I would have thought time existed within God, not God being outside of it.
"'Where is God?
God is everywhere.
Why?
Because He likes you.'
A mix of the Vatican and Disney.' "-
"Father Guido Sarducci", comedian.
As I see it (and we've discussed this before),
all of reality (space-but now we're discussing TIME)
is finite, God is not. So, my personal opinion is that reality (space AND time)
exist WITHIN God, as a subset, but not literally as "a part of God",
within just as a penny dropped into a bathtub is IN the water, but not water itself.
I'm not going to get into the Flatland model again. :)
There are indeed a lot of these questions. The only way I can see there being a semblence of a reasonable answer is to stop making God an identity, an individual, an "intelligent being." Thinking of God as literally being light and literally being love is a way to start looking from that perspective. Lose the personage, lose the big daddy, lose the way you have thought of God. Perhaps break the clay pot as Todd said.
The problem with that (well it isn't really a problem, maybe the challenging part of that) is that you lose many of the qualities the God you may think you have come to know and love may have had. The one you are comfortable with. The one that you have to have blind faith in, and these types of questions in order for Him to exist at all for you. Then the language gets a bit slippery and perhaps becomes pointless or meaningless or just plain wrong. Is the word God really usefull in this sense anymore? Maybe, maybe not.
I think of God as an artist and the entire creation as His interactive canvas. As a Christian, my perception of things is "filtered" by my faith. As one of "the details" on this canvas, I am trying to survey as much of this canvas as possible with the intent of catching a glimpse of the artist - that being a better understanding of Him.
Another detail on the canvas is the Bible. My understanding of it has changed quite a bit over the years [especially since leaving TWI]. I no longer think it gives a thorough explanation of how things came to be, nor why things are the way they are. I believe the Bible gives us more info about an ultimatepurpose and how we should respond to experiences here and now…In my opinion God's intent with the Scriptures was not to satisfy our intellectual curiosity – but as a means of connecting with Him.
Dot's questions in bold blue:
If God was here forever – where did he come from?
Haven't the foggiest idea
a) So, he was alone for umpteen gazillion years then decided to invent the earth. (?)
As a Trinitarian, I refuse to address the assumption of God being alone on the grounds that it may incriminate me.
b) What was he doing before earth?
Dunno
c) Wasn't he bored?
What does an infinite being do for entertainment?
If he knew Lucifer was going to "blow it" why did he create him?
Dunno…I can't relate to this – but do have an idea when it comes to us – see my answer about Adam and Eve.
If God is a loving God why did he allow sickness and death?
Dunno…maybe they were always a part of the original creation – see my answers below.
a) If sickness comes from the devil – why doesn't God protect us?
I tend to think that sickness [and ultimately death] are the natural course of things in this life.
b) Is sickness from sin? If so, when we confess our sin, and ask for forgiveness, why are people still sick?
In a manner of speaking, yes. This is my idea of what transpired in Genesis: I think Adam and Eve were perfectly healthy – as pristine beings right out of the "factory." But they needed something to maintain perfect health [the tree of life]. I think they saw sickness and death around them [occurring naturally in the plant and animal kingdom – maybe these were some of the issues God had them address in their maintenance of the garden - i.e. being responsible to keep it healthy, thriving, and disease-free ] – for only they were privileged to eat of the tree of life.
After the Fall, with humans no longer having access to the tree of life - coupled with the eventual changes in diet and the environment - both noted particularly after the flood of Noah's time - may account for the increase in health problems and the drastic reduction in life span. Concerning the environmental change - I'm thinking about the collapse of the water canopy in the upper atmosphere of the earth [referred to as the windows of heaven opening up for Noah's flood] - we lost the filter to harmful UV rays.
If he KNEW Adam and Eve were going to muck it up, then why not bypass them, and invent "Jill and John" ?
Maybe it was part of God's plan….I sometimes wonder – that if we never experienced an imperfect world how little we would appreciate a perfect one…Maybe it even serves to satisfy some deep curiosity of humans – as perhaps a parent allowing a child to make a wrong choice – so the experience will deepen them. I hope in the next life – I will remember all the wrong choices I made and bad things I did – just so I'll never wonder about pursuing options like that again - - and will probably really appreciate what my Savior has done for me.
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WordWolf
"'Where is God?
God is everywhere.
Why?
Because He likes you.'
A mix of the Vatican and Disney.' "-
"Father Guido Sarducci", comedian.
As I see it (and we've discussed this before),
all of reality (space-but now we're discussing TIME)
is finite, God is not. So, my personal opinion is that reality (space AND time)
exist WITHIN God, as a subset, but not literally as "a part of God",
within just as a penny dropped into a bathtub is IN the water, but not water itself.
I'm not going to get into the Flatland model again. :)
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T-Bone
I think of God as an artist and the entire creation as His interactive canvas. As a Christian, my perception of things is "filtered" by my faith. As one of "the details" on this canvas, I am trying to survey as much of this canvas as possible with the intent of catching a glimpse of the artist - that being a better understanding of Him.
Another detail on the canvas is the Bible. My understanding of it has changed quite a bit over the years [especially since leaving TWI]. I no longer think it gives a thorough explanation of how things came to be, nor why things are the way they are. I believe the Bible gives us more info about an ultimate purpose and how we should respond to experiences here and now…In my opinion God's intent with the Scriptures was not to satisfy our intellectual curiosity – but as a means of connecting with Him.
Dot's questions in bold blue:
If God was here forever – where did he come from?
Haven't the foggiest idea
a) So, he was alone for umpteen gazillion years then decided to invent the earth. (?)
As a Trinitarian, I refuse to address the assumption of God being alone on the grounds that it may incriminate me.
b) What was he doing before earth?
Dunno
c) Wasn't he bored?
What does an infinite being do for entertainment?
If he knew Lucifer was going to "blow it" why did he create him?
Dunno…I can't relate to this – but do have an idea when it comes to us – see my answer about Adam and Eve.
If God is a loving God why did he allow sickness and death?
Dunno…maybe they were always a part of the original creation – see my answers below.
a) If sickness comes from the devil – why doesn't God protect us?
I tend to think that sickness [and ultimately death] are the natural course of things in this life.
b) Is sickness from sin? If so, when we confess our sin, and ask for forgiveness, why are people still sick?
In a manner of speaking, yes. This is my idea of what transpired in Genesis: I think Adam and Eve were perfectly healthy – as pristine beings right out of the "factory." But they needed something to maintain perfect health [the tree of life]. I think they saw sickness and death around them [occurring naturally in the plant and animal kingdom – maybe these were some of the issues God had them address in their maintenance of the garden - i.e. being responsible to keep it healthy, thriving, and disease-free ] – for only they were privileged to eat of the tree of life.
After the Fall, with humans no longer having access to the tree of life - coupled with the eventual changes in diet and the environment - both noted particularly after the flood of Noah's time - may account for the increase in health problems and the drastic reduction in life span. Concerning the environmental change - I'm thinking about the collapse of the water canopy in the upper atmosphere of the earth [referred to as the windows of heaven opening up for Noah's flood] - we lost the filter to harmful UV rays.
If he KNEW Adam and Eve were going to muck it up, then why not bypass them, and invent "Jill and John" ?
Maybe it was part of God's plan….I sometimes wonder – that if we never experienced an imperfect world how little we would appreciate a perfect one…Maybe it even serves to satisfy some deep curiosity of humans – as perhaps a parent allowing a child to make a wrong choice – so the experience will deepen them. I hope in the next life – I will remember all the wrong choices I made and bad things I did – just so I'll never wonder about pursuing options like that again - - and will probably really appreciate what my Savior has done for me.
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