Remember how I mentioned that God is an entity outside of this universe in which I exist? No?! Read this entry: Ein Sof. It's very simple really: God (by definition) caused the universe I'm in to exist. Therefore he exists external to it.
There are so many very interesting things about this universe, and how it all works. Some of these things we don't even understand or really even know. Some we understand bits and pieces of. Let's take Time as an example.
In Albert Einstein's Relativity: The Special and General Theory he makes reference to Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space. This theory describes the world in which we live in terms of a four-dimensional space-time continuum. Wait! Don't run away! It's not so scary as all that. My only point to this is that time is integral to the universe we're in. Time is part of what we define as "reality."
Try this: Think back, in your fertile imagination (What? Your imagination isn't fertile? Hmmm. Well, imagine it is!), way back, all the way back, to the very Beginning of Time. It's a term some people throw about like a knotted sock, but have you ever really thought about it? Now, using that fertile imagination of yours, think back to just before the very Beginning of Time. You have that fixed in your head?
Yeah, but how could there be a before the Beginning of Time? Logically it doesn't make any sense, yet our fertile imaginations draw a picture of it quite sensibly. Time is part of the universe. Time is part of us. Our brains cannot comprehend timelessness. It doesn't make any sense to us.
Using that imagination again, try to imagine that you were able to step completely outside of the universe. I don't know about yours, but my imagination still provides a sense of space and time even when it places me outside of the very definition of those things. You would have no spacial definition since spaciality is part of the universe. You would have no time since time is part of the universe. If you were then able to look at the universe, you would see it as a whole, time included. Of course, the act of looking might be hampered since our sense of sight is based on... well, you understand.
Back to the point. God exists outside the universe. Time is part of the universe. God exists outside of Time. Therefore, the common religious sentiment that "God has always existed and always will exist" is absolutely true, and yet completely misleading.
. Topher
Footnotes:
* If you've never ventured to read Albert Einstein's Relativity: The Special and General Theory (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1920), I highly recommend it. It's an entertaining read, relatively short (ha ha), and packed with cleverness. It's available online by Bartleby.com here: Relativity: The Special and General Theory.
There are so many very interesting things about this universe, and how it all works. Some of these things we don't even understand or really even know. Some we understand bits and pieces of. Let's take Time as an example.
In Albert Einstein's Relativity: The Special and General Theory he makes reference to Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space. This theory describes the world in which we live in terms of a four-dimensional space-time continuum. Wait! Don't run away! It's not so scary as all that. My only point to this is that time is integral to the universe we're in. Time is part of what we define as "reality."
Try this: Think back, in your fertile imagination (What? Your imagination isn't fertile? Hmmm. Well, imagine it is!), way back, all the way back, to the very Beginning of Time. It's a term some people throw about like a knotted sock, but have you ever really thought about it? Now, using that fertile imagination of yours, think back to just before the very Beginning of Time. You have that fixed in your head?
Yeah, but how could there be a before the Beginning of Time? Logically it doesn't make any sense, yet our fertile imaginations draw a picture of it quite sensibly. Time is part of the universe. Time is part of us. Our brains cannot comprehend timelessness. It doesn't make any sense to us.
Using that imagination again, try to imagine that you were able to step completely outside of the universe. I don't know about yours, but my imagination still provides a sense of space and time even when it places me outside of the very definition of those things. You would have no spacial definition since spaciality is part of the universe. You would have no time since time is part of the universe. If you were then able to look at the universe, you would see it as a whole, time included. Of course, the act of looking might be hampered since our sense of sight is based on... well, you understand.
Back to the point. God exists outside the universe. Time is part of the universe. God exists outside of Time. Therefore, the common religious sentiment that "God has always existed and always will exist" is absolutely true, and yet completely misleading.
. Topher
Footnotes:
* If you've never ventured to read Albert Einstein's Relativity: The Special and General Theory (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1920), I highly recommend it. It's an entertaining read, relatively short (ha ha), and packed with cleverness. It's available online by Bartleby.com here: Relativity: The Special and General Theory.
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