r/theology • u/Starrynite120 • 3d ago
God Inside of Time
Was reading a book on open and relational theology recently and it mentioned the idea that God is inside time, which is how he relates and reacts to us. An interesting thought I hadn’t heard before, but unfortunately it didn’t really delve into defending that position. I’m looking for either any articles you know on this topic, or any arguments (either for or against) you know. Thanks for any help!
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u/dogododo 3d ago
This is an incredibly complex and technical issue, compounded by the fact that it mostly exists in philosophical circles because scripture is incredibly vague on God’s relation to time. Is recommend. If you want to read more I’d recommend “Time and Eternity” by William Lane Craig or the article “On the Metaphysics of Time and Divine Eternality” by R. Kieth Loftin in the journal Philosophia Cristi.
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u/DarthNixus 3d ago
I personally hold to St. Thomas Aquinas's conception of God as timeless, given that God is pure actuality with no passive potentiality. If God were to be within time, it would suggest the possibility of gaining or losing x or y characteristics. But God's absolute perfection depends on Him instantiating all perfections, which is why Aquinas conceptualizes God as ipsum esse subsistens, or pure existence. Existence here is synthesized from the Aristotelian and Platonic traditions. Accordingly, it is not as a "flat" characteristic, or the lowest common denominator of all existing things (as is characteristic of Frege's concept of existence). To use a crude example, if we think of the outline of a cookie mold as an essence, the cookie dough is the existence, containing all its perfections and characteristics.
But, some contemporary theologians have defended other views. I believe William Lane Craig argues for a view where God is timeless prior to creation, but then goes within time after creating. Ryan Mullins has also defended the view that God is not timeless in his book "The End of the Timeless God," https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-end-of-the-timeless-god-9780198755180.
God bless! Hope you find more answers.
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u/Alon_F 2d ago
It is logically impossible for god to be inside the dimension of time, that's why I believe god can't really react to us as if he is "looking at us from above". BUT because god is all powerful within the creation, god may enter space-time and leave, the problem is I don't see any theological evidence or reasons god would do such a thing.
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u/letsworshipizeit 13h ago
The fact that I dwell inside my house does not mean I cannot be lord over my house.
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u/3KnoWell 3d ago
Q: How can a creator separate from their creation?
A: Through the destruction of their creation.
If God created time, then God is time.
If God created space, then God is space.
Deuteronomy 10:14-17: "Everything belongs to the LORD your God. The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to him. The earth and everything on it belong to him".
Ephesians 4:6: "One God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all".
Hebrews 2:10: "Everything belongs to God, and all things were created by his power".
Jeremiah 23:23-24: "I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?".
Colossians 1:16: "For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities".
Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who".
Psalm 24:1-2: "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it".
Sadly, people have been programed to BLeave crazy things.
~3K
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u/Timbit42 3d ago
I would say God's primary existence is outside of time and space because God created them both but, yes, he comes inside of time (and space) with us, both in the spiritual and physical realms. God's primary existence cannot be inside of time because He is not constrained by it, being omnipresent.
Before creation, there would have been no timeline as we experience as time is a result of the motion of matter in the physical universe. But since heavenly beings such as angels are also constrained by time as we mortals are, this indicates that the heavenly or spiritual realm is linked to the same timeline as the physical realm.
While scripture states that God is spirit, I think that is referring to how God has come into the spiritual part of the universe He created.
The big question might be whether God's primary existence, outside of our timeline and outside of our physical and spiritual existence, has a timeline and spatial dimensions of its own.