How Can God Be Eternal?

As a child, I was taught that God “always was, and always will be.” When we are young, we usually accept what we are taught. But as we grow older, it is natural to ask why we believe what we believe. Contemplating an eternal God usually produces questions. And any honest question deserves an answer.

As finite beings, the idea of an eternal God is a profound mystery.  However, using reason and logic alone, we can know that it must be true. So then, how can we know that God is an eternal being? We can know that God is an eternal being in the same way that we can know that He exists. One of the proofs for God’s existence also tells us something about His nature.

We know God exists because you are reading this, right here, right now. Without the existence of an all-powerful God, that would be impossible. If there were no God, that would mean that life and the universe all came about by a natural process. And that would present us with a problem.

We know that life and the universe are finite. That means they had a beginning, and they will have an end. Living things come to life and die. Stars are burning out. If there were no God, then all we have is time as we know it. Time, as we know it, is eternal. That is, as far back in time as you go, there was always a yesterday. And the opposite is also true. As far into the future as you go, there will always be a tomorrow.

Why is that a problem? Because anything finite needs a day one to get started. That would also be true of a series of finite processes. But there can be no day one if time is eternal. Think about it, as far back in time as you go, everything you see now would have already happened. With time being eternal, you would never be able to get to the place where any finite occurrence can be witnessed. But that is not the case. We are finite, and we are right here, right now.

Since our being right here, right now, cannot be a natural event, it must be a supernatural event. That means that an all-powerful being put us here. We call that being God. And what would logic tell us about God? He would need to be eternal. And that is because, if He were finite, He would be subject to the same limitations that all other finite entities and processes were subject to. Namely, He would be eternally back in the past. Thus, we could not be right here, right now. But we are, right here, right now. Thus, God exists and He “always was and always will be.”

Next Week: You Only Need a Bible?