God Is Eternal - Not Timeless

The clear message of the thousands of biblical passages which record the activities of God is that God exists in time. References to his past, present, and future activities imply he lives in a duration. His memories of things past and his plans for the future imply he is in time. Differing attitudes, thoughts, or actions require time for their existence, since the opposing states of mind cannot exist at the same time and still make any sense.

The Bible contains so many of these references, the whole tenor of the Scriptures is that God lives in a duration. The language is so common, people reading the texts do not even notice they are assuming the element of time in God’s being in order to make sense of the story. The only way these passages can be made to infer God is outside of time is if the conclusion of timelessness is assumed prior to the interpretation and then forced onto the Scriptures as part of the interpretive process. This imposition of a concept onto the Scriptures constitutes eisegesis and is always counterproductive in the interpretation of the Bible. Without assuming timelessness and reading it into the Scriptures, it is impossible to find any passages which clearly teach the timelessness of God.

-Michael Saia