Geoffrey
July 27th 2007, 06:25 PM
Historically, most Christian thinkers have believed that God transcends space and time. C. S. Lewis wrote a short chapter on this in Mere Christianity entitled "Time and beyond Time" in which he expounds the idea of God's timelessness. It is instructive to note that he ends the chapter with the following words: "But it [the idea of God's timelessness] is not in the Bible or any of the creeds. You can be a perfectly good Christian without accepting it, or indeed without thinking of the matter at all."
In short, the Bible depicts God as existing in time just like us: having a past, a present, and a future. Further, the Bible depicts God as having a man-like body (Genesis 3, Ezekiel 1, Daniel 7, Revelation 4, etc.) and therefore existing in space just like us. ("Look, there is God on Mount Sinai," or "There is God in the Tabernacle", etc.)
More and more I'm coming to prefer that simple and commonsensical view of God that I had as a child: a radiant man on a golden throne in an actual place in Heaven surrounded by countless angels. Not only does it seem more biblical, but it also seems more solid and real. When I start to imagine God as existing outside space and outside time, He starts to seem less real to me and as more of a philosophical abstraction.
Some might say that God being within time and space somehow "limits" Him, but I don't think that's the case. God (for example) has intelligence, but no one thinks that limits Him, so why would having a body limit Him? Perhaps being in space and time is necessary to even exist. Perhaps it is meaningless to speak of a person "outside" of space and/or of time.
Thoughts?
In short, the Bible depicts God as existing in time just like us: having a past, a present, and a future. Further, the Bible depicts God as having a man-like body (Genesis 3, Ezekiel 1, Daniel 7, Revelation 4, etc.) and therefore existing in space just like us. ("Look, there is God on Mount Sinai," or "There is God in the Tabernacle", etc.)
More and more I'm coming to prefer that simple and commonsensical view of God that I had as a child: a radiant man on a golden throne in an actual place in Heaven surrounded by countless angels. Not only does it seem more biblical, but it also seems more solid and real. When I start to imagine God as existing outside space and outside time, He starts to seem less real to me and as more of a philosophical abstraction.
Some might say that God being within time and space somehow "limits" Him, but I don't think that's the case. God (for example) has intelligence, but no one thinks that limits Him, so why would having a body limit Him? Perhaps being in space and time is necessary to even exist. Perhaps it is meaningless to speak of a person "outside" of space and/or of time.
Thoughts?