That the Universe, if real, must be finite in Both Space and Time', Philosophy, XLVI (1971),121-32. [7]. Ian Hinckfuss also argues that if the universe were frozen into immobility, there would still be time because temporal duration and measurement are not dependent upon the continuous operation of a clock throughout that time. Enjoy a wide variety of funny Christian jokes, good clean jokes, and family safe jokes and religious humor. Because the argument concerns events, not time, Wolfe's analysis is inapplicable, since prior to creation there were no events at all. For suppose the universe never came to exist - would there still be time? J. R. Lucas also contends that time could neither begin nor end. But what about subsequent to the first event? For in the eternal and changeless love relationship between the persons of the Trinity, we see how a truly personal God could exist timelessly, entirely sufficient within himself. ', Australasian Journal of Philosophy XXXIII (1955), 33. A variant on the above view is expressed by Lawrence Sklar, whose theories of time are heavily influenced by relativity theory. In the same way, to say there was a time when the universe did not exist does not imply there was such a time, but only that we can mentally conceive of such a time. In contrast to the pagan deities of Israel's neighbors, the Lord never came into … Soren Kierkegaard, Philosophical Fragments, trans. For cheaper go get the City of God by Augstine or translated copies of parts of Dun Scotus or Anlsem's complete writings or the Pensees. Given the superiority of a relational over a non-relational (Newtonian) view of time, God ought to be considered as timeless sans creation and temporal subsequent to creation. Denomination: *other. Given the superiority of a relational over a non-relational (Newtonian) view of time, God ought to be considered as timeless sans creation and temporal subsequent to creation. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Stuart Hackett argues, Time is merely a relation among objects that are apprehended in an order of succession or that objectively exist in such an order: time is a form of perceptual experience and of objective processes in the external (to the mind) world. Many of Craig's arguments (and his refutation of others') can be occasionally abstruse, and require careful study. As Swinburne explains, ...since God coexists with the world and in the world there is change, surely there is a case for saying that God continues to exist for an endless time, rather than that he is timeless. There's a problem loading this menu right now. [5] Barr's basic contention is that, 'A valid biblical theology can be built only upon the statements of the Bible, and not on the words of the Bible.' His discussion of the interrelated scientific, philosophical, and theological issues clears up many previous misconceptions and proposes a plausible understanding of the relation of God to time and eternity that many will find helpful.--George EllisProfessor of Mathematics and Applied MathematicsUniversity of Capetown. A young man came to W. E. Gladstone when he was Prime Minister of England and said, Mr. Gladstone, I would appreciate your giving me a few minutes in which I might lay before you my plans for the future. [12] To say that the universe began to exist on such a time scale would simply be to say that a finite time ago there were no physical objects. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. The book offers a plausible argument for a realistic conception of temporal process and for God's involvement in the temporal distinctions and processes because of His presence in His creation.--Wolfhart PannenbergProfessor of Systematic TheologyLudwig Maximilliens Universitaet-Muenchen, Germany, As a scientist doing theoretical research in gravitational physics and quantum cosmology, I found Dr. Craig's thoughtful book highly interesting. So the question whether time is finite or infinite may be reduced to the question whether the series of events is finite or infinite. '. Following creation, God is in time. Eternity. The crucial premise is, in Wolfe's opinion, that an infinite time cannot elapse. Research Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology; Founder, Reasonable Faith, www.reasonablefaith.org. [26] On a Newtonian view of time, God would exist changelessly in an undifferentiated time prior to creation. These, then, are the alternatives. 10-11. Then, sir, I would like to gain entrance to the Bar of England. The "eternal" God is he who was in the beginning, is now, and will be in all the future, "who is, who was, and who will be" (Rev. For there was just nothing, and Creation was only a future contingent. Build a relationship and Time will take the person away from you. ..if such a thing as a Christian doctrine of time has to be developed, the work of discussing it and developing it must belong not to biblical but to philosophical theology'. Presumably to such thinkers the beginning of the temporal series of events would not entail a beginning to time itself. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. He interprets Minkowski spacetime in a literalistic way, asserting that future events 'have determinate reality' and future objects are 'real existents'. Since the first event did not occur, then an infinite time must have elapsed. The problem becomes especially acute for anyone who holds to the Christian doctrine of the incarnation, for as Nelson Pike urges, 'It could hardly escape notice that the doctrine of God's timelessness does not square well with the standard Christian belief that God once assumed finite, human form (the doctrine of the incarnation).' It is in this sense that He could speak of Himself while on earth as "the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13). Once temporal persons were created, God would then begin to experience temporal personal relationships with them. Theists say that God is eternally existent. Time and Eternity deals with difficult issues in modern physics and brings them into relation with traditional theological doctrines. To learn more about relationship between God, time, and eternity read Eternal God: A Study of God Without Time by Paul Helm (Oxford University Press). For a thorough discussion, see my The Kalam Cosmological Argument (London: Macmillan, 1979). God, Time, and Eternity: The Coherence of Theism II: Eternity (v. 2) 2001st Edition by W.L. . Craig has done a great work, and it is marvelous that now the philosophy of religion is engaging with the philosophy of science to the great benefit of both.--John R. LucasFellow of Merton College, Oxford University, Time and Eternity offers a comprehensive discussion of the problems in the concepts of time and eternity on the basis of an extraordinary familiarity with a vast number of recent contributions to this issue from scientists and philosophers. This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. [22] But Ellis draws a very instructive analogy between this sort of speech and talk of temperatures below absolute zero. Unable to add item to List. Why did God so determine? A second is no different from an eon; a billion years pass like seconds to the eternal God. God, Time, and Eternity: The Coherence of Theism II: Eternity - Ebook written by W.L. . I think that it is within the context of Trinitarian theology that the personhood and timelessness of God may be the most satisfactorily understood. But, of course, prior to creation was not simply nothing, but God. How this is understood depends on which definition of eternity is used. Eternity is not, as in Platonic and Neoplatonic thought, supratemporal or nontemporal. Harvey, Physics and Metaphysics in Hasdai Crescas (1998), ch. When a physicist says there are no temperatures lower than absolute zero, the use of 'lower than' does not presuppose there actually are such temperatures, but only that we can conceive it in our minds. ... at this time, and to pray for God’s will to be accomplished in eternity. Or is God's relationship to time much more like ours, so that God's eternality just consists in there being no time at which God doesn't exist? God simply transcends time; He doesn't exist in time. God is the 'high and lofty One who inhabits eternity', [1] declared the prophet Isaiah, but exactly how we are to understand the notion of eternity is not clear. [9] If we agree that the universe began to exist, does this necessitate as well a beginning to time itself? John Donnelly (New York: Fordham University Press, 1972), pp. Within a Newtonian understanding of time this argument, even if valid, would only imply that the universe had a beginning in time instead of with time. If God is really related to the world, then it seems most reasonable to maintain that God is in time subsequent to creation. He doesn't exist now, but He exists simply timelessly. God’s life thus is not spread out over time the way ours is, meaning that he is outside of time. [18]. Conclusion : Prior to creation, God is outside of time. I am unable to make my way back to eternity, but God can reach into time from eternity, touch me and draw me back. Sabid Ahmad Kamali (Lahore: Pakistan Philosophical Congress, 1958); Saadia Gaon, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, trans. Zwart, for example, asserts, According to the relational theory the passage of time consists in the happening of events. Great proponents of this view have been people like St. Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and Thomas Aquinas. Time and Eternity - God Jokes. [14] He notes that if time is defined in a relational manner, then if there was an absolutely stationary universe prior to the first event, we would have to say that time did not exist until the first event occurred. [4] Barr thinks that Genesis may very well teach that time was created along with the universe, and that God may be thought of as timeless. The answer is: it all depends. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. The question before us concerns the relationship of God to time. Is God's eternity to be construed as timeless or temporal? Thus the fact that time is a relation among objects or experiences of a successive character voids the objection that the beginning of the world implies an antecedent void time: for time, as such a relation of succession among experiences or objective processes, has no existence whatever apart from these experiences or processes themselves. On the big-bang model see P. J. E. Peebles, Physical Cosmology (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1971); S. Weinberg, Gravitation and Cosmology (New York, Wiley, 1972). But what does that mean? The idea of a 'time before time' is a mental construction only, a product of the imagination. 72-3. On a relational view of time, God would exist changelessly and timelessly prior to the first event, creation, which marks the beginning of time. But in his classic work on this subject, Oscar Cullmann has contended that the New Testament 'does not make a philosophical, qualitative distinction between time and eternity. Traditionally, the Christian church has taken it to mean 'timeless'. P. J. Zwart, About Time (Amsterdam and Oxford: North Holland Publishing Co., 1976), p. 237. Just as He is omnipresent, He is also omnitemporal. p. 43). Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read God, Time, and Eternity: The Coherence of Theism II: Eternity. [30], Thus, on a relational view of time God would exist timelessly and independently 'prior' to creation; at creation, which he has willed from eternity to appear temporally, time begins, and God subjects himself to time by being related to changing things. But in the first place, Wolfe's formulation of the argument is defective, for the contention is that an infinite number of events cannot elapse, not that an infinite time cannot elapse. R. G. Swinburne, 'The Timelessness of God', Church Quarterly Review CLXVI (1965), 331. But if we reject the Aristotelian metaphysical doctrine of substance and accidents, then it seems foolish to say God is not really related to the world as Creator to creature. Whether this is a good definition of eternity, "The simultaneously-whole and perfect possession of … I gave this book only 3 stars not because I think that’s all it’s worthy of, but because many of the parts that didn’t skirt my understanding exceeded it. It has a very thorough treatment of historical philasophical works and how the theory of relativity and its interpretation affect man's perception of time. before it ever occurred, especially when its occurrence is a contingent matter? 13.7. I say this to explain that because of my own ignorance and with many terms in this book only vaguely familiar, I had to brush up on the nomenclature and work my way slowly through the arguments. Samuel Rosenblatt (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1948); Bonaventure, 2 Sentences 1.1.1.2.1-6. The Lord Jesus Christ continually lived in time for our sakes, and in eternity by His very nature. Paint a painting and Time will fade it. Isaiah proclaims God as "the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity" (Isa. The time that passes on earth is of no consequence from God’s timeless perspective. It seems, then, that time is something good and well-suited for God’s creation. Isaiah 57:15 says that God "inhabits eternity." Check out these titles from Crossway that cover a wide range of topics. [20] On the other hand, this level of abstraction may be illegitimate and may presuppose a time above time. The former would appear to involve God in time, but the latter would not, for if God is tri-personal he has no need of temporal persons with whom to relate in order to enjoy personal relationships--the three persons of the Godhead would experience perfect and eternal communion and love with no necessity to create other persons. But, he adds, without physical objects, time could not be measured: one could not distinguish an hour from a day in a period of time without objects. IV. [29] Hence, God exists timelessly, unrelated to creatures, while creatures in time change in their relations to him. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. It is magnificently designed for life on earth, right now, with all its pressures and problems, its joys and tears. He could apprehend the whole content of the temporal series in a single eternal intuition, just as I analogously apprehend all the parts of a circle in a single sensory intuition. This understanding does not involve any change in God; rather he is simply related to changing things. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Given that the universe began to exist, a relational view of time suggests that time also began to exist. time is the generalized relation of before-and-after extended to all events' (ibid. A man was taking it easy, lying on the grass and looking up at the clouds. Brian Ellis notes that because we speak of 'before creation' or 'prior to the first event', we tend to think that a beginning of time is impossible. Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2012. On the other hand, the Newtonian would say God exists in absolute time changelessly and independently prior to creation and that creation simply marks the first event in time. When God created the world, He created time—there was a “beginning” (Genesis 1:1). The first moment of time is not a self-contradictory concept. As the latest in his series of ground-breaking books, Time and Eternity summarizes and extends Craig's previous technical arguments and conveys them to a more general audience. 57:15). Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. Craig. God is the 'high and lofty One who inhabits eternity', declared the prophet Isaiah, but exactly how we are to understand the notion of eternity is not clear. According to the Christian doctrine of creatio ex nihilo, the universe began to exist a finite amount of time ago. This shopping feature will continue to load items when the Enter key is pressed. But, in fact, it does seem plausible to contend on a relational view of time that a first instant could exist, since apart from events no time exists. “It does not coincide with the present.” It does not precede it or “prolong” it into infinity. xii, 72. Craig (Author) 5.0 out of 5 stars 3 ratings. He was identifying shapes when he decided to talk to God. Ian Hinckfuss, The Existence of Space and Time (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), pp. In Time and Eternity, William Lane Craig defends the remarkable conclusion that "God is timeless without creation and temporal since creation." G. J. Whitrow, What is Time? Its junk and also as bad as Dawkins in terms of arguments as it bases it off not understanding his opponents or earlier theists like Aquinas well. [23] We reject the latter because we could presumably cross the boundary and find space on the other side. If a person believes that time exists apart from events such that if there were no events there would still be time, then our argument does not entail prima facie a beginning to time. Traditionally, God's eternity has been understood in terms of timelessness. He has carefully given arguments defending several different viewpoints for each of the many issues about time that he discusses, followed by critiques in which he emphasizes his own opinion. According to this view, God’s relation to time is like that of His relation to physical space. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Remarkable work offers an analytical exploration of the temporal series of events the relational the. ” ( Genesis 1:31 ) order to navigate to the Bar of England be metric... For infinite time does not involve any change in perspective can make regards time and eternity: the Coherence Theism! By and by '' religion load items when the first moment of time, and to pray for God s! To such thinkers the beginning of time is to be outside time, but also inside time. S creation, because time begins at creation. religious humor … question... 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