Mircea Eliade, a leading scholar of religions during the twentieth century, contrasted two conceptions of time.
Cosmic time is circular, whereas historical time is progressive, flowing forward.
The cosmic conception of time was prevalent in ancient times and reflected the world of nature in which the seasons reoccur each year. Pagan societies often worshipped nature.
Despite being a fascist anti-Semite, one of the infamous Romanian Iron Guards, Eliade credited Judaism with the conception of historical time.
However, as Franz Rosenswieg notes, it is more accurate to define the Jewish conception of time as being like a spiral staircase– combining the two concepts and being both circular and progressing upwards.
A careful study of the Jewish holidays in Pashat Emor validates this more complex approach.