Saying God only operates within time seems to ring hollow with His knowing for certain the future of our free choices. Nothing of his life is past and nothing of it is future. Many philosophers of religion think that the Scriptures do not teach definitively any one view concerning God and time (Craig 2001a, 2001b; for a differing view, see Padgett, 1992). William Lane Craig, who holds a similar position, identifies God’s time with the absolute time that was posited by Newton (Craig 2001a, 2001b, 2002). The fundamental temporal properties are the tensed properties. “Omniscience and Immutability,”. To this end, Stump and Kretzmann introduce the notion of “ET (eternal-temporal)-simultaneity:”. In addition, we will look at some responses to these arguments. Philosophers have complained about obscurity of the use of “reference frame” terminology (for example, Padgett 1992). When metaphysical time is described as being without metric and without law-like intervals, and perhaps even that God does not change before physical time is created, it becomes more difficult to see the difference between this position and timelessness. In the A theory of time, time is tensed, where there are distinct differences between past, present, and future. These are arguments concerning God’s knowledge of future free actions, the fullness of God’s life, and God’s creation of the universe. Most people have been late for at least one engagement in their lives. (1994). What may be the dominant view of philosophers today is that he is temporal but everlasting; that is, God never began to exist and he never will go out of existence. The position that God is temporal sometimes strikes the general reader as a position that limits the nature of God. However, through Jesus we have … These include the nature of the fundamental structures of the universe as well as the nature of God’s own life. But when we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, in due time, He will exalt us (see 1 Peter 5:6). No moment of its life passes away and there is no moment at which some other moment has not yet been lived. If it is, then these points must correspond in some way to the points on the temporal line (called “T”). The majority position today is that the universe did have a beginning. He exists at the present moment (and he has existed at each past moment and he will exist at each future moment.) We grieve for the people we love who are now gone. If God sustains the universe by performing different actions at different moments of time, then he changes from moment to moment. If God knows everything, he must know what day it is today. Since He created time, the mind-boggling truth is that He was around forever before time even existed!To try to help us get a little of God’s perspective, the Bible says, “With the “Timelessness and Omnitemporality,” in Ganssle (2001a): 129-160. We cannot describe it in terms of God’s knowing every proposition. Yale University Once God created the universe, he became temporal. William Alston has argued that God knows what he knows without having any beliefs. Therefore God is not a being whose life contains distinct parts. Put your thinking caps on today. Another sort of response to the claim that divine omniscience requires that God is temporal is to embrace the conclusion of the argument and to hold that God is not propositionally omniscient even if he is factually omniscient. (This argument is put forward in various ways by Craig, 2001a, 2001b; DeWeese, 2004; Hasker, 2002; Kretzmann, 1966; Padgett, 1992, 2001 and Wolterstorff, 1975.). "Is God Dead?" In this view, God’s inner life is sequential and, therefore, temporal, but his relation to our temporal sequence is “all at once.” In a sense, God has his own time line. This measure is a function of the regular processes that follow physical laws. This conclusion is still far from the claim that God is, in fact, timeless but perhaps we can say more. She challenges their claims that the views of timelessness found in Boethius and other medieval thinkers include duration. This now is not a feature only of our subjective experience of reality but it is a piece of the furniture of the universe. We will see, by the light of God Himself, how very good He is! The claim that God is timeless is a denial of the claim that God is temporal. With this notion in place, one can see that physical time is that to which the Special Theory of Relativity applies. Although the two positions are linked throughout medieval thought, there is a cost to holding that a timeless God must be metaphysically simple as well. Most Christian theologians join countless philosophers of the last 2,500 years in saying that God is outside of time. The life of a temporal thing, then, is spread out and diffuse. Different thoughts in God’s mind can be individuated by their respective lengths of duration or at least by their locations within the duration. He did not first hear them and then answer them. “A Problem for the Eternity Solution,”, Wierenga, Edward R. (1991). Every day we are witnesses to … Fitzgerald, Paul. 124–126). Both of these centuries are experienced by God in one “timeless now.” So, while it is true that in the thirteenth century Aquinas prayed for understanding and received it, God’s response to his prayers is not something that also occurred in that century. (1991). What most people mean by this claim is that the physical universe began. God’s life also has a present, Leftow argues. Deciding how best to think of God’s relation to time will involve bringing to bear one’s views about other aspects of the divine nature. Remember the A-theory of time is the view that the most fundamental things about time are the locations of past, present and future. These terms are temporal in nature. ", Copyright 2011-2020 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved. Isaiah 57:15 says that God "inhabits eternity. Suppose you assert to me (truly) “You are in the kitchen,” and I assert to you (also truly), “I am in the kitchen.” These sentences are not identical and, according to the view we are considering, they express different propositions. The term “temporal” will refer to God as within time and “timeless” will designate God as being outside time. “Leftow on Direct Awareness and Atemporality,”. Furthermore, the explanations given of the coherence of timeless duration are not compelling. The B-theory of time (also known as the tenseless theory or the stasis theory) entails the claim that the most fundamental features of time are the relations of “before,” “after,” and “simultaneous with.” Talk of tenses (past, present and future) can be reduced to talk about these relations. Leftow argues that there is a significant difference between a being that has spatial or material parts and a being that has a duration consisting of different moments or positions or points. Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas and many others have appealed to God’s atemporality to solve this problem. This objection does not seem too plausible because of stories like the following. “The Unreality of Time,” in Le Poidevin, Robin and Murray MacBeath: 23-34. He is above and outside of the sphere of time. God is omniscient because he knows everything that can be known. God is at work drawing people together during a time of crisis. (1965). (2001b). The Scriptures do provide some parameters for acceptable theories of God’s relation to time, however. God does not believe things at points in time and Jeanie does not, therefore, have to have power over God’s past beliefs. However, other sources point out that he is his son. Then, sir, I would like to gain entrance to the Bar of England. He wills timelessly both the speaking and the parting. (2002). He redeems his people, answers their prayer, and forgives their sin. There are many philosophers who reject this quick answer on the grounds that God can know all of the non-indexical propositions and still not know what is happening now. For example, being wholly future relative to some temporal event is a TTP; but God, even if he is temporal, does not have that property. God sees all of eternity’s past and eternity’s future. Theism is the view that there exists a person who is, in significant ways, unlike every other person. Everything is subject to him. Metaphysical time involves no metric or measured temporal intervals. His dealings, like those of the rest of us, occur at particular times. Then I hope to do gr… (1987). So too, it is the occurring of the event that determines the content of God’s knowledge. “Eternity as Relative Timelessness,” in Ganssle (2001a): 92-110. They aim to work within the parameters of historical, biblical orthodoxy and to hold to the maximal property idea that whatever God is, he is to the greatest possible degree. His life does contain points that are ordered sequentially, however. The relation of his timeless cognition and the temporal objects of his cognition cannot be captured by using strictly temporal relations such as simultaneity because temporal simultaneity is a transitive relation. As a result his life is not wholly future to any temporal event. If two events are outside each other’s light cones in this way, they cannot causally interact. Stump and Kretzmann use the analogy of two parallel lines (Stump and Kretzmann 1987: 219). He knows what is going on, he reveals himself to people, he acts in such a way that things happen in time. Augustine and Anselm especially express the notion of timelessness by the use of the notion of the present. That is, we know them the way we do in virtue of our personal, spatial and temporal coordinates. So while God’s now coincides with the now of physical time, the measured intervals do not belong to his divine life. Any independent argument against divine simplicity (such as in Wolterstorff, 1991) will count against such a view of timelessness. The challenge might consist in finding a stable middle ground between timelessness and temporality. Whether or not they are correct, the proponent of timelessness holds that it is the fullness of God’s life (rather than its impoverishment) that determines his relation to time. Not many theologians or philosophers think that space is more fundamental than the universe. Pinnock, Clark, Richard Rice, John Sanders, William Hasker, David Basinger. Answers are contingent whereas effects of causes are in some sense necessary. Ganssle, Gregory E. (2001b). The Lord does not count time as we do. Unfortunately, there are numerous difficulties with ET-simultaneity. Now we have a different situation entirely. He can have a life which is an event having duration, though not temporal duration. An On Time God 2 Peter 3:8-9; Galatians 4:4 Have you ever been late for an appointment or meeting? If ET-simultaneity captures the truth about God’s relation to a temporal world, then we do not have to worry about the fall of Rome occurring at the same time that I spill my coffee. “Unqualified Divine Temporality,” in Ganssle (2001a): 187-213. (Stump and Kretzmann, 1981: pp 230-231.). Email: gregory.ganssle@yale.edu Setting aside a designated spot to spend time with God—even for 10 minutes a day—is a good place to start. To take this road is to hold that some facts are essentially indexical rather than just that some sentences or propositions are. Second Peter 3:8 says, "…with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." “The Eternal Present,” in Ganssle and Woodruff (2002a): 21-48. You could certainly say that this is a lesson with a broad sweep! While philosophers often come to conclusions that are reasonably settled in their mind, they are wise to hold such conclusions with an open hand. Having a present is a TTP, but God’s present is a non-temporal present. That is, God never began to exist, and he will never go out of existence. If this is a free act on her part, it must be within her power to make the cup of tea or to refrain from making it. Their favorite geometric analogy is the circle and the point at the center. Gregory E. Ganssle If the possible prophet problem is serious enough to show that God’s timeless knowledge of future acts (future, that is, from our present vantage point) is incompatible with those acts being free, then holding God to be timeless does not solve the problem of foreknowledge. “Eternity has no Duration.”, Stump, Eleonore and Norman Kretzmann. If time is contingent, then it depends upon God for its existence. In other words, it is time that has an intrinsic metric due to regularities in the physical universe. The duration of the life of a timeless being puts the nature of such a being in stark contrast with the nature of abstract objects such as numbers or properties. A QTE being is timeless in that it lives all of its life at once. Stump and Kretzmann take their cue from Boethius who articulated what became a standard understanding of divine timelessness: “Eternity, then, is the whole, simultaneous and perfect possession of boundless life” (Boethius, 1973). The quick answer to this concern is to deny that God knows something different at different times. (1975). The two aspects of divine timelessness that Stump and Kretzmann emphasize are that a timeless being has life and that this life has a duration, though not a temporal duration. Suffice it to say that the A-theory is held more commonly than the B-theory. It is an open question for many whether time had a beginning or whether the past is infinite. Le Poidevin, Robin and Murray MacBeath (1993) ed., Lewis, Delmas. If the past is infinite, then it is metaphysical time and not physical time that is everlasting. In some Greek sources, Kairos is mentioned as a brother of Chronos. This problem is that of prophecy. God’s goodness could never be conveyed in one article, or a globe-wide book. (2002) “Atemporal, Sempiternal or Omnitemporal: God’s Temporal Mode of Being,” in Ganssle and Woodruff (2002a): 49-61. If he changes, he is temporal and not timeless. (Although they cast their discussion in terms of an “eternal being,” this article will continue to use the term “timeless”.) Craig, William Lane. He can do anything that it is possible to do. God’s existence without creation is a timeless existence but once temporal reality comes into existence, God himself must change. This kind of objection raises the second approach to the question of a timeless God’s knowledge of the present. (2002). Before you start, ask God to speak to you through its pages. One way to object to this view is to deny that propositions expressed by indexical and non- indexical sentences refer to or assert the same fact. (1993). Then, sir, I hope to have a place in Parliament, in the House of Lords. This means that God is completely static; even His thinking does not change at all. In August, he was thinking about the heat wave in the mid-west. A third response is possible. He has perfect timing: never early, never late. Each affirms the argument that God can be timeless only if the B-theory of time is true and that the B-theory is false. Rather, God is in some third kind of relation to time. We grieve also for the events and times that no longer persist. There are no distinct events or moments at all within the life of a God who is metaphysically simple. The way Craig describes his view is that God without creation is timeless; God with creation is temporal. What we want to say about God’s power or knowledge or omnipresence will have some bearing on our understanding of how it is that God is eternal. He argued (in his third way) that even a universe with an infinite past would need to depend upon God for its existence. Working within the Aristotelean framework, he considered an everlasting universe to be a very real possibility. “Eternity, Awareness, and Action,”, Swinburne, Richard. They either think that there are no truths about future free actions or that none of those truths can be known, even by God (Hasker, 1989 and Pinnock et al., 1994). God sustains the universe, and time itself, in existence at each moment that it exists. God won't allow us to succeed at anything unless we're leaning and relying on Him. If he changes, then he is, at least in some sense, temporal. He is metaphysically simple. “Timelessness out of Mind,” in Ganssle and Woodruff (2002a): 153-164. Alan Padgett and Gary DeWeese (Padgett 1992, 2001; DeWeese 2002, 2004) have each argued that God is not in physical time although he is everlastingly temporal. The answers to these questions turn on whether space and time are parts or aspects of the universe or whether they are more fundamental. The majority position today, at least among philosophers, is that God is everlasting but temporal. The proposition expressed by the sentence, “Ganssle types this sentence at 11:58 AM (EST) on December 13, 2006” will be true tomorrow and the next day and so on. Of course, it is not right to say “prior to creation” in any literal sense. One advantage Leftow thinks his view affords is that it can meet Fitzgerald’s challenges while holding to the doctrine of divine simplicity. It is the occurring of the event that determines the content of our knowledge of the event. Thus, proponents of divine temporality will hold that God is omniscient and omnipotent. It is this last element that implies that the timeless being is outside time because a temporal living thing only possesses one moment of its life at a time. Neither alternative increases the plausibility or the clarity of the claim that God’s life has timeless duration. This language would imply that there was a time when God was timeless and then, later, there is another time when he is temporal. The philosophers whose views have been discussed will disagree about the answer to this question. In this way the life of God is stretched out, so to speak, alongside temporal reality. There can be the sort of duration that allows discrete moments to be individuated by location in the life of a metaphysically simple, timeless God. He is light and in Him, there is no darkness. They each also affirm that God created time (physical time) as he created the physical universe. If God is timeless, however, it seems that this problem does not arise. As Nelson Pike has argued, (Pike 1965) she can do so only if it is within her power to change what it was that God believed from the beginning of time. Just as in one present mental exercise, a human being can call to mind a whole series of events that are themselves sequential, God in his timeless state can know the whole sequence of temporal events non-sequentially. This response is, in effect, a defense of the quick answer given above. Furthermore, if God’s knowledge of a fact consists in the presence of that fact to God’s consciousness, it may be that this presence does not affect God intrinsically. The circle represents all of time and the dot, timelessness. In this case, they try to show that a timeless God can know tensed facts without changing himself. Rogers points out that both Stump and Kretzmann and Leftow, in defending the notion of divine timelessness against common objections do not make use of their distinctive notions of timeless duration at all. No being that experiences its life sequentially can have the fullest life possible. So there is a literal sense in which God knows now that I am typing this sentence now. A timeless God can be present, though not temporally present, to the world. Since indexical terms may refer to different items with different uses, we can make such sentences more clear by replacing the indexical term with a term whose reference is fixed. Leftow’s analysis of these typically temporal properties shows that some of the objections to timeless duration and a timeless God’s relation to a temporal world are not decisive. “Does God Have Beliefs?” in, Castaneda, Hector Neri. God is on our side and His power in us is greater than the powers of darkness that try to come against us. He exists at each moment in time. God’s life, like any life, is an event, but it is one in which time does not pass and in which no change takes place. They also can hold that God’s life cannot be contained in the measured moments of physical time. They also teach that God is the Lord of all creation. What will make an event temporal is having the right TTPs. His time is completely distinct from ours. A timeless God can know all propositions expressed by sentences of the form “event e occurs at tn.” Sentences of the form, “event e occurs now,” so the objection goes, express different propositions. 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