Document Type : Biannual Journal
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Abstract
In this article, through a descriptive-analytical method, the viewpoint of Mulla Sadra, the founder of transcendent wisdom, on God’s eternity, has been explained and studied. In the contemporary philosophy of religion, different views of God’s eternity have been reduced to three explanatory categories, including: 1. timeless perpetual; 2. timeless impermanent; and 3. Temporalism. Based on Mulla Sadra's works, we come to three interpretations of God's eternity which can be construed as 1. Timeless impermanent; 2. Supremacy over all time; and 3. Timeless perpetual. In Mulla Sadra's works these three interpretations are construed mainly as eternity, preponderance, and infinity which, according to the Sadra's wisdom, can coexist side by side or can be conflated into one. Accordingly, in eternity (timeless impermanent interpretation), the emphasis is on absolving God from every limitation which is one of the God’s negative attributes or glory. In preponderance, the God's supremacy or ascendancy over time and over all temporal creatures is concerned which is one of the attributes of Divine Beauty or Divine act. And finally, by infinity (timeless perpetual percept), attempt is made to conflate the perpetuity and dignity of God's entity with the transcendence and supremacy of His essence over time. The conclusion is that Mulla Sadra's views on God's eternity, despite the different descriptions, enjoy comprehensiveness, internal consistency, truth, and strength required for an all-inclusive theory
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