God and the Nature of Time

by DeWeese,Garrett J.

• ISBN13: 9780754635185
• ISBN10: 075463518X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2016-12-08
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Is God temporal, 'in time', or atemporal, 'outside of time'? Garrett DeWeese begins with contemporary metaphysics and physics, developing a causal account of dynamic time. Drawing on biblical material as well as discussions of divine temporality in medieval and contemporary philosophical theology, DeWeese concludes that God is temporal but not in physical time as we measure it. Interacting with issues in the history of philosophy, contemporary philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion, this book offers students a thorough introduction to the key issues and key figures in historical and contemporary work on the philosophy of time and time in theology.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
1 Introduction	1	(14)
The Nature of the Problem	1	(1)
A Survey of Proposed Solutions	2	(3)
Constraints on a Solution	5	(2)
Summary of the Book	7	(1)
Kinds of Time	8	(7)
PART I: METAPHYSICS AND PHYSICS
2 The Metaphysics of Time	15	(50)
Static versus Dynamic Time	15	(3)
Defense of a Dynamic Theory of Time	18	(18)
A Causal Theory of Dynamic Time	36	(17)
The Topology of Causal Dynamic Time	53	(10)
Conclusion	63	(2)
3 Physics and Time	65	(28)
The Special Theory of Relativity	65	(10)
The General Theory of Relativity	75	(9)
Quantum Mechanics	84	(4)
Conclusion	88	(5)
PART II: SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION
4 The Evidence from Scripture	93	(18)
Philology: Hebrew and Greek Words for Time and Eternity	93	(2)
Hebrew Words	95	(6)
Greek Words	101	(3)
Exegesis: Central Texts that Speak of Time and Eternity	104	(5)
Conclusion	109	(2)
5 The Medieval Consensus: God Is Atemporally Eternal	111	(48)
St Augustine	111	(23)
Boethius	134	(11)
St Anselm	145	(6)
St Thomas Aquinas	151	(6)
Conclusion	157	(2)
6 Atemporality: Contemporary Statements	159	(26)
Eternal-Temporal Simultaneity: Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann	160	(7)
Eternity as a Reference Frame: Brian Leftow	167	(8)
The 'Classical View' Revisited: Paul Helm	175	(4)
Atemporality and Static Time	179	(5)
Conclusion	184	(1)
7 A Medieval Dissent: God Is Temporally Everlasting	185	(24)
John Duns Scotus	186	(8)
William of Ockham	194	(6)
Later Medieval Developments	200	(1)
Luis de Molina	201	(6)
Conclusion	207	(2)
8 Temporality: Contemporary Statements	209	(30)
The Argument from Personality	209	(8)
The Argument from Dynamic Time	217	(15)
The Argument from the Incarnation	232	(3)
Conclusion	235	(4)
PART III: OMNITEMPORAL GOD
9 Omnitemporality	239	(18)
Omnitemporality: An Informal Account	239	(4)
Analysis of Key Concepts	243	(12)
Conclusion	255	(2)
10 Implications of Omnitemporality	257	(20)
What Cannot Be Affirmed	258	(4)
What Is Problematic: God's Knowledge of Future Contingents	262	(2)
What Can Be Asserted	264	(12)
Conclusion	276	(1)
Bibliography	277	(14)
Index	291