God and Time: On the Timelessness of Divine Consciousness
The primary aim of this paper is to argue that, contrary to alternative theories of time defined by other elements, a theory of time defined by a stream of consciousness is not in contradiction with the timelessness of God’s consciousness, and thus, of his existence; rather, by such a theory, the possibility of God’s timelessness is more justifiable and tenable. In order to defend this central claim, the paper does not employ any proposition in any religious text as a source of justification; but solely applies to philosophical apparatuses such as conceptual analyses, logical inferences, and the clarification of rational intuitions. To justify the central claim in question, the paper makes the concepts of time, consciousness, and the stream of consciousness the central topics of the discussion; relies on the distinction between God’s consciousness and Human consciousness; and tries to establish that God’s consciousness does not involve any kind of stream or motion. By means of utilizing such a line of thinking, the paper attempts to build a theoretical framework that allows for us to see how God could have an existence completely free from the construal of time defined by motion or change.
- Arıcı, M. (2011). Physicalism And The Phenomenal-Physical Gap: Can A Posteriori Necessary Physicalism Adequately Respond To The Problem of Phenomenal Subjecthood? (PhD Thesis). Ankara: Middle East Techinical University.
- Arıcı, M. (2015). Zihinsel Alanda “Ben Hissi” Neye Karşılık Gelir? Dört Öge, 7, 65-76.
- Aristoteles (2001). Fizik. (Çev. S. Babür). İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.
- Aydın, M. S. (1986). Süreç (Proses) Felsefesi Işığında Tanrı-Âlem İlişkisi. Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 21 (1), 31-87.
- Bergson, H. (1997). Şuurun Doğrudan Doğruya Verileri. (Çev. M. Ş. Tunç). İstanbul: Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı Yayınları.
- Boethius (2014). Felsefenin Tesellisi. (Çev. Ç. Dürüşken). İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınevi.
- Craig, W. L. (2001a). Time and Eternity: Exploring God's Relationship to Time. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
- Craig, W. L. (2001b). Timelessness and Omnitemporality. (Ed. G. E. Ganssle). God and Time: Four Views. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 129-160.
- Dainton, B. (2000). Stream of Consciousness: Unity and Continuity in Conscious Experience. London and New York: Routledge.
- Dainton B. (2004). The Self and The Phenomenal. Ratio, 17 (4), 365-89.
- Dainton B. (2008). The Phenomenal Self. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
- DeWeese, G. J. (2002). Atemporal, Sempiternal or Omnitemporal: God's Temporal Mode of Being. (Eds. G. E. Ganssle and D. M. Woodruff). God and Time: Essays on the Divine Nature. New York: Oxford University Press, 49-61.
- Dowden, B. (2020). Time. (Eds. J. Fieser and B. Dowden). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Accessed: 12.12.2020. http://www.iep.utm.edu/time.
- Emery, N. & Markosian, N. & Sullivan, M. (2020). Time. (Ed. E. N. Zalta). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Spring 2014 Edition. Accessed: 12.12.2020. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time.
- Ganssle, G. E. (2020). God and Time. (Eds. J. Fieser and B. Dowden). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Accessed: 12.12.2020. https://iep.utm.edu/god-time.
- Hartshorne, C. (1979). Whitehead's Revolutionary Concept of Prehension. International Philosophical Quarterly, 19 (3), 253-263.
- Ingthorsson, R. (1998). McTaggard and the Unreality of Time. Axiomathes, 9 (3), 287-306.
- Izutsu, T. (2005). İbn Arabî'nin Fusûs'undaki Anahtar Kavramlar. (Çev. A. Y. Özemre). İstanbul: Kaknüs Yayınları.
- İbn Sina (2017). Metafizik I. (Çev. E. Demirli & Ö. Türker). İstanbul: Litera Yayıncılık.
- James, W. (1950). The Principles of Psychology. New York: Dover Publications.
- James, W. (1992). Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals. New York: Library of America.
- Leftow, B. (1991). Time and Eternity. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
- Leftow, B. (2002). The Eternal Present. (Eds. G. E. Ganssle and D. M. Woodruff). God and Time: Essays on the Divine Nature. New York: Oxford University Press, 21-48.
- McTaggart, J. M. E. (1908). The Unreality of Time. Mind, 17 (4), 457-474.
- Newton, I. (1846). Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. (Trans. A. Motte). New York: Daniel Adee.
- Cohen, B. & Whiteman A. & Budenz, J. (2016). Isaac Newton: The Principia: The Authoritative Translation and Guide: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press.
- Newton-Smith, W. H. (1980). The Structure of Time. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Padgett, A. G. (2001). Eternity as Relative Timelessness. (Ed. G. E. Ganssle). God and Time: Four Views. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 92-110.
- Rogers, K. A. (1994). Eternity Has No Duration. Religious Studies, 30, 1-16.
- Sorabji, R. (1988). Matter, Space and Motion: Theories in Antiquity and Their Sequel. London: Duckworth.
- Stump, E. & Kretzmann N. (1981). Eternity. Journal of Philosophy, 78, 429-458.
- Stump, E. & Kretzmann N. (1987). Atemporal Duration: A Reply to Fitzgerald. Journal of Philosophy, 84, 214-219.
- Swinburne, R. G. (1981). Space and Time. London: Macmillan.
- Whitehead, A. N. (1978). Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology. New York: The Free Press.
- Yavuz, Z. (2006). İnsan Hürriyeti Açısından Tanrı'nın Ön Bilgisi. (Dr Tezi). Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi.