There is No Time for God

Abstract

In this article, I have argued that temporal location implies spatial location. In classical Islamic physics, this is because being in time implies movement. In contemporary physics, this is because space and time are relative. There is neither pure time nor pure space, but only spacetime. Since God has no spatial extension and cannot exist independently of space in time, it follows that he cannot exist »in« time either. He must therefore be completely outside of spacetime. Because personhood is temporal, we come to the conclusion that God is not a person. Nevertheless, we could agree that the language of Scripture is personal. I have suggested that we can imagine God as someone who lives with us in time, but we should understand that this involves a figurative use of language, a kind of fictionalism that we should refrain from in our philosophical theology.