Another interesting video clip from William Lane Craig, in which he discusses God’s relationship to time (and as a side note, also the changing or unchanging nature of God). He is responding to a question put to him as follows.
“Can you explain how there can be a cause without time? because you keep on saying that God exists outside of space and time, or perhaps existed before space and time.”
Craig’s response to that begins as follows:
“Alright, this gets into profound issues in the philosophy of time. Prior to my work on God and abstract objects, I spent 11 years studying the subject of divine eternity and God’s relationship to time; 6 books flowed out of that study, and I would refer you to those works if you are interested in this question, particularly the book: “Time and Eternity,” which is published by Crossway; but let me give you my nutshell answer: My view is that God existing alone without the universe is timeless, but that with the creation of the universe he enters into time, and therefore is temporal from the moment of creation on. So I would agree with you that God’s causing the universe to exist is a temporal act, and that with the creation of the universe God becomes temporal. So my studied view is that God is timeless without the universe, without creation; but [is] in time since the moment of creation. It is a strange view … but I have yet to see any good objection to it. It seems to me to be quite coherent. God existing alone, changelessly is timeless; with the creation of the universe, the creation, the first moment of time, God’s act of creation is simultaneous with the creation’s coming into being. What else could it be? There couldn’t be a time gap. So his act of creating the world is simultaneous with the world’s coming into being; and so God enters into time at the moment of creation.”
I am pleased to provide him with the correct theological (not philosophical) information about that, based on modern LDS revelation and scripture, as well as the Bible. Firstly, according to LDS revelation God is indeed timeless, or exists outside of time—not only before creation, but also afterwards. He never becomes “temporal”:
Alma 40:
8 Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise [from the dead] it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men.
Secondly, the Bible informs us that during the Millennium time will be abolished, and all of mankind will exist outside of time:
Revelation 10:
6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
And modern LDS scripture also confirms this:
Doctrine and Covenants 84:
100 The Lord hath redeemed his people; And Satan is bound and time is no longer. The Lord hath gathered all things in one. The Lord hath brought down Zion from above. The Lord hath brought up Zion from beneath.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:
110 And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea, and swear in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne, that there shall be time no longer; and Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years.
This may sound counterintuitive at first, because the Millennium itself is a period of time—a thousand years. We may wonder, how can God do away with time in time? The answer is that during the Millennium mankind will live at a higher spiritual plane in which our current perception of time will no longer operate. That is the level at which God exists, and also we will be during the Millennium, and ultimately in a glorified state in heaven.
And lastly, modern LDS scripture informs that those who are exalted to the celestial kingdom of God after the resurrection, and are glorified and deified, acquire all the attributes of divinity, including infinitely, eternity, everlastingness, and timelessness; as well as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence etc.
Doctrine and Covenants 132:
20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
Doctrine and Covenants 93:
28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.
Which is also confirmed by the Bible. The Bible informs us that to be saved in the kingdom of God is to become like him:
1 John 3:
3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
They cannot become like him without acquiring all of his divine attributes, as Peter also affirms:
2 Peter 1:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And also the following:
Romans 8:
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
2 Corinthians 3:
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are [or will be] changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Romans 8:
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
John 17:
20 Neither pray I for these [the disciples] alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
If they are to be made “one” with the Father and the Son in the same way that the Father and the Son are one with each other, and even partake of the same identical glory that the Father and Son have, that means that they are going to acquire the same divine attributes. There can be no other explanation. He then concludes his remarks with the following comment:
“The question was if God is changeless without creation, how did he change to create time? Notice how I worded it; I was careful. Philosophers are careful about how they use words. I did not say that God was unchangeable; I said that he was changeless. I think that God is changeable; but without creation he is changeless. And then he creates the world, and I think God is now changing. He is changing in his knowledge constantly, as time goes on. He knows it is now 10 to 11:00 Pacific Standard Time; in another moment, he will know it is 9 to 11:00: then he will know it is 8 to 11:00; and so his knowledge is constantly turning over as new propositions become true, and true propositions become false. And I would say that God is really related to changing things, and so is changing in his relations with things. So I would say that while God is immutable in his nature, in his essential properties—his omniscience, omnipotence, holiness, eternity, and so forth; nevertheless God can change in these trivial, contingent ways; and that he begins to do so at the moment of creation.”
The correct biblical answer to that is that God is changeless, unchanging, and unchangeable. The fact that God is able to interact with man in his changing and changeable situation, does not make God himself changing or changeable. “Philosophy” can never lead to, or result in sound biblical theology. My advice to him is to ditch his philosophy altogether, and learn to extract his theology directly from the word of God—including modern LDS scripture.
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