Re: God and time
Jan de Koning (dekoning@idirect.com)
Sat, 22 Nov 1997 14:23:59 -0500At 10:00 AM 22/11/97 -0700, Garry wrote:
>
>I think (at least part of) the problem here is a spatialized concept of
>time, as a realm or region or container or, nore philosophically, as a
>substance (a la Newton). But if time is at its most basic a relation
>between successive states of being, then talk of God's being "limited by
>time" or (you did not use this phrase, but it is ratehr common) being
>"confined to time" become meaningless.
>
I know, we discussed these matters before, and I am not going to repeat
everything I wrote then. Still, I am wondering what you mean by the
paragraph I quoted. As time is a creation of God, no matter how you want
to call it ("successive states of being"), indeed you are right, that God
is not "limited by time" nor is He ever "cofined to time." The "changing
of God's mind" is still very much related to the Free will versus Fatality
discussions. As I said before " fatality" is an incorrect word here. It
should be responsibility, and how God works in this area is a great
miracle, which we cannot understand, see the book of Job. We were not
there when God created man, though in our (reforemed) creeds we confess,
that we sinned in Adam. Human logic fails to understand these things.
That is for me one of the reasons I cannot accept the Intelligent Design
arguments.
Jan de Koning
Willowdale, Ont.