This is probably the simplest argument for the timelessness of God, and somehow I’ve missed out on it in the past:
God does not change.
Creation has a finite age.
There is nothing outside of creation besides God.
So, change has a finite age. (1–3)
There is no time without change.
So, time has a finite age. (4,5)
If something is in time, it has an age which is less than or equal to the age of time.
God does not have a finite age.
God is not in time. (6–8)
Premise (2) is supported by causal finitism and is also a part of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith.
Some philosophers deny (3): they think abstract things exist besides God and creation. But this theologically problematic view does not affect the argument. For abstract things are either unchanging or they change as a result of change in concrete things (for instance, a presentist will say that sets come into existence when their members do).
The most problematic premise in my view is (5).
2 comments:
I like this argument!
Interestingly and as best as I can tell, Bill Craig's view, according to which God is timeless without the universe and temporal subsequent to the creation of the universe, commits one to the falsity of 8. I think on his view, God is ~14 billion years old (the age of the universe).
Post a Comment