Читать книгу Mathers Systematic Theology - Norman W. Mathers - Страница 29

God is free from the succession of time (Gen. 21:33, Ps. 90:2). Is time a reality to God? Yes, the Lord God recognizes the successiveness of events, but all time, the past, the present, and future events are equally vivid to Him. He has no beginning nor does He have an end in relationship to time. God is the author of time. He is not conditioned by time. He is free to act in and out of time. The Bible reveals an appointed time as the time in which His will is fulfilled in the ordained events of life (Gen. 18:14). It was in the fullness of time that God the Father sent the eternal son of God, Jesus Christ, into the world (Gal. 4:4). The present creation is temporal. It will eventually be cleansed by fire (2 Pet. 3:10). The Lord God has promised a new heavens and earth characterized by righteousness. God remains eternal (Ps. 102:25-27). The Lord God is the Alpha and Omega who was before time was created. He will be the Alpha and Omega when all of time is ended (Is. 45:6, 57, Rev. 1:8). Revelation 1:8 is reference to God the Father. The past, present, and the future are always before Him as one unity. He is God from eternity to eternity (Ps. 90:2) (Hodge 1975:1:385-386). A. A. Hodge (1972:142-43) clarifies and advances our discussion. The eternity of God means that he is one and indivisible. Eternity is without any limitation in relationship to time. Time itself is limited. It is measured by succession. Human perception of time is the past, the present, and the future. God has not had any beginning nor will he ever have an end. God is free from the succession of time. His purpose and his acts are without succession but are accomplished within time. God is free from time but has access to time by his omnipresence. God is immutable. The schoolmen considered time to God as the abiding present. Hodge (1975:1:386) clarifies adding that the past and the future are always present to God. Chafer (1971:1:216) explains that eternity to God is one conception. The Word of God teaches that He is the Eternal God (Is. 40:28). Jesus Christ is the eternal Son (Heb. 1:8-12). Eternity contrasted to time marks God’s relationship to it. He is the author of time by the relationship of time to sending the Eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, into the world. Time is divided into two halves before Christ and after Christ. Shedd (1979:1:342) is concise when he defines the eternity of God to time. God’s eternity is without any beginning, succession, or end. He documents his statements from the scriptures (Is. 41:4, 57:15, 1 Tim. 1:17, 6:16).

Boethius argues that God is eternal. He adds that this is the common judgment of all who are rational (Helm 1997:23). God’s eternality means that he is not limited in any way by time. This is a more accurate analysis and explanation than to say that He is not in time. This view omits the incommunicable attributes of infinity and omnipresence. God has access to time. The doctrine of creation testifies that God is separate from creation and created beings as the Creator. He is not in everything. This is the non-biblical doctrine of Panentheism nor is God everything. This is the non-biblical doctrine of Pantheism. Calvin’s exposition of Exodus 34:6 explains the Bible as a mirror to man of the image of God (Van Der Kooi & Mader 2005:119). The consensus of Western Theists is that God is eternal (Ganssle & Woodruff 2002:21). Philosophical discussions without revelation on God’s eternality are unproductive. We have confirmation of the eternal purpose of God in the scriptures (Romans 9-11). All events in God’s life are present. This confirms what has been discussed earlier that the past, present, and future are all before God. God had the past, present, and future before him in eternity. Sinnott-Armstrong argues on the theme of the eternity of God that God is timeless (Craig & Sinnott-Armstrong 2004:110). If God is timeless then it is argued that he is not active in the temporal world. Sinnott-Armstrong concludes that this means that traditional theism is not consistent nor is it true (ibid:110). However, he fails to take into consideration the infinity of God and his omnipresence. Philosophers base their thought on either the perception of knowledge through their senses or through the reason of rationalism. The Bible teaches that God is separate from time. He has access to time. He moves in and out of time because of the attributes of infinity and omnipresence. The nature of divine eternity must be entertained not as Craig argues from a philosophical viewpoint but biblically and theologically (ibid:110). The eternity of God must be based on an exegesis of the Old and New Testament books that teach this truth. W. L. Craig summarizes our argument on the nature of divine eternity. God is eternal. He is without beginning or end. He did not come into existence nor will he cease from existing. Craig (2004:110) adds that God has been involved through all of human time (Ps. 90:2). While God had no beginning yet time did. Craig includes these scripture verses for consideration (Gen. 1:1, Prov. 8:22-23, Jude verse 25, Titus 1:2-3, and 2 Tim. 1:9). I might add that God does repent in relationship to the temporal (Gen. 6:6). This does not mean that there is any change in his character (James 1:17).

In interaction, God is free from time (Gen. 21:23, Ps. 90:2). He had no beginning, succession, nor will he have any end. His infinity and omnipresence applied to the concept of eternity means that He moves in and out of time. The appointed times are the events that God has ordained in eternity past to be fulfilled in life events (Gen. 18:14). The Lord God is the Alpha and the Omega. God is the eternal God (Is. 40:28). Jesus Christ is the eternal Son (Heb. 1:8-12). The Holy Spirit of God is eternal (Heb. 9:14). The consensus of Western Theists is that God is eternal.