Against a Temporal God

Time in the Aristotelian sense is the measure of motion, and motion is the transition of a thing from potentiality towards actuality, where potentiality is the aspect of matter, and actuality is the aspect of form. Hence, everything that exists within time, and is, therefore, temporal, is a composite of matter and form. And every composite is dependent upon the parts that constitute its reality, and dependence implies limitation, and that which is limited, has a quiddity that is other than its existence. Now everything that is a metaphysical composite of essence and existence, is in itself neither existent nor nonexistent. That is to say, that everything that is a metaphysical composite of essence and existence is neither necessary with respect to existence, nor is it necessary with respect to nonexistence, but is merely contingent in itself with respect to existence, and is, therefore dependent upon an extraneous cause for the necessitation of its existence. And that which has its existence necessitated by another, is necessary through another, and, thus, cannot be Necessary in itself.

Again, since time in the Aristotelian sense is the measure of motion, and motion is the transition of a thing from potentiality towards actuality, where potentiality is the aspect of matter, and actuality is the aspect of form. Hence, everything that exists within time, and is, therefore, temporal, is a composite of matter and form. And every composite is dependent upon the parts that constitute its reality, and is, therefore, essentially preceded by the parts that constitute its reality. Thus, everything temporal is essentially posterior in relation to its matter and form. And that which is posterior in relation to something cannot be the First Cause or the Ultimate Principle of the existence of all things. But God or the Necessary Existent is the First Cause or the Ultimate Principle of the existence of all things. Hence, God or the Necessary Existent doesn’t exist within time, for if it were to exist within time, it would be a composite of matter and form, and it would, therefore, be essentially preceded by the parts that constitute its reality. And that which is essentially posterior in relation to something, cannot be the cause of the existence of that which precedes it in existence. But God or the Necessary Existent is the First Cause or the Ultimate Principle of the existence of all things. That is to say, that everything that exists save the Necessary Existent is an effect of the Necessary Existent, and is, therefore, essentially posterior with respect to the Necessary in itself.

Again, since time in the Aristotelian sense is the measure of motion, and motion is the transition of a thing from potentiality towards actuality, where potentiality is the aspect of privation, it therefore follows that everything that exists within time, and is, therefore temporal, suffers from privation. But privation is the nonexistence of a perfection or good. Hence, everything that exists within time, and is, therefore temporal, suffers from the nonexistence of a perfection or good. But that which lacks a perfection or good, cannot be the source or the principle of all perfections, because that which is devoid of a thing, is incapable of bestowing that thing upon another. But God or the Necessary Existent is the Ultimate Principle and the Source of all the perfections, from which everything that is perfect, derives its perfection and good. Every derivative good is a delimited manifestation of His infinite perfection. Thus, there can be no potentiality within the Essence of the Necessary Existent, which is a Pure Actuality in every respect. But everything that exists within time, is potential in a certain respect. Hence, the Necessary Existent cannot exist within time or be temporal.

Again, since time in the Aristotelian sense is the measure of motion, and motion is the transition of a thing from potentiality towards actuality, where potentiality is the aspect of privation, it therefore follows that everything that exists within time, and is, therefore temporal, suffers from privation. But privation is the nonexistence of a perfection or good. Hence, everything that exists within time, and is, therefore temporal, suffers from the nonexistence of a perfection or good. And that which is devoid of a thing, is incapable of bestowing that thing to itself, or to another, and to posit the contrary implies the existence of that which is nonexistent, and the possession of that which is lacking, and this is a contradiction. Hence, that which is imperfect cannot perfect itself, that which is nonexistent cannot existentiate itself, and that which is dark cannot illuminate itself. This being the case, everything imperfect is dependent upon an extraneous cause for its perfection, everything nonexistent is dependent upon another for the necessitation of its existence, and everything dark is rendered luminous by something other than itself. Thus, that which exists within time, and suffers from potentiality, which is the aspect of privation, or the nonexistence of a perfection or good, cannot render itself perfect, and is, therefore, dependent upon another for its perfection. And dependence is contrary to absolute self-sufficiency. But God or the Necessary Existent is absolutely Self-sufficient. Therefore, nothing temporal can be the Necessary Existent.

Again, since time is the measure of motion, everything temporal suffers motion, which is the transition of a thing from potentiality towards actuality. And that which moves, is moved by something other than itself. This due to the fact, that that which is potential in a certain respect, cannot actualise itself, because potentiality is the aspect of privation, and privation implies the nonexistence of a perfection or good, whereas actuality is the aspect of possession, and, therefore, implies the existence of a perfection or good. Hence, to assert that a thing in potentiality, actualises itself implies the existence of that which is nonexistent, and this entails a contradiction. Thus, that which is in potentiality in a certain respect, cannot actualise itself, and is,. therefore, dependent upon an external mover for the actualisation of its potential. Now, dependence implies essential contingency, and is contrary to absolute self-sufficiency. But God or the Necessary Existent is Essentially Necessary, and absolutely Self-sufficient in every respect. He is the Unmoved Mover that moves all things without Himself being moved by another. Being a Pure Actuality He is completely devoid of potentiality. Thus, there is nothing within His sublime Essence that is in need of actualisation. Hence, whatever perfection is possible for His Essence, exists eternally within the Essence.

Therefore, in His Essence there is no sequence of a temporally prior potentiality succeeded by a temporally posterior actuality, or the nonexistence of a perfection or good, followed by the existence of that perfection or good, because everything that is such, is divisible into a plurality of parts dispersed across time, instead of coexisting as a simple unity. It is, therefore, eternally incomplete and imperfect, since it does not have all its being present for itself all at once. Its existential indigence renders it incapable of accepting the entirety of its being all at once. It is, thus, dependent upon motion and time for the division of its reality into parts that are potential and actual, prior and posterior, perfect and imperfect, for the gradual realization of its entire being. Concealed within its gradual completion through motion or change, there is loss, because the realization of the temporally posterior part or actuality is contingent upon the annihilation and nonexistence of the prior part or potentiality. Hence, the only way such an entity can purchase a part of its being, is through foregoing another part of its reality. This being the case, it is impossible for that which relies upon motion and time for the gradual completion of its being, to be the cause of the existence of motion and time. Far Exalted is the sublime Essence of The One from being similar to entities confined within time. Being the cause of the existence of motion and time, His Essence transcends both motion and time.