God and Time

[Lunar Arcane]

This quote is from a movie called Waking Life.


"There's only one instant, and it's right now, and it's eternity. And it's an instant in which God is posing a question, and that question is basically, 'Do you want to, you know, be one with eternity? Do you want to be in heaven?' And we're all saying, 'No thank you. Not just yet.' And so time is actually just this constant saying 'No' to God's invitation. I mean that's what time is. And there's just this one instant, and that's what we're always in."

What are your thoughts on this quote? I have been reflecting on this and some other things from this movie the last few days. Just instrested to hear everyone else's thoughts on the matter.

 

[ebia]

Time is part of a very good creation - is part of God's intention for us, not part of our refusal of his intention.

 

[ittarter]

"There's only one instant, and it's right now, and it's eternity. And it's an instant in which God is posing a question, and that question is basically, 'Do you want to, you know, be one with eternity? Do you want to be in heaven?' And we're all saying, 'No thank you. Not just yet.' And so time is actually just this constant saying 'No' to God's invitation. I mean that's what time is. And there's just this one instant, and that's what we're always in."

It makes me think about the very poem I include in all my signatures -- The Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot. The relationship between the past, the present and the future. I'd recommend reading it -- Eliot's "feedback" is probably much more insightful than anyone on CF

 

[Morphane]

That is a fascinating quote Lunar Arcane. I feel like if God were to offer me the opportunity right now to enter eternity with Him, I would have to postpone. I'm too involved in my Earthly life.

I've read somewhere that our perception of time is an illusion. The past comes about through the laying down of our memories - a purely biological function. And the future is our projection of the present into an imagined future. That there is only now. And now. And now.....

But then if there wasn't a flow of time, how would all the events of the Universe unfold?

Well, this is explained by how a 2d flatlander would perceive a 3d object. If they were to see an apple for example, at first it would only appear as a dot, which would get progressively bigger, then shrink back down to a dot and disappear. This would seem like a flowing movement to the flatlander, but the apple is a solid thing, which can only be appreciated in its 3d context.

Same with the Universe maybe? Perhaps it can only be truly appreciated from a 4d perspective.

Anyway, interesting to consider these things.

 

[dayhiker]

Jesus said He came to give eternal life. I've accepted Jesus' offer so I am apart of eternity right now. I don't see myself as saying NO to eternity.

 

[Morphane]

Jesus said He came to give eternal life. I've accepted Jesus' offer so I am apart of eternity right now. I don't see myself as saying NO to eternity.

So Dayhiker, if a heavenly chariot suddenly appeared and an angel offered to take you to Heaven right now, but if you chose not to, it would be alright, you'd just have to wait until your time was finished, would you go now or later?

Of course leaving now would mean leaving your family and various interests behind.

 

[dana3262]

Time/Space is the fourth dimension we live in. God created it also.

 

[Morphane]

Time/Space is the fourth dimension we live in. God created it also.

It has been theorised that the Universe has 11 dimensions, but we only have movement in the three dimensions of length, breadth and height.

To truly be a creature of the 4th dimension, you'd have freedom within time.

 

[dana3262]

No, it is a fact that we exist in 4 dimensions. Length, breadth, height and space-time. Google it.

 

[Morphane]

No, it is a fact that we exist in 4 dimensions. Length, breadth, height and space-time. Google it.

I agree, but we don't really have access to time as a dimension. We're stuck in a one way direction.

 

[dana3262]

We do. An example.
If I say to you I will meet you at a certain place in NYC, then thats using the 3 dimensions (corner of such and such streets on the fourth floor of the so and so building) but if I don't give you the fourth dimension location (time) you will likely never see me there.

Michio Kaku and Stephen Hawking have a lot of good stuff to say about the fourth dimension. While not Christians, that by no means takes away the very valuable work they do.

A clock in space and a clock on earth tick at different speeds, even though they are identical clocks, because time is not a constant, it varies. One minute here is not one minute there...but if you were there it would still be one minute as time is different there than here.

 

[ittarter]

No, it is a fact that we exist in 4 dimensions. Length, breadth, height and space-time. Google it.

lol. I think the fifth dimension is Google.

 

[Morphane]

We do. An example.
If I say to you I will meet you at a certain place in NYC, then thats using the 3 dimensions (corner of such and such streets on the fourth floor of the so and so building) but if I don't give you the fourth dimension location (time) you will likely never see me there.

Michio Kaku and Stephen Hawking have a lot of good stuff to say about the fourth dimension. While not Christians, that by no means takes away the very valuable work they do.

A clock in space and a clock on earth tick at different speeds, even though they are identical clocks, because time is not a constant, it varies. One minute here is not one minute there...but if you were there it would still be one minute as time is different there than here.

What if I want to meet someone on the corner of the street in 1954? Can't do it. Yet the three dimensions don't restrict me in this way. I can move back and forwards as much as I want.

If space did restrict us like time, and I arranged to meet someone at the 2 metre mark, and overstepped to 3 metres - oops, there would be no way to get back, and we'd have to arrange to meet at perhaps 6 metres.

 

[dana3262]

I never said you can manipulate time to your every whim (although theoretically possibly), I said we exist in it.

 

[Morphane]

I never said you can manipulate time to your every whim (although theoretically possibly), I said we exist in it.

Yes, but we exist in a Universe with potentially 11 dimensions. Just because we do, doesn't mean we have access to them. So are we creatures of the 11th dimension? No, we're creatures of the 3rd dimension. Maybe we've got one foot in the 4th dimension, but we're not all the way in it.

 

[Teufelhund]

Time is interesting, an hour in study may last a lifetime, whereas an hour with a pretty girl can last but a brief second.

 

[dana3262]

Its a fact we exist in 4 dimensions, there's no point debating it.

 

[ittarter]

This thread has become extremely pointless. Unsubscribing.

 

[guava]

This reminds me of a story I have once read a long while ago. . A man makes a bargain with the devil. . the man would like for the devil to command time to stop. He wants the devil to create in him an experience that he could never tire of . so the question the story poses are something along these lines..…What would you sell your soul for ? love , power, romance, passion? These are all things people aspire to . what would you sell your soul for ? what is it that you would sell your soul for? What's your price? You choose and the devil will command time to stop dead on its tracks and you will be in that moment for a bunch of years after which there is price to pay the devil for the service.

Mark Twain also has this story in which a young lady strikes a bargain with the devil. The devil is to make her father happy. The devil obliges only he makes her father insane . the father is running around all day long talking about being Napoleon Bonaparte , and great commander of the battle field all happy and beyond himself with joy.

 

[estralam]

If God is saying that every instant is an invitation to eternity, does that mean that it is Gods desire for us not to live?