Divine Eternity as Timeless Perfection

In: European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Band 8, Heft 2, S. 169-182

Abstract

Should we interpret God's eternity as mere everlastingness or as timelessness? We are still confronted with an ongoing debate between the two positions. That God is timeless or completely outside time might be called 'the classical view of divine eternity'. But this view can be interpreted in various ways. In reverting to some of Aquinas' texts I want to focus on the account of God's timelessness as a perfection. In trying to defend this view I will not offer any new arguments; I simply adopt the classical assessment of the meaning of the predicates we use when we speak about God. That God lives, loves, thinks, acts, etc., are claims which cannot be understood in the same way as when they are made of human persons.