Do Angels Experience "Time"?

[Fidelis]

O.K. This one’s got me stumped. A friend of mine asked me the following:

By the way, do angels experience time? or to look at it another way are angels limited by time?

It would seem they are; however, if we in our glorified form will no longer be limited by time (so many claim) then what about angels? Surely they are not suddenly changed or are they at the “end of time?” That phrase is an interesting one.

I’ll probably research it more deeply later, but what do you think?

 

[chrisb]

Grace and Peace be with you,

What do you think that ‘Time’ is?

Peace.

 

[John-the-Seeker]

Yes and No.
Here, on Earth, as time is only of this place, our universe, our Earth and angels are called to guide and guard us, they ‘experience’ time. As the angels and saints exist in Heaven, a place where sin is not, God is and all is one Eternal moment, there is no time to experience. Heaven, Eternity, a place where the saints, and angels can see us, who are now on Earth, as we will be in our glorified bodies. What is Time? A definition I have heard is,'Time is a measure of change." As God is ever new and yet ever unchanged there is no time in Heaven with God. Yet God created time and so time exists in God. So how do we talk about “experiencing time?” Confused yet? I think I am. Good wishes for you and your friend.

 

[Fidelis]

chrisb:

Grace and Peace be with you,

What do you think that ‘Time’ is?

Peace.

Time, as I understand philosophy and theology to explain it, is a construct that only applies to creatures (like us) that percieve reality in a sequence of events and undergo some type of change from one instance to another. For example. we go from younger to older; we (hopefully) grow in wisdom and knowledge as we grow older, etc, etc.

God himself experiences none of these things because he is perfect (or he would not, by definition, be God). Angels, however, are creatures (in that they were created by God), but they are thought to be pure spirit (though not perfect, in the sense God is), and without corporeal bodies. Thus the question is: how does time affect non-corporeal pure spirits (if it does at all), and how do they experience it?

 

[magdelaine]

Interesting, I had this very question come to mind recently. My thought on it was that, in that Angels are creations, they are, like all creations, subject to time. Only God the Creator exists outside of time.

It’s been a long time since I read Hawking so I won’t attempt to define time.

 

[magdelaine]

John-the-Seeker:

Yes and No.
Here, on Earth, as time is only of this place, our universe, our Earth and angels are called to guide and guard us, they ‘experience’ time. As the angels and saints exist in Heaven, a place where sin is not, God is and all is one Eternal moment, there is no time to experience. Heaven, Eternity, a place where the saints, and angels can see us, who are now on Earth, as we will be in our glorified bodies. What is Time? A definition I have heard is,'Time is a measure of change." As God is ever new and yet ever unchanged there is no time in Heaven with God. Yet God created time and so time exists in God. So how do we talk about “experiencing time?” Confused yet? I think I am. Good wishes for you and your friend.

Does this mean that those in heaven see all that was and all that will ever be (in that they are outside of time)? I did not think that that was the case.

 

[scriabin]

Any physical object has qualities or properties that are part and parcel to that object.

Examine an ice cube and you can measure its weight, size, coldness, etc. You can’t have weight without an object.

Our physical universe has a spatial quality of 3-dimensionality; and, as a consequence, has another quality or property that we call time.

In fact, many physicist don’t refer to space anymore; *spacetime * is the word they use when talking about the universe. Spacetime is a reminder that you can’t have space without time; they are intimately linked; you can’t have one without the other.

Now to my point. If angels don’t have corporeal bodies, time should not be a ‘quality’ or effect that they experience.

But we can see angels at times; so, do they have bodies, or not?

 

[Fidelis]

magdelaine:

Does this mean that those in heaven see all that was and all that will ever be (in that they are outside of time)? I did not think that that was the case.

No, to live in God’s presence (i.e. heaven) doesn’t necessarily give us all his attributes; only insofar as he chooses to give them.

This is one explanation for the ability for saints in heaven can intercede for us: They don’t necessarily have the ability to hear multitudes of prayers, but if it is God’s will for them to do so, he can make it so.

 

[precious_roy]

I going to go out on a limb and say no, or at least not directly.

One of the consequences of being subject to time is that an object, particularly one with living qualities, has a begining and end life cycle. That is to say something subject to time will ‘die’. Thus I would argue that an angel is not subject to time because it does not have the normal feature of ‘dying’. But then again neither does the soul. So I guess the soul would also not be subject to time?

This is just me blabbing, so feel free to correct.

 

[precious_roy]

scriabin:

…
But we can see angels at times; so, do they have bodies, or not?

I don’t know that something has to have a body to ‘see’ it persay. Nor is something that does not have a body impossible to see.

 

[Fidelis]

scriabin:

But we can see angels at times; so, do they have bodies, or not?

I think it may be more of a case that they occasionally “slip into time” as did the incarnated Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, according to their specific mission and to accomodate us, who do exist within time. In those circumstances, they would have to at least assume to appearance of a body so we can see them.