God, Eternity, and Time - Hardcover

'Leading analytic philosophers are featured in this beautifully organized exploration of the range of positions and issues that link God, eternity, and time. Each chapter carefully analyzes a different dimension of the topic, seeking tight arguments rather than vague speculations. The richness of the discussion is good evidence that eternity is a timeless question'. Philip Clayton, Claremont School of Theology , USA 'God, Eternity, and Time is an outstanding collection of essays exploring God's relation to time, bringing together a distinguished group of philosophers of religion and philosophical theologians...' Journal of Theological Studies '... this is an important collection of essays on divine eternality, and a must-read for those who are invested in this topic.' Themelios '[These essays] show that the tools of the analytic philosopher are among the most valuable for exploring the nature of God. Perhaps the lasting contribution of this book is to highlight this value.' The Thomist 'Tapp and Runggaldier have produced a stimulating... collection that should be required reading for postgraduates and specialists researching divine eternity, divine timelessness, and related fields.' Providence, Divine Action and the Church

"God is eternal" is a standard belief of all theistic religions. But what does it mean? If, on the one hand, "eternal" means timeless, how can God hear the prayers of the faithful at some point of time? And how can a timeless God act in order to answer the prayers? If God knows what I will do tomorrow from all eternity, how can I be free to choose what to do? If, on the other hand, "eternal" means everlasting, does that not jeopardize divine majesty? How can everlastingness be reconciled with the traditional doctrines of divine simplicity and perfection? An outstanding group of American, UK, German, Austrian, and Swiss philosophers and theologians discuss the problem of God's relation to time. Their contributions range from analyzing and defending classical conceptions of eternity (Boethius's and Aquinas's) to vindicating everlastingness accounts, and from the foreknowledge problem to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. This book tackles philosophical questions that are of utmost importance for Systematic Theology. Its highest aim is to deepen our understanding of religious faith by surveying its relations to one of the most fundamental aspects of reality: time.