Pondering the relationship between God and time has kept theologians and philosophers occupied for centuries. In particular, the notion of God’s eternal timelessness has enjoyed a distinguished pedigree in Western thought. From Augustine to Aquinas, some of the greatest thinkers in history have argued for this view of God’s relationship with time and have developed impressive arguments in support of it. It is the time-honored, traditional position of classical theism.

However, the concept does not stand in isolation from other Christian doctrines. Alan Padgett observes that “the doctrine of divine eternity interacts with a number of other important Christian teachings on God, and raises questions regarding their compatibility with timelessness” (God, Eternity, and the Nature of Time, 1).

In this series, we will consider the traditional view of God’s eternal timelessness. It will be our objective to explain the idea and, along the way, to examine how well it comports with Scripture and certain essential Christian doctrines. Specifically, we are interested in discerning how consistent the notion is with our settled understanding of God’s cosmic creativity and his omniscience. Based on our exploration, we seek to determine if the notion of God’s timeless eternity is one that Christians may enthusiastically embrace.

Simply stated, the concept of God’s eternal timelessness includes the conviction that God dwells beyond time such that he experiences no succession of moments in his existence. God is not in time, but he is the creator of time, which exists separately from him, and is experienced as the passage of moments only by created, contingent beings. Wayne Grudem asserts that “God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in his own being and he sees all time equally vividly” (Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 168).

Norman Geisler adds, “Classical theism affirms that God is above and beyond time. Again, God has no past, present, or future. He simply has an enduring eternal present” (Systematic Theology, vol. 2, God and Creation, 93). In fact, classical theists equate the timeless with the eternal, asserting that “eternality means nontemporality or timelessness” (God and Creation, 94). According to classical theism, God’s absolute timelessness follows from God’s “pure actuality.” Geisler argues,

God is pure actuality; as such He has no potentiality. Whatever is temporal has potentiality; thus God is not temporal–if He were, then He too would have potentiality, which a Being of pure actuality does not have. So unlike time, God has no past or future, only a present: He is an eternal Now. Consequently, He does not foresee the future; He simply sees the future in His eternal present (or Now) (God and Creation, 95).

Thus, God is a fully actualized being. There is no unrealized potential within him, and, therefore, it is impossible for him to experience change of any kind. Since motion through time experienced as duration from the past, through the present, into the future implies change, God must be timeless.

Furthermore, advocates of the traditional view see much at stake in defending and preserving it, for, according to Paul Helm, “To affirm that God is timeless is to deny to him an entire category of powers and relations that human beings have, and so to make it impossible to say that in these respects he is as we are” (God and Time: Four Views, 28-29). Hence, Helm seems to be fighting for the truth of God’s otherness.

In fact, adherents to the traditional view at times seem to suggest that the orthodoxy of those who disagree may be in question. Helm, for instance, identifies those with opposing or modified views of God and time as people who may be guilty of "humanizing God" (God and Time, 28-29). Geisler refers to dissenters rather disparagingly as “neotheists” (God and Creation, 108), and Grudem suggests that challengers are assaulting what “has been the dominant view of Christian orthodoxy throughout the history of the church” (Biblical Doctrine, 170).

With apparently so much at stake, it would seem imperative that we closely examine how the traditional view of God's eternal timelessness coheres with Scripture and essential Christian doctrine. So we ask the question, "Is God really timeless?"

In our next post, we begin with a look at what the Bible might have to say about the relationship between God and time.

Blessings,

Arnie Gentile

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