Dear Burgy,
The sense in which I say that God is not embedded in time, is in the same
sense that Gauguin is not "embedded" in his paintings. Time is a creation
and God cannot be constrained by His creation, e.g., time. The incarnation
of God is hard for humans to understand. God sustains the creation, time
included, and that we also do not understand. Some topics are hard for
humans to comprehend. The interplay of God's omniscience and human free will
is another such puzzle.
Take care,
Moorad
-----Original Message-----
From: John W. Burgeson <johnburgeson@juno.com>
To: alexanian@uncwil.edu <alexanian@uncwil.edu>; asa@calvin.edu
<asa@calvin.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 24, 2000 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: Surprise
>Moorad wrote:
>
>"I do not quite follow. If God is not embedded in time, how can He be
>"surprised" by future events? God views us as we view world lines in
>general
>relativity. The whole history is laid down before His "eyes"!"
>
>The operative word in what you write is "if."
>
>We have no warrant, I assert, for saying God is not embedded in time. Nor
>the negation of that, BTW. We simply don't know.
>
>Whether He is, or is not, the O.T. stories still stand as examples when
>God WAS surprised by what we humans did or did not do.
>
>If God is "outside time," whatever that may mean, then he was surprised
>"all at once," whatever that may mean.
>
>My claim is simply this -- if God WAS surprised, even once, then that
>implies something less than being "all powerful." Note that this is still
>not a "strong claim."
>
> Burgy
>
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