CS Lewis's views on time in Heaven?

[Thomas_Jennings]

“Time, even endless time, is only an image, almost a parody, of that plentitude; a hopeless attempt to compensate for the transitoriness of its ‘presents’ by infinitely multiplying them,” said Lewis. But didn’t Lewis believe time would continue in Heaven for us finite mortals? Are we doomed to live a ‘parody’?

It surely would be frustrating or, at least, pointless to be on a journey with no end, to travel hopefully with no hope to travel to (to paraphrase Lewis himself)…but surely Lewis is right, in other comments, that time must exist for us. We are, by nature, finite. God is the only infinite.

But, I can’t help but feel in my heart, isn’t that a bit sucky? Much as I love Lewis and his ideas and though I can see much sense in his ideas of time, I personally find it hard to get my head around the idea of endless joyous time if time reamains more or less the same…

 

[TK421]

It is expected that our imaginations would be faced with a barrier when trying to grasp the eternity of Heaven and Hell. They are supernatural things. What would be unexpected is if we were able to grasp them. That would arouse suspicion within me.

 

[Morwenna]

Not sure if this will help, but have a look and see what you think.

“Time and Beyond Time” from Mere Christianity: www2.esm.vt.edu/~sdross/text/beyondtime.html

.

 

[GEddie]

Linear time, which we sense going one way, is an artifact of the entropy in our heads and bodies.

When we will have new embodiments and heads, we will experience time differently. IMNAAHO.

ICXC NIKA

 

[Aelred_Minor]

“Time, even endless time, is only an image, almost a parody, of that plentitude; a hopeless attempt to compensate for the transitoriness of its ‘presents’ by infinitely multiplying them,” said Lewis. But didn’t Lewis believe time would continue in Heaven for us finite mortals? Are we doomed to live a ‘parody’?

It surely would be frustrating or, at least, pointless to be on a journey with no end, to travel hopefully with no hope to travel to (to paraphrase Lewis himself)…but surely Lewis is right, in other comments, that time must exist for us. We are, by nature, finite. God is the only infinite.

But, I can’t help but feel in my heart, isn’t that a bit sucky? Much as I love Lewis and his ideas and though I can see much sense in his ideas of time, I personally find it hard to get my head around the idea of endless joyous time if time reamains more or less the same…

C.S. Lewis believed in time continuing in heaven? I don’t think so. In The Great Divorce he not only posits an existence outside of time in heaven and hell but, in a rather unorthodox manner for a Christian, suggested that this existence outside of time comes logically prior to our temporal lives. Our lives on earth, in C.S. Lewis’s opinion, were apparently manifestations of our eternal souls in heaven or hell making their eternal choices for or against God.

Needless to say, as a Catholic I disagree.

 

[Thomas_Jennings]

C.S. Lewis believed in time continuing in heaven? I don’t think so. In The Great Divorce he not only posits an existence outside of time in heaven and hell but, in a rather unorthodox manner for a Christian, suggested that this existence outside of time comes logically prior to our temporal lives. Our lives on earth, in C.S. Lewis’s opinion, were apparently manifestations of our eternal souls in heaven or hell making their eternal choices for or against God.

Needless to say, as a Catholic I disagree.

But in ‘Letters to Malcolm’ he makes it clear that he believes that time MUST continue as no time wouldn’t suit our humanity. He then suggested that perhaps it was not so linear but had thickness as well as length…which is one of those very few times I am confused by Lewis as to what he means.
I would be interested to know what part of The Great Divorce says it is out of time- I’ve read many ‘bits’ of that great book (more fool me for not reading it in order!) and I’ve never come across that bit yet- I’d love to read it!

 

[Aelred_Minor]

But in ‘Letters to Malcolm’ he makes it clear that he believes that time MUST continue as no time wouldn’t suit our humanity. He then suggested that perhaps it was not so linear but had thickness as well as length…which is one of those very few times I am confused by Lewis as to what he means.
I would be interested to know what part of The Great Divorce says it is out of time- I’ve read many ‘bits’ of that great book (more fool me for not reading it in order!) and I’ve never come across that bit yet- I’d love to read it!

It’s been a while since I the book and I don’t have it with me, but I think that part came near the end. The image was that of unmoving players and a chessboard in front of them with the pieces moving.

Perhaps C.S. Lewis changed his views on time and eternity over the years.

 

[Beryllos]

“Time, even endless time, is only an image, almost a parody, of that plentitude; a hopeless attempt to compensate for the transitoriness of its ‘presents’ by infinitely multiplying them,” said Lewis. But didn’t Lewis believe time would continue in Heaven for us finite mortals? Are we doomed to live a ‘parody’?

It surely would be frustrating or, at least, pointless to be on a journey with no end, to travel hopefully with no hope to travel to (to paraphrase Lewis himself)…but surely Lewis is right, in other comments, that time must exist for us. We are, by nature, finite. God is the only infinite.

But, I can’t help but feel in my heart, isn’t that a bit sucky? Much as I love Lewis and his ideas and though I can see much sense in his ideas of time, I personally find it hard to get my head around the idea of endless joyous time if time remains more or less the same…

Lewis did not mean we will exist in that mode that he calls an image or parody. He meant that our present human perception and experience of time is so restricted by the limitations of our humanity that we cannot begin to imagine how we will perceive and experience time in the afterlife. The image or parody is any attempt to understand eternity as an infinite extension of our human experience of time.

C. S. Lewis’s “Time and Beyond Time,” to which Morwenna posted a link, explains it well, I think.