The Special Theory of Relativity and Theories of Divine Eternity

by: William Lane Craig

Although studies of divine eternity written during the previous generation--such as Nelson Pike's standard work, God and Timelessness paid scant attention to the nature of time insofar as it plays a role in physical theory, contemporary analyses of divine eternity often make explicit appeal to physical theory, and particularly to the Special Theory of Relativity (STR), in support of the doctrine of divine timelessness. This appeal may be primarily illustrative, as in the case of the Stump-Kretzmann model of divine eternity. On the other hand, STR may play an essential role in the construction and defense of the coherence of a model of divine eternity, as in Brian Leftow's theory. If the appeal to Relativity Theory turns out to be nugatory, then in the former case one has lost a physical analogy to one's theory and thereby any credibility which that analogy may have lent to one's metaphysical model; but in the latter case the results are more serious because with the removal of its relativistic underpinnings one's model collapses into incoherence.
It is important, therefore, especially for proponents of the latter sort of model, that the legitimacy of the appeal to STR be thoroughly explored. It is my fear, however, that this exercise has not been carried out by proponents of divine timeless eternity and that as a result STR may have been both misused and naively interpreted by them. In order to explore this question, let us consider Leftow's recent exposition and defense of his theory.

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