3c) Is God inside of Time or not?
The classical theological position on this is that God is somehow outside of time, in an eternal, changeless present. This would not allow Him to experience things in sequence as He says He is doing in the Bible. The Bible teaches us that God is responsive to prayer and He interacts with people on a moment-to-moment basis. So God must be changing.
I say that God has His own time, but He is outside the time of His thoughts. I do not consider "time" a dimension in the same sense as those other dimensions we have identified. Time is merely the separation of events. Anyone who separates events must have time to do that. God separates events, right? So, He too must be moving through a time of His own. Yet, we can extrapolate what is observable to us in this regard as well. The watch on our wrist tells us what time we are in. However, we can think thoughts in any time we like. We are clearly outside the time of our thoughts. We can move through the time of our thoughts in either direction, but we can only move forward through the time we exist in. This should apply to God as well.
How does this theology jive with the idea that God created Time when he created the universe? Doesn't this idea limit God?
For all eternity, God has separated events in His thoughts. When He first thought of our universe, it was then that He created our Time. Indeed God is outside of our time, but God must have a time of His own, because God separates events. As such, God is moving through His time. However, in His mind, God has complete control of the time of His thoughts. There is no way we can limit God by realizing that He must be able to separate events. God is outside the timeline of His thoughts. Everyone, layman and rocket scientists alike can fully comprehend this simple truth, because all of them can think. Everyone can clearly observe the logic of this line of thinking by assessing what they are doing routinely. Yes, God is limited by logic to only move forward in His own time. If He were to move backwards in His time, then He would be able to generate paradoxes just as any of us would. Paradoxes are illogical. However, God creates an independent time for us in His mind. He is unlimited in that time and this is where we get the notions that God is outside of Time, God created Time, God knows the end from the beginning, etc. We can do this in our minds. Surely God can do it too.
Does the Theory of Relativity indicate that “Time” is Irrelevant?
Einstein's theory of relativity only deals with the transference of information at nearly the speed of light between observers. Equations used to describe how events are being observed, use “time” as a variable. We call this variable in a mathematical equation, “Empirical Time”. For finite observers there can be no meaningful talk of an all-encompassing empirical time, since all the observers are basing their measurement of empirical time on a different reference. All our measurements of change are relative, as Einstein's theory indicates. So we have something called “Relativistic Time” to indicate how each observer is measuring the separation of events differently. However, there is an absolute "Time", which is merely the separation of events. Events are separating regardless of how the various observers keep accounts of those changes.
Could there have been a Time when “Time” did not exist?
The question of origins is stifling. How long was it from the eternal beginning until God created this universe? Scientists trying to get a handle on this question have theorized that, “There was a time when Time did not exist, and after some time, Time began.” This is an illogical theory, because events have to be separating in order to change the initial situation. As such, Time must have always existed. It must be eternal in the same sense as the First Cause must be Eternal. Neither can have a beginning. Things can change, but Time must continue on forever, as the simple separation of events. Even if all events were to cease, Time would be the measure of how long it has been since they ceased. That said, there is nevertheless a way to actually understand this paradox, as follows: “There was a time when Time did not exist for us, and after some time, Time began for us.” Here’s why that make perfect sense:
There was once a time when we had no timeline of our own, then, when God started thinking of us, we immediately had a timeline of our own. First there was a time in God’s mind when we did not exist and therefore we had no time. Then once God started thinking of us in His timeline, then we had time. This also explains the “Big Bang Theory”, which suggests that “first there was nothing and then it exploded.” Until God thought of this universe, it did not exist. Then as soon as God thought of it, it existed.
Is God Time?
God is not Time, but God does require Time to separate events in His universe. As stated above, when God creates a universe in His thoughts, He creates a different time for it. With regard to that time, He is totally in control and He alone can know the end from the beginning. Only God knows what He will think of next, so only He can predict future events in His thoughts with 100% accuracy. Clearly time in God’s thoughts is totally different from the Time in which God exists. Our confusion is derived from not understanding that our time is not the absolute Time, which only God can know.
In conclusion, there must be an absolute Time, which God is using to separate events. In His mind, however, God can control time, just as we can in our thoughts. This means that God could move back and forth through our time if He wishes. However, we cannot do that, since we are not controlling the time we exist in. Paradoxes could be created if this happened, but the Thinker can deal with them, just as we would if we started to play with the time in our own thoughts. Imagine the confusion we could generate for our thought creatures. Then again, we could manipulate events over and over again, by replaying the timeline of our thoughts until we are satisfied with the situation. Then we could stop thinking of all the bogus timelines we didn’t like and who would know the difference? If God were doing this to us in His thoughts, we’d never know it either.
28 October 2001, updated 30 April 2002 and January 30, 2007
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