God being Eternal 
‘Critically assess the traditional Christian concept of God being eternal’ (35 marks) There is 5 key concepts of the traditional view of God. These are Simplicity, Omniscient,
Omnibenevolent, Omnipotent and Eternity. The traditional Christian concept of God’s eternity has been highly influenced by the early philosophy of Plato and his concept of the unchanging reality of the world of the Forms, and more modern philosophy of Boethius. It is argued however that the concept of God’s eternity has not only appealed to people because of the influence of early Greek philosophy, but instead Wolterstorff has suggested it appeals to people because the eternal God is different from human experience of life in the physical world. In today’s world the people try to stave off ageing and the effects of time, however time does remain a constant within society. In this world the notion of God being other and always existing, as revealed in the Bible. This leads to philosophical understanding of God’s nature as eternal and make believers conviction that God is eternal more understandable. In
JudaeoChristian philosophy the concept of God being eternal can have two senses; 1
Eternal refers to God existing outside of time and 2 Eternal refers to God having no beginning and no end, but time does pass for God. Christians since the time of Boethius have thought of God eternal. Philosophers such as
Aquinas and Anselm have suggested that God exists out of time. Anselm argued that God is eternal because nothing can contain God(Proslogion 19). Aquinas stated time and change are inseparable. As God can’t change, God can not be in time. There are 6 main reasons to explain why Christians traditionally believe that God is Eternal; Firstly, the Bible suggests that
God is always exists. Secondly, God is not a physical being like us. Thirdly, God is the creator of the universe. Time passing is a feature of the universe so therefore God is out of time. Next is that
Omnibenevolent, Omnipotent and Eternity. The traditional Christian concept of God’s eternity has been highly influenced by the early philosophy of Plato and his concept of the unchanging reality of the world of the Forms, and more modern philosophy of Boethius. It is argued however that the concept of God’s eternity has not only appealed to people because of the influence of early Greek philosophy, but instead Wolterstorff has suggested it appeals to people because the eternal God is different from human experience of life in the physical world. In today’s world the people try to stave off ageing and the effects of time, however time does remain a constant within society. In this world the notion of God being other and always existing, as revealed in the Bible. This leads to philosophical understanding of God’s nature as eternal and make believers conviction that God is eternal more understandable. In
JudaeoChristian philosophy the concept of God being eternal can have two senses; 1
Eternal refers to God existing outside of time and 2 Eternal refers to God having no beginning and no end, but time does pass for God. Christians since the time of Boethius have thought of God eternal. Philosophers such as
Aquinas and Anselm have suggested that God exists out of time. Anselm argued that God is eternal because nothing can contain God(Proslogion 19). Aquinas stated time and change are inseparable. As God can’t change, God can not be in time. There are 6 main reasons to explain why Christians traditionally believe that God is Eternal; Firstly, the Bible suggests that
God is always exists. Secondly, God is not a physical being like us. Thirdly, God is the creator of the universe. Time passing is a feature of the universe so therefore God is out of time. Next is that