One of my favorite class discussions in theology proper (the doctrine of God) is when we discuss God's relationship to time. I pose the traditional view (that God is outside of time and does not experience events as a past-present-future sequence), then I disagree with it, and then the fun begins. Cognitive dissonance galore.
Here's an observation about theological method that all seminoids in my tradition – and all thinking Christians – should consider. We are so concerned to protect God's otherness that sometimes we make metaphysical statements about his nature that we really don't understand. (I'll muse about omnipresence and immutability some other time.) The view of God's relationship to time that arises from the Greek/Roman Catholic/medieval scholastic/Reformed scholastic tradition says that God is outside of time and experiences all the events of time and space "simultaneously" in some kind of "eternal present." These terms have to be enclosed in quotes because they are temporal terms being used metaphorically to refer to – I know not what. Seriously. You'll have to ask Thomas Aquinas or W.G.T. Shedd or Norman Geisler, but I doubt the answer will make any more biblical sense to you than it did to me.
Notice I said "biblical sense." You see, doctrinal formulations should possess explanatory power that thematically elucidates the story of redemption and impacts the believer's life and thought. But the tradition on divine timelessness brings more obfuscation than illumination. Which brings me to Ps. 90. Yesterday my pastor did a wonderful (and too-brief) devotional sermon on Ps. 90:12 ("so teach us to number our days,/ That we may present to you a heart of wisdom"), and I was struck in a fresh way with the biblical point of God's eternality. The psalm begins with a description of how God is related to the time-aspect of his creation: "Before the mountains were born/ Or you gave birth to the earth and the world/ Even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God." The psalmist follows up with the famous line, "For a thousand years in your sight/ Are like yesterday when it passes by."
Is the psalmist saying that God is outside of time and does not experience events sequentially? Of course not. You'll only come to that conclusion if you approach the text with a certain set of distinctly Aristotelian presuppositions. So why mention God's relationship to time? Well, just keep reading. The psalmist (Moses in this case) is musing on the brevity of life, and he is contrasting this with the enduring nature and character of the God who is always there. No, always here.
As far as I can tell from his revelation to us (philosophical arguments notwithstanding), God is not "outside of time." Rather, he created the universe and then entered in for the sake of his creatures whom he would wonderfully redeem for his glory. He walks through redemptive history with us, experiencing events (that he ordained from the beginning) as they happen. Read Ps 90 again. As time passes, he does not age or grow impatient or frustrated. He is the everlasting God of the universe. And why does he tell us this? So that we will learn to number our days (see the fleeting-ness of our existence) and focus them on maximizing the glory of God in our lives. So that we will learn to be satisfied with the merciful, faithful love of our covenant God and enjoy him forever (v. 14).
That's the point of the biblical doctrine of divine eternity.
0 comments:
Post a Comment