Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Aquinas's doctrine of the 'eternal now' (nunc stans) holds that God comprehends all moments of time in one timeless, unchanging act of intellection.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.The nunc stans doctrine seems incoherent: how can a timeless mind 'comprehend' succession without itself experiencing or apprehending change?
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If God timelessly 'sees' all moments equally, the modal distinction between necessary and contingent truths appears to collapse into fatalism.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The model cannot explain how God knows *that* an event occurs at *this specific time* rather than another—temporal indexicality seems irreducible.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.God's omniscience requires knowing all truths; temporal succession is only how finite minds access truths already eternally present to God.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Classical theism requires God's immutability; if God's knowledge changed with time, God would be subject to temporal becoming and change.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The nunc stans model preserves human freedom by grounding God's knowledge in timeless vision rather than causal determination of future acts.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.