The End of the Timeless God

by R.T. Mullins

The claim that God is timeless has been the majority view throughout church history. However, it is not obvious that divine timelessness is compatible with fundamental Christian doctrines such as creation and incarnation. Theologians have long been aware of the conflict between divine timelessness and Christian doctrine, and various solutions to these conflicts have been developed. In contemporary thought, it is widely agreed that new theories on the nature of timecan further help solve these conflicts. Do these solutions actually solve the conflict? Can the Christian God be timeless? The End of the Timeless God sets forth a thorough investigation into the Christian understanding of God and the God-world relationship. It argues that the Christian God cannot betimeless.

Genres: Theology

274 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2016

Reviews

[Blake Reas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mullins sets out to critique divine timelessness, but does so by taking he reader through a sophisticated critique of the classical notion of Divine Simplicity (the idea that God has no parts, either physical or metaphysical). The Thomistic inclined reader will wonder if Mullins has misrepresented the classic doctrine of simplicity especially in regard to the possibility of Cambridge changes. Over all a good book.

[Caleb Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

R.T. Mullins is a very bright young philosopher/analytic theologian. In this book, he critiques the coherence of the common notion that God exists timelessly. Due to his method of approach, the book doubles as a fairly devastating critique of the strong form of classical theism typically associated with Thomism. His criticisms against divine simplicity and immutability are particularly powerful.

I enjoyed Mullins style, clarity, and careful attention to church history. Ultimately, this volume has heightened my anticipation for a forthcoming volume where he explicates his own model of God’s relationship to time. That book is bound to be a major contribution to analytic theology.

[Mark Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an easy read, but worth reading a second time

This book is not light reading. If the reader does not have a grasp of philosophy and the accompanying vocabulary, they should be prepared to use a good dictionary.

This book sets for the proposition that God is not timeless. To make this claim, a rather long form argument is engaged in, and it can be easy to get lost.

That being said, if you have the patience, and the time...I recommend it!

[Marlon Real · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book on time. If you want to explore the nature of Time and the various theories proposed, this book will be a tremendous help. Mullins surveys the traditional understanding of divine timelessness and concludes we should abandon it and instead adopt presentism or the common sense view as he believes does more justice to the Christian faith.

[Joseph Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid work of analytic theology. Mullins pushes back on the traditional conception of God as “timeless/atemporal”, while showing how popular theistic depictions of God’s attributes (impassibility/immutability/simplicity) should be rejected or restructured because of their logical implications regarding omniscience, creation ex nihilo, and the incarnation. Well argued and worth a look!

[Yuri Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I have to reread it again as when I read I was just beginning to get into Analytic theology. I found this book a hard but worthwhile read.

I enjoyed how Mullins writes. Once having listened to his Podcast for some time you get to hear him in the pages he writes.

Give it a shot.

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Combine presentism with open theism and you have this mess.