God didnt become loving at the time of creation, for he has always been a god of love. Sep 22, 2020 its not that eternity is the place that god lives. God, time, and eternity theology today in the word. He cannot suffer anything that he does not anticipate, foreknow, and choose to undergo. Although the scripture does not speak of god explicitly in terms of such timeless eternity, there are, nevertheless, some biblical passages that do intimate a transcendence of god beyond time. Mar 03, 2017 god s life thus is not spread out over time the way ours is, meaning that he is outside of time. Even for nonbelievers, these issues have interesting implications for the relation between historical and scientific findings on the one hand, and religion on the other. Traditionally, the christian church has taken it to mean timeless.
God, however, never lacks any kind of complementary cause in order to produce an effect. As a result, god s eternity, says cullmann, must be expressed in terms of endless time. By far this is the most accessible introduction to the nature of time and its relation to the god of christian theism. After an historical and biblical survey of the doctrine of eternity, padgett rejects both the everlasting and the timeless theory of eternity, seeking to defend the intuition that god transcends time. Undaunted, this is precisely the project which we have set for ourselves in this study. To many traditional christian theologians, god is outside of time. Most writers who object to a timeless, personal god consider god only subsequent to creation as he is related to human persons, but fail to consider god prior to creation e. We can think of the past, present, and future as equally real.
Suddenly his spying nature from eternity lost him his benevolence. Concerning the former, a misunderstanding of the nature of time leads one to believe that eternity. Nov 28, 2017 the idea that god s existence, rather than being extended through time, is a single, allencompassing present has profound theological and spiritual implications beyond the scope of this article. Pdf ebooks can be used on all reading devices immediate ebook. But there are different ways of construing god s eternity available to the christian, because the bible doesnt fully explain the nature of god s relation to time. He is not located only in a particular place at a particular time. Padgetts instructive treatment of god s relationship to time god, eternity and the nature of time, new york. Buy this book isbn 9780230376519 digitally watermarked, drmfree included format.
Oct 12, 2018 this is the culmination of over two decades of craigs reflection on the nature of time and god s relationship to it. The attribute of eternity means that god exists endlessly. 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 doesnt exist. Jul 23, 2002 although the scripture does not speak of god explicitly in terms of such timeless eternity, there are, nevertheless, some biblical passages that do intimate a transcendence of god beyond time. Pdf eternity, the concept of divine temporality, is the theological term used to describe the timeframe of gods.
After an historical and biblical survey of the doctrine of eternity, padgett rejects both. But from the beginning of the creation, male and female made he them mk. Out of eternity, the lord came into time as jesus christ clothed in humanity to save humanity. His existence extends endlessly backward and forward from our viewpoint of time without any interruption or limitation caused by succession of events. God gave his only begotten son because he loves the world john 3. Therefore, at any instant at which god exists, so too can his effects, and thus god need not precede his effects in time. Time and eternity biblical study on aionian, chapters 114 g. One upshot of this has been the emergence of a completely new model of divine eternity for the first time. For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.
Our understanding of time affects our understanding on the nature of eternity, and our understanding of the relationship between god s foreknowledge, predestination, and human freewill. The past is present memory time has diff erent meanings. The will of god in common usage refers to what god desires of an individual or group in a particular situation. Mar 28, 2017 the fact that we live in time and god lives in eternity leads to all kinds of questions. The will of god in relation to the divine decrees refers to the decision god made in eternity past, from his attribute of sovereignty, which established that certain things would actually come into being while other things would not. One is called omnitemporality, which means that god has existed for an infinite duration of objectively temporal moments. 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. The nature of gods eternal decree founders ministries.
That event is recorded in the first few pages of the bible genesis 1,2. Theologians and philosophers may speculate, but our finite capacity for understanding will never fully grasp the nature of god s relationship to time and eternity. Feb 25, 2020 thus evil is a privation of good action, and god s benevolent nature is redeemed. But we would be mistaken if we thought that the primary object of the love of god was the world or even the people whom he redeems. Time and creation the institute for creation research.
This is a significant book because it is much more careful and precise both in. Time and eternity deals with difficult issues in modern physics and brings them into relation with traditional theological doctrines. Jan 02, 2020 jesus and his father are one in essence, they exist sans time, and they share equally in the attribute of eternality. Padgett wrote god, eternity and the nature of time 1992. Time, eternity, and predestination oneness pentecostal. Likewise there is no succession in god s knowledge, since all that occurs within time is eternally and unchangingly present to the divine mind. We can also make the mistake of thinking that eternity is just like time, except, well, longer. All else spring forth from him by his will and for his pleasure, being dependent on him for its sustenance. 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. The bible also tells us that one thing that motivated god from all eternity to implement redemption is his love for his creation. Endless time would involve the same kind of time we experience now, just elongated forever into the future. Here the only difference between eternity and ordinary time is that the temporal process of this world simply continues forever. Prephilosohical intuitions about the dynamic nature of time. For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when.
Since therefore eternity is not a part of time, forasmuch as eternity exceeds time, and includes it, it seems that time is a part of eternity, and is not a different thing from eternity. Kuiper lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Eternity, gods knowledge, and free will clarifying catholicism. God, time, and eternity the coherence of theism ii.
Well, if god is in time, then the obvious question raised. Concerning the former, a misunderstanding of the nature of time leads one to believe that eternity is a timeless existence. At the same time, he exists at the time of his future kingdom. The kingdom of god and the eternal state nathan busenitz instructor of theology the masters seminary history is heading toward a new heaven and new earth, which is often referred to as the eternal state. This book is a thorough analysis and discussion of the nature of time and eternity, focusing on the timelessness of god. God is without beginning of days or end of years, moses 1. Kraml strongly opts in favour of an ontological pluralism.
This is not a mystical realm but a real, tangible place where the people of god will dwell in the presence of the triune god forever. Time and eternity is a sort of summarized culmination of years of philosophical reflection and publication on the issues involved in such questions. Instead, following most twentiethcentury trinitarian theologians,2 i understand eternity to be the boundless temporality of the trinitarian god, a lavishly rich supratemporality that is both the source. The final days of time eternity, nature of god, the eternal years. Attempts to understand gods eternity are all related to time. Stevens 2 of these some, having heard and appropriated the good news concerning jesus and the resurrection, have been assured a future life with the lord. Eternity is the sole property of god, it is his intrinsic nature. This question presupposes that god s nature is fundamentally similar to something in the universe. To answer questions like this, we need to think about the nature of both time and eternity. Because god is the supreme lord of time and eternity, nothing can catch him by surprise. When we hear jesus promises of eternal life, we might well shudder, imagining that eternal life will be much like this one, except neverending. At the same time, he exists at the time of abraham. Just as he is omnipresent, he is also omnitemporal.
The former would appear to involve god in time, but the latter would not, for if. Eternity is endless, but time is measured by a beginning and an end. God, time, and eternity religious studies cambridge core. Obviously, the idea that the universe was, at one time, nonexistent, but then independently came into being, is contradictory. I will argue that augustine develops two accounts of time. One upshot of this has been the emergence of a completely new model of divine eternity for the first time in some fifteen hundred years. At the incarnation jesus christ, who existed as god from eternity past, took to himself a human nature that he did not previously possess. In the beginning god created the heavens and the earth gen. His eternal nature is thought of as being everlasting rather than timeless. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a. The first account of time, that is to say, time seen as a creature of god has three characteristics. It helps me to note the difference between eternity and endless time.
Includes a lengthy discussion of the nature of time as dynamic versus static and proposes a novel understanding of divine eternity which is biblically, scientifically, and philosophically tenable. Eternity in christian thought stanford encyclopedia of. Earlier, in book 4, prose 6, though he is not really addressing the question of time and eternity. After considering two theories of time in the light of modern science and philosophy, padgett argues for a process notion of time. Further, the will of the voluntary agent in no way diminishes his power, and this is especially true with god. And the scriptures make clear that as he existed from all eternity, there was already in his nature from all eternity the attribute of love. With respect to his human nature, jesus shared the linear experience of time bound creatures john 1. A semipopular exploration of the nature of divine eternity, focusing on the question of whether god is timeless or temporal. This is a inconceivable thought or concept to fully grasp. Those who try to think about god and time are pressing the very limits of human understanding. He exists in the past and in the present and in the future, all in the same moment. 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.
According to this view, god s relation to time is like that of his relation to physical space. The different philosophical aspects being raised in this book have been treated in other book length works of his one on the atheory of time, one on the btheory, one on philosophical interpretations of relativity theory as editor and contributor, one on the problem of. This is why the psalmist can speak of the lord whose plans shall stand forever, and whose counsel endures for all generations ps 33. It assumes that god is governed by the same laws of physics that govern our universe. Pannenberg, physics, and eschatology in creative mutual.
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