When God transcends time and is omnipresent
Food for thought, is it not? We always thought that the present is here and now, yesterday no longer exists, and tomorrow has not come yet. But that is because we are measuring things in human values. But if we look at things from the perspective of God, in the perspective of God’s omnipresence, while we may be here, now, yesterday is still around and tomorrow has already happened.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
One interesting thing about studying philosophy of religion is that you look at religion not just from the theological aspect but also from the philosophical aspect. You research how theology explains religion from the doctrinal or dogmatic aspect and you try to apply philosophy to these beliefs and see what you come up with.
My favourite three religions are, of course, the Abrahamic faiths or Semitic religions mainly because these are the three religions that have been at war with one another for more than 1,000 years plus there are so many similarities as well as contradictions between one and the other(s). Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism, etc., although are considered also amongst the major world religions, are less likely to give us much problem.
We can very simply divide the world into three: theists (or polytheists), atheists or agnostics. Theists believe in God (mainly one God). Polytheists believe in a pantheon or compendium of Gods. Atheists do not believe in God or the existence of a God(s). Agnostics are not sure: there may be something up there but they adopt an open mind about it and accept that there could be some sort of power whether it can be called God or not.
If you study the Abrahamic concept of God then you will learn that God has certain properties. One of these properties is that God transcends time. God was not born nor will God die. God has always existed and will never cease to exist. God created everything from nothing and all that is created will eventually be uncreated.
So, before the universe came into being there was already a God. Long after the universe disappears there will still be a God. God does not exist in time. God just exists: period.
Time exists only for that which is created. Time begins when creation begins. Time ends when creation ceases to exist. For something that is uncreated, there is no beginning of time and there is no end of time. Time does not apply to that which is neither created nor will become uncreated or cease to exist.
God is here and God is everywhere at the same time. God is not subject to any place or period in time. If God is here today but no longer exists yesterday then God is subject to time. Since God is not subject to time then God never ceased to exist yesterday.
We are here today. In some other part of the world it is still yesterday. In yet another part of the world it is already tomorrow. Hence today, 1st April 2015 for us, could be 31st March for some people or 2nd April for others, depending on what time it is for us here.
God is with us here today. God is also with those who are still in yesterday. And God is also with those who are already in tomorrow. Hence God is present every day wherever we may be. Only we are here today and no longer in yesterday and not yet in tomorrow because we are the created.
So, if God is present in yesterday, today and tomorrow all at the same time, that means God is still present 10,000 years ago and is already present 10,000 years from now. God cannot no longer exist 10,000 years ago and cannot not yet exist 10,000 years from now. God is omnipresent, as the Abrahamic faiths teach us.
The prefix ‘omni’ comes from Latin meaning ‘all’. So, to say that God is omnipresent is to say that God is present everywhere. In many religions, God is regarded as omnipresent, whereas, in both Judaism and Christianity, this view is further subdivided into the transcendence (beyond and above) and immanence (inherent or intrinsic) of God. Although God is not totally immersed in the fabric of creation (pantheism), He is present everywhere at all times.
That definition of omnipresent means God is here, there, today, yesterday and tomorrow.
If that is so, meaning God is everywhere and is present at all times, then yesterday has not ceased to exist and tomorrow has already existed. So, whatever happened 10,000 years ago is still happening (since that time still exists) and what is going to happen 10,000 years from now has already happened (since that time already exists).
We, because we are created, measure time in terms of past, present and future. God, because He is uncreated and not subject to time, has no past, present and future. God just exists, in all places at all times.
Food for thought, is it not? We always thought that the present is here and now, yesterday no longer exists, and tomorrow has not come yet. But that is because we are measuring things in human values. But if we look at things from the perspective of God, in the perspective of God’s omnipresence, while we may be here, now, yesterday is still around and tomorrow has already happened.
So, can we really change our fate when tomorrow has already happened? In short, whoever is going to win the next general election in 2018 has already won it. It has already happened.
Sigh…that’s what happens when you look at religion from the philosophical rather than the theological aspect…
