Eternity, Time and Timelessness

Faith and Philosophy 5 (1):72-86 (1988)
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Abstract

In this paper I argue that the classic concept of eternity, as it is presented in Boethius, Anselm and Aquinas, must be understood to involve not only the claim that all temporal things are epistemically present to God, but also the claim that all temporal things areexistentially present to God insofar as they coexist timelessly in the eternal present. I further argue that the concept of eternity requires a tenseless view of time. If this is correct then the existence of an eternal God logically depends on the truth of the tenseless account of time. I conclude by suggesting that the Christian theologian ought to reject a tenseless ontology.

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Citations of this work

On the Co-Nowness of Time and Eternity: A Scotistic Perspective.Liran Shia Gordon - 2016 - International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 77 (1-2):30-44.
Aquinas on the Existence of the Future: A Response to Gili.Damiano Costa - 2020 - European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 12 (3):225-235.

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References found in this work

Eternity.Eleonore Stump & Norman Kretzmann - 1981 - Journal of Philosophy 78 (8):429-458.
Seeing the present.Jeremy Butterfield - 1984 - Mind 93 (370):161-176.
Plato and Parmenides on the Timeless Present.G. E. L. Owen - 1974 - In Alexander P. D. Mourelatos (ed.), The pre-Socratics: a collection of critical essays. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. pp. 271-292.
Seeing the Present.Jeremy Butterfield - 1998 - In Robin Le Poidevin (ed.), Questions of time and tense. New York: Oxford University Press.

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