How can God have no beginning?

This isn't just a question of "how far back does the chain go"—it touches a deeper, genuinely debated question about the very nature of time and eternity, one philosophers have approached in more than one way.

One classical view, developed by the philosopher Boethius, holds that God doesn't exist within time at all, rather than experiencing a beginning followed by an unending future. Instead, God experiences all of reality—past, present, and future—in a single, complete, timeless "now," which Boethius described as "the whole, simultaneous, and perfect possession of unending life." On this view, asking when God began doesn't quite apply to a being outside time altogether, any more than asking "north of the North Pole" describes a real direction.

A different view holds that God exists everlastingly within time itself, without ever having begun—infinite time stretching backward with no starting point, rather than existing entirely outside time. Both views remain seriously defended among contemporary Christian philosophers.