Entry 0118: Diagram of a Timeless God Holding an Eternal World
Norman Kretzmann’s The Metaphysics of Theism (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997, pp. 108-109) reports the following: The role of a timeless God holding an eternal universe in being is sometimes illustrated schematically in the following way.
The diagram denotes a sequence of events with the letter ‘E.’ Stretching back in time, each event is causally dependent on the preceding one. Thus event E(-1) is caused by event E(-2), which in turn is caused by event E(-3) and so on.
The letter ‘L’ expresses the fact that one event causes the next through the operation of the laws of physics, ‘L.’ And the concept of a causal God is illustrated by placing God – denoted with the letter ‘G’ – above the chain, sustaining it at every link.