God and Time
- Submitted by: timboeddie
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- Category: Politics: Philosophy
- Date Submitted: 03/07/2010 04:11 PM
- Pages: 2
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St. Augustine takes the teachings of Plato and Plotinus and expounds on both through the views of Christianity. Augustine philosophizes on the relativity of time and whether God is or is not bound to its limitations. He ponders thoughts of past, present, and the future of time. Does time exist or does time exist “only in our minds”? St. Augustine concludes that God is eternal and not bound to time and that time only began when the world was created.
The arguments that are brought into play by St. Augustine are based on the ex nihilo theory, God created the world out of nothing. He turns the teachings of Plato and Plotinus and the assumption that God exists within time and come to conclusions through his personal views as a Christian. He argues that God does not exist in time because God is eternal and beyond time. He goes further to explain the relativity of time in the past (memory), present (sight), and future (expectation) tense as seen through the assumption that God is beyond, and therefore without constraints to time. St. Augustine’s analysis brings him to the conclusion that time is a subjective phenomenon.
Is time relevant or irrelevant? That is the question. On a Godly view logic and reason brings us to an undoubted conclusion. God was and is and forever will be. Another thought to reason out is, as children made in the image of God are we not all containing aspects of The Almighty in every sense? Therefore if time is a subjective phenomenon, should we not be able to tap into our spiritual selves to find the past and overcome the future? Can we not see past the simple constraints of time and realize that time is limitless and to unleash ourselves from time bring us closer to God?
References
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=NIV
The arguments that are brought into play by St. Augustine are based on the ex nihilo theory, God created the world out of nothing. He turns the teachings of Plato and Plotinus and the assumption that God exists within time and come to conclusions through his personal views as a Christian. He argues that God does not exist in time because God is eternal and beyond time. He goes further to explain the relativity of time in the past (memory), present (sight), and future (expectation) tense as seen through the assumption that God is beyond, and therefore without constraints to time. St. Augustine’s analysis brings him to the conclusion that time is a subjective phenomenon.
Is time relevant or irrelevant? That is the question. On a Godly view logic and reason brings us to an undoubted conclusion. God was and is and forever will be. Another thought to reason out is, as children made in the image of God are we not all containing aspects of The Almighty in every sense? Therefore if time is a subjective phenomenon, should we not be able to tap into our spiritual selves to find the past and overcome the future? Can we not see past the simple constraints of time and realize that time is limitless and to unleash ourselves from time bring us closer to God?
References
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=NIV