A Coherent Model of Absolute Timelessness

Abstract

In the history of the idea of eternity, we have seen that the traditional doctrine of eternity has dominated the discussion. The question then naturally arises, is this view correct? Many modern thinkers have argued that it is. In this chapter we examine several attempts to develop and defend the traditional doctrine of eternity. According to this doctrine, God is absolutely timeless and absolutely immutable. Traditional theologians would affirm, nevertheless, that God acts in human history. The congruence of these two doctrines with one another depends, as we shall see, upon the stasis theory of time. In fact Paul Helm simply assumes the stasis theory in his defense of the traditional notion of eternity (Eternal God, 24–26, 77–80).