite duration, with no clock and no time limits. For this and other reasons, the this classic game has been described as timeless(which is the same as infinite time).
== Ongoing disputes about infinity ==