Eternal God A Study of God without Time [Hardcover]

Paul Helm presents a new, expanded edition of his much praised 1988 bookEternal God, which defends the view that God exists in timeless eternity. This is the classical Christian view of God, but it is claimed by many theologians and philosophers of religion to be incoherent. Paul Helm rebuts the charge of incoherence, arguing that divine timelessness is grounded in the idea of God as creator, and that this alone makes possible a proper account of divine omniscience. He develops some of the consequences of divine timelessness, particularly as it affects both divine and human freedom, and considers some of the alleged problems about referring to God. The book thus constitutes a unified treatment of the main concepts of philosophical theology. Helm's revised edition includes four new chapters that develop and extend his account of God and time, taking account of significant work in the area that has appeared since the publication of the first edition, by such prominent figures as William Lane Craig, Brian Leftow, and Richard Swinburne. This new discussion takes the reader into further areas, notably timelessness and creation and the nature of divine causality.

Introduction
1. The Issue of Divine Eternity
2. What is Divine Eternity?
3. Indexicals and Spacelessness
4. Eternity and Personality
5. Eternity, Immutability, and Omniscience
6. Timelessness and Foreknowledge
7. Omniscience and the Future
8. Divine Foreknowledge and Fatalism
9. Timelessness and Human Responsibility
10. Divine Freedom
11. Referring to Eternal God
12. And then....
13. Eternal Creation
14. The Two Standpoints
15. Time and Trinity
Bibliography
Index

Paul Helmwas educated at Worcester College, Oxford, and was for many years a member of the Philosophy Department of the University of Liverpool. From 1993-2000 he was the Professor of the History and Philosophy of Religion, King's College, London. In 2001 he wls£