Muslim Atomism

[UnworthyApostle]

Hi All,
I have a metaphysical theory and I hope to know if it is compatible with the Catholic faith.

I learned of a Muslim philosophy that, for the sake of simplicity, God recreates the universe at every moment by re-arranging time atoms.

I think this can be synthesized with a contemporary theological position that is called “emerging creation” which says that the universe is an emerging product, and God is still in the act of creating the universe to bring it to its final end.(This could also be compatible with Hegel’s view of the dialectic development of human kind, and scientific evidence of evolution and the such.)

I think this is a coherent theological position when it is reasoned with in the light of science and divine revelation.

I know that it has many aspects that need to be addressed like divine providence, free will, and its compatibility with magesterial de fide dogmas.

I will simply title it “Christian Dialectic” for now.

Any thoughts?

God Bless

 

[Katholish]

Inherent in the Catholic doctrine of Creation is that God continually sustains the world in existence. The doctrine of Divine Providence implies that He continually directs the world to its final end. This is all part of the Existus-Reditus model where by Creation is an act where God creates something other than Himself, but then draws that creation back to Himself.

This sounds similar to the idea you mentioned. However, there are aspects of your post which seem problematic, the not least of which is “time atoms” which sounds absolutely absurd. Time is a measure of change. It is not a substance and as such cannot have atoms of any kind.

Hegel’s notion is nothing like the Catholic doctrine as Hegel is in fact pantheistic seeing the world as an unfolding of the infinite absolute, and not as some other than it.

Any talk of “recreation” would also be incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

 

[awatkins69]

This sounds similar to the idea you mentioned. However, there are aspects of your post which seem problematic, the not least of which is “time atoms” which sounds absolutely absurd. Time is a measure of change. It is not a substance and as such cannot have atoms of any kind.

Hegel’s notion is nothing like the Catholic doctrine as Hegel is in fact pantheistic seeing the world as an unfolding of the infinite absolute, and not as some other than it.

Any talk of “recreation” would also be incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

If the OP is speaking of the Hegelian Absolute, then it would be heretical (although it’s possible to have a Hegelian “tinge” with bordering on heresy). For example, if we think of humans in terms of emerging creation, it seems like humans are still need to become better by natural processes, and that’s how God manifests His grace. I’m thinking of people like Teilhard de Chardin. That would be heretical. Humans constitute a species which God has already saved, and has already perfected by grace. It is certain though that God is omniscient and omnipotent and has sovereign power over all things, and all things go according to His will.

Honestly, I don’t think it would be contrary to the Catholic faith. While I’m only somewhat familiar with the Islamic philosophers, this seems like doctrines similar to those of al-Ghazali. If I’m understanding you right, it sounds to me more like occasionalism than Hegelianism. According to this, substances are not causes. Rather, everything is just a constant conjunction of events. It’s all just one event preceding another. Am I understanding right?

If that’s the case, I don’t see anything heretical with this view. It preserves free will, since it simply makes God the cause of our actions in a certain way called a “sufficient cause”, meaning that God is simply the *ultimate *cause of what we do even though we are the *direct *causes of it. This is compatible with Molinism in terms of predestination, free will, divine grace, etc. Also, some people consider occasionalism to be more appropriate and in conformance with modern science’s theory of relativity in terms of “space-time”.

I think you can argue both for and against this position on philosophical grounds. Thomists would definitely take issue with what you say. However, Thomism isn’t the only valid philosophy within the Church. In the end, it’s not contrary to the Catholic faith in itself, at least if I understand you correctly.

 

[UnworthyApostle]

Ah, yes I meant the occasionalist philosophy of Ghazali.

I learned about him in a philosophy class, and made a philosophical thesis that built off Ghazali and the occasionalist school. For the sake of brevity, I would like to forget about Hegel, and just focus on the Occasinalist aspects of my proposition.

“According to this, substances are not causes. Rather, everything is just a constant conjunction of events. It’s all just one event preceding another.”

You are corect, and I wish to elaborate a little further. First, I see God as" continually (sustaining) the world in existence" and being the mover of all nature.

I proposed in my thesis a semester ago that we live in a “comsic matrix” and our actions influence what the next step in God’s algorithm would be.

That is, if I do action X, then out of all the infinite consequences that exist in potentia, Y will come into actuality. (This is where God’s middle knowledge comes into play.)

God moves everything in the physical universe, down to the smallest quark, depending on what we do with our free will. He alone knows the ending of this process, and brings Nature to the last step in HIs cosmic algorithm until both nature and supernature are united into One when our Blessed Lord returns.