Re: concordism/time

From: James W Stark (stark2301@voyager.net)
Date: Tue Jan 11 2000 - 14:25:06 EST

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    >From: gordon brown <gbrown@euclid.Colorado.EDU>
    >To: James W Stark <stark2301@voyager.net>
    >Subject: Re: concordism/time
    >Date: Tue, Jan 11, 2000, 11:57 AM
    >

    > The subject of the beginning of time was discussed long before the
    > discoveries of modern science. If I correctly recall my reading of
    > Augustine's Confessions, Augustine addressed the question of what God was
    > doing before He created the universe. Apparently skeptics of his day asked
    > this with the intention of following it up by asking why He didn't create
    > it sooner. Augustine indicates that some people answered that He was
    > creating hell for those who pried into mysteries, but he disapproves of
    > giving such an answer. Instead he says that the question is meaningless
    > because God created time along with everything else, and so there was no
    > such thing as time before the creation.
    >
    > Gordon Brown
    > Department of Mathematics
    > University of Colorado
    > Boulder, CO 80309-0395
    >
    >
    > On Tue, 11 Jan 2000, James W Stark wrote:
    >
    >> I have found nothing in science or the Bible that establishes with much
    >> logical force that there was a beginning for time. It can be a useful
    >> assumption, if one chooses to use it. I find that it creates too many
    >> additional conflicts in my personal worldview, but I remain open to
    >> questioning that assumption. Thanks for the feedback.

    I'm aware of Augustine's assertion, but it only represents his opinion at
    that time. He was concerned with his own social/religious problems that fit
    that cultural period. Science has provided many healthy challenges to how we
    interpret the Bible. We need to move on to something that is closer to God's
    truth, not Augustine's brand of truth.

    Jim Stark
    >
    >



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