Philosophy of Religion Research

William Craig on Divine Eternity; A Critical Survey

Authors

1 Associate Professor at the Department Philosophy, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD Student of Islamic Philosophy, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The doctrine of Divine eternity is usually construed in two ways: 1) Temporalism, according to which, God everlastingly exists during the time, and 2) Atemporalism or Eternalism which regards Divine existence as timeless and outside time. In his renowned theory of Divine eternity, William Craig acknowledged that "prior to" or sans ceation God's existence is timeless, but after creation He becomes a temporal being since, in this situation, He must sustain a real relation to the temporal world and also have knowledge of temporal events. Craig's theory rests on certain metaphysical principles such as the relative and tensed theories of time. Though Craig's proposal has apparent merits we may reject it due to some of its unreasonable implications: it entails that God's nature becomes changeable and effective by His creatures. It also implies the ineffectuality of God's emanation or effusion sans creation.

Keywords

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Philosophy of Religion Research
Volume 8, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
May 2010
Pages 5-31