Divine Immutability and Eternity

Abstract

Hugh affirms that God is both timelessly eternal and immutable:

And reason rises and proceeds and proves that this is so, namely, that God cannot be altered and changed at all. For He cannot be increased who is immense, nor be diminished who is one, nor be changed in place who is everywhere, not in time who is eternal, nor in knowledge who is most wise, nor in disposition of mind who is best.¹

How can God remain timeless and immutable but become incarnated in a temporal and mutable human being? The God-human Jesus Christ undergoes various alterations during the duration of his earthly life. Hugh clarifies the sense in which God is said to be timeless and immutable:

Creation says that His wisdom is eternal and cannot in any way be diminished, nor does the fullness of His understanding ever decrease from completeness. It proceeds from reason with another proof, and sees that the will of God is eternal; and to perceive that this is so is good. It sees that His work which does not change proves this, and that the order of the universe preserving the same does likewise.²