This is something I was thinking about last night and decided to bring it up here for two reasons. The first is because I feel like it gives thought to an attribute of God that receives the least amount of attention -- omnipresence. The second because I feel like this hasn't been considered by those who are interested in the quarrel of time and God, and if it has, I haven't seen it discussed.
If God exists temporally only and experiences time as we do, then He does not exist outside of time and is not atemporal. If God does not exist outside of time, then God is not omnipresent, since to be omnipresent is to exist everywhere simultaneously. Thus, if God exists temporally only He is not omnipresent.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that God must exist atemporally and temporally simultaneously, both in time and outside of it. That would be the only way God wold encompass actual omnipresence. What I mean by this can only be expounded in terms of the Holy Trinity.
The three persons of the Trinity co - existed eternally, that is, without beginning and end to existence. Thus each person of the Trinity is atemporal sans creation, though this doesn't remain for each person after creation. For instance, as the second person of the Trinity was incarnated it could be said that God as the Son Christ experienced temporality, or that Christ the Son as God experienced temporality. However, God the Father did not become incarnate and therefore remained the same as He did sans creation which is atemporal. So I suppose it could be said that God the Father is invariably atemporal, and the Son Christ sans creation is atemporal and after creation was temporal yet after his death 'became' atemporal with the Father again until his return, in which case Christ will then again be temporal.
The Holy Spirit is again atemporal sans creation but temporal after creation. The Holy Spirit interacts on earth with creation, but as the Holy Spirit is not God the Father God the Father remains timeless while the Holy Spirit facilitates on earth.
The question, "Is God in time or outside of time?" becomes a false dilemma, in that not either is solely correct. It may be that God exists outside and in time. Not that God existed outside of time sans creation and then in time only after creation, since again that is to neglect the Triune nature of God and omnipresence. The only way we could claim that God exists outside of time sans and after creation only is to mean in the sense of God the Father remaining atemporally with creation as He did with the incarnation. God is not solely existent in time, for again this is to neglect the omnipresence of God and also the theological fact that God is Triune in nature and operates as such.
God has a Truine relationship to time, not just one, or that's what it seems like to me if God is both omnipresent and Triune in nature.
If God exists temporally only and experiences time as we do, then He does not exist outside of time and is not atemporal. If God does not exist outside of time, then God is not omnipresent, since to be omnipresent is to exist everywhere simultaneously. Thus, if God exists temporally only He is not omnipresent.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that God must exist atemporally and temporally simultaneously, both in time and outside of it. That would be the only way God wold encompass actual omnipresence. What I mean by this can only be expounded in terms of the Holy Trinity.
The three persons of the Trinity co - existed eternally, that is, without beginning and end to existence. Thus each person of the Trinity is atemporal sans creation, though this doesn't remain for each person after creation. For instance, as the second person of the Trinity was incarnated it could be said that God as the Son Christ experienced temporality, or that Christ the Son as God experienced temporality. However, God the Father did not become incarnate and therefore remained the same as He did sans creation which is atemporal. So I suppose it could be said that God the Father is invariably atemporal, and the Son Christ sans creation is atemporal and after creation was temporal yet after his death 'became' atemporal with the Father again until his return, in which case Christ will then again be temporal.
The Holy Spirit is again atemporal sans creation but temporal after creation. The Holy Spirit interacts on earth with creation, but as the Holy Spirit is not God the Father God the Father remains timeless while the Holy Spirit facilitates on earth.
The question, "Is God in time or outside of time?" becomes a false dilemma, in that not either is solely correct. It may be that God exists outside and in time. Not that God existed outside of time sans creation and then in time only after creation, since again that is to neglect the Triune nature of God and omnipresence. The only way we could claim that God exists outside of time sans and after creation only is to mean in the sense of God the Father remaining atemporally with creation as He did with the incarnation. God is not solely existent in time, for again this is to neglect the omnipresence of God and also the theological fact that God is Triune in nature and operates as such.
God has a Truine relationship to time, not just one, or that's what it seems like to me if God is both omnipresent and Triune in nature.