Heaven's view of time

[Writer]

I have been thinking about what this world would look like from Heaven’s (and purgatory’s) perspective, especially in a temporal sense. We are taught that both of these places are not limited by time; purgatory is a state and heaven has a more integral type view of time (someone in heaven looking down at time would be able to see all moments of time). Being outside of time would require that nothing changes and these two places would actually be states, not places of change. If this is a correct assumption I have several questions as to how things might occur within these states.

1. How do angels have free will? Free will assumes that you, at some point, need to make a decision. To make a decision is a verb that requires time in order to perform the action. For example, how do angels make decisions (that require time to make) if they are in a place where time does not exist? Especially, how/when did demons make the decision to turn away from God if time was never an issue for them? Were they created already in a state of contention with God?
2. I have always viewed purgatory as a sort of prison that we had to sit in until our sins were completely purged. Of course waiting in prison implies that there is time to wait, and if purgatory is outside of time then this would not be the case. So, would our passing through purgatory then be ‘instantaneous’ as viewed by the world since it does not exist in time? Also, how would our souls ‘pass’ from purgatory to heaven? ‘passing’ from one state to another implies change, change implies that there is time to do so.

These are all the examples I can think of at the moment but I’m sure later I could think of more. Can anyone who has thought about this offer some insight into this thought? Also, can anyone offer some resources from Catholic philosophers that might help quench this curiosity?

Thanks,

Cool questions! Yes, God and heaven are outside of time, but that doesn’t imply that there is no “then” in heaven. We can’t, for example, have meaningful interaction with others in heaven if the end is the same as the beginning, so this implies a kind of time: the eternal present, if you will.

I personally believe that we’re not going to be sitting around playing flutes all the time in heaven. That is, I suspect that there is real work of some heavenly kind to be done, a work where each of our earthly gifts is perfected and put to use in a most astonishing way. The communication will be deeper and more profound than anything we can imagine. Again, this suggests a place where we have the ability to make choices and decisions, and where our communications have a start and conclusion.

In regards to the angels, God would not /could not create something inherently evil. Satan and his ilk must have been given the opportunity to choose, and they chose themselves instead of God. Like us, the angels have something akin to free will. The primary difference being that they don’t have the sacrifice of Christ to wash away their sins; their choices have eternal consequences, and their is no opportunity for redemption once they have fallen away.

Purgatory to me is a place of cleansing and introspection. I’m not sure how we will perceive time. One of my favorite priests considers it like a gate which we walk through–an instantaneous cleansing, preparation of the spirt to be in the presence of God.

While those are my thoughts, you would be wise to read a lot to arrive at your own answers. Book recommendations for you would be Saint Augustine’s Confessions where he speculates with incredible insight concerning how God is outside of our time and space. In fact, years ago, I went through a bit of a troubled couple weeks concerning how time would work in heaven–e.g. is there “then” in heaven–and this is a question this brilliant saint even addressed. Other suggestions would be Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.

Dr Peter Kreeft also wrote an interesting book called Everything You Wanted to Know About Heaven, but were Afraid to Ask. I’d recommend that book with a warning to keep in mind, like with most of what any of us write on this topic, it’s speculation. I happen to think most of Dr. Kreeft’s speculation is fantastic, but the chapters on hell could be a little more clearly written. If one read without too much care, he could come away with the idea that heaven and hell are only different states of mind. In fact, his ideas on hell come across as more Seventh Day Adventist than Catholic. After some further research and communications, I believe this has more to do with speedy editing than anything else.

As an aside here, I recently wrote an article called “Reflections on the Nature of God” which addresses issues similar to those raised above. I have a publication that wants to run it, but they don’t know when–and I’ve adapted it for something called “Relevant Radio” on a station in West Virginia. Anyway, I can’t share the article too widely, but if there are one or two people who might be interested on this thread, contact me off the Forums, and I’d be happy to e-mail a copy.