An atheist asked me this question

[Nelka]

I had explained to him that God created the world and before that created the angels and Heaven.

I explained that God has always been.

He asked me, “what was God doing before He created the angels and the world?”

I didn’t really know what to say.

Any help would be great. I’m happy to tell him that I don’t know but would like to know more for the next time somebody asks something like this.

Thanks.

 

[Little_Mary]

He boiled it down to faith. Faith, the act of faith, is what athiests don’t accept and that’s why they SEEM to be so difficult to argue with.

God has no beginning and no end. He lives outside of time; we can only grasp our finite world; his infinite world is a wonderous mystery to us.

That is the long and the short of the explanation! Don’t expect your athiest to buy this as long as he refuses to accept the gift of faith.

 

[Nita]

I had explained to him that God created the world and before that created the angels and Heaven.

I explained that God has always been.

He asked me, “what was God doing before He created the angels and the world?”

I didn’t really know what to say.

Any help would be great. I’m happy to tell him that I don’t know but would like to know more for the next time somebody asks something like this.

Thanks.

The only way we could possibly know God’s activity prior to creating angels and the world is if He, God, would reveal it to us. So, I’d just tell the atheist we don’t know what God was doing before creating angels and the world since He has not chosen to tell us.

 

[Leegal]

I had explained to him that God created the world and before that created the angels and Heaven.

I explained that God has always been.

He asked me, “what was God doing before He created the angels and the world?”

I didn’t really know what to say.

Any help would be great. I’m happy to tell him that I don’t know but would like to know more for the next time somebody asks something like this.

Thanks.

God has no beginning and no end.

It’s a mystery of faith because our minds cannot grasp it with our limited knowledge. “Doing” is a man-made construct. A limited word that we apply to God, as we speak of ourselves and “doing something.” We will only understand it when our time comes in Heaven – how He can have no beginning.

 

[Bohm_Bawerk]

I’m a former Catholic, so I know about Catholic theology.

I would respond to him by saying that there is no answer to that question. The reason why there is no answer to the question is because Catholicism is a revelation-based religion. What this means is that Catholics only know so much about God as God has revealed about himself through the Bible and through the oral teachings of the early Church fathers (Tradition). As God did not reveal about what he may or may not have done before the creation of the angels and the world, pondering about it ultimately boils to mere speculation.

What Catholics do know is that God has always existed: ““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). This is alluded to and reiterated in the doxology: “Glory [be] to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, both now, and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen”.

 

[Heuchler]

God is outside of time so technically He has been doing everything at once meaning from the instant God was He began creating and doing everything He did.

 

[the_phoenix]

Great answer, Bohm, with a wealth of studied depth.

My own personal answer off the top of my head would be,
“He wanted to share and give of Himself.”

Maybe there’s room for both answers?
Or maybe mine needs something.

I’m a former Catholic, so I know about Catholic theology.

I would respond to him by saying that there is no answer to that question. The reason why there is no answer to the question is because Catholicism is a revelation-based religion. What this means is that Catholics only know so much about God as God has revealed about himself through the Bible and through the oral teachings of the early Church fathers (Tradition). As God did not reveal about what he may or may not have done before the creation of the angels and the world, pondering about it ultimately boils to mere speculation.

What Catholics do know is that God has always existed: ““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). This is alluded to and reiterated in the doxology: “Glory [be] to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, both now, and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen”.

 

[josephback]

He asked me, “what was God doing before He created the angels and the world?”

Augustine deals with this somewhere in the last three chapters of his Confessions. His answer is that God could only have been creating Anyway, you might want to read it, since he has a better way of putting it.

 

[Telstar]

"what was God doing before He created the angels and the world?"

He was alone, within the Trinity, perfectly happy by Himself. Then, He began to contemplate creating this beautiful universe with all of it’s dimensions, both spiritual and material, like a great artist would contemplate creating a majestic work of art. He wanted to fill it with creatures that He could share His great love and happiness with, that would give Him even greater joy. But, He also wanted some of them to be capable of receiving and understanding the endless love and happiness that He offered to them, that could also learn to appreciate His great gift of giving them life, that would freely return their love to Him. He really didn’t need anything or anyone else, but He wanted someone else to love, and to be loved by them. He created all of this, just so He could create us to be with Him, forever.

 

[JRKH]

I had explained to him that God created the world and before that created the angels and Heaven.

I explained that God has always been.

He asked me, “what was God doing before He created the angels and the world?”

I didn’t really know what to say.

Any help would be great. I’m happy to tell him that I don’t know but would like to know more for the next time somebody asks something like this.

Thanks.

My first thought was - “Planning”……Not the best answer compared to what others have responded, but perhaps good enough to get a smile from the other person…

It’s always difficult to explain these things to each other because we simply cannot grasp the concepts and the totality of God, creation and all the rest.

As others have said, we reach a point where the answer is “We simply don’t know”…
This answer is quite sufficient because science will give the same answer once it has reached the end of it’s “revealed” understanding and ability to conceptualize.

Peace
James

 

[Telstar]

I’m a former Catholic, so I know about Catholic theology.

I would respond to him by saying that there is no answer to that question. The reason why there is no answer to the question is because Catholicism is a revelation-based religion. What this means is that Catholics only know so much about God as God has revealed about himself through the Bible and through the oral teachings of the early Church fathers (Tradition). As God did not reveal about what he may or may not have done before the creation of the angels and the world, pondering about it ultimately boils to mere speculation.

What Catholics do know is that God has always existed: ““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). This is alluded to and reiterated in the doxology: “Glory [be] to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, both now, and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen”.

I agree. This is an excellent response (for an Atheist).

 

[Telstar]

My first thought was - “Planning”……Not the best answer compared to what others have responded, but perhaps good enough to get a smile from the other person…

It’s always difficult to explain these things to each other because we simply cannot grasp the concepts and the totality of God, creation and all the rest.

As others have said, we reach a point where the answer is “We simply don’t know”…
This answer is quite sufficient because science will give the same answer once it has reached the end of it’s “revealed” understanding and ability to conceptualize.

Peace
James

I think your one word basically summed up my entire response. LOL