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Interpretations of God's eternity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1998

NICHOLAS EVERITT
NICHOLAS EVERITT
Affiliation:
School of Economic and Social Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ
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Abstract

…even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God (Psalms 90.2)

A number of authors, including contributors to this journal, have argued that the only consistent interpretation of God's eternal existence attributes to God an atemporal existence. Their argument seeks to show that it would be self-contradictory to adopt the opposing interpretation that God exists in time, and has indeed existed for an infinite past time. This paper argues that their objections to infinite past existence all turn on a misunderstanding of what that concept involves. The theist is therefore not compelled to adopt the atemporal interpretation, but can instead adopt the more intuitively intelligible thesis that God is in time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , March 1998 , pp. 25 - 32
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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