The Eternal Now

[lakotak]

Just a question.

Since in heaven there is no past, no future, only now, and God sees everything in the now, what about the souls in heaven? Do they also experience or see everything in the “now” also? Do they see what happened to them as though it just happened to them too, or is God the only one who see the past present and future in heaven?

Thanks

 

[JimG]

What you ask is really a matter for theological speculation, not certitude. But here are my thoughts.

The ‘eternal now’ really means (for God) that He experiences the entirety of his existence as now, not past, present, future. He experiences our world in the same way.

Say I draw a line on a sheet of paper and call it a timeline, number the years from left to right. God can pick any point and BE there. Actually he is at all points at once.

We, on the other hand, never experience our entire existence all at once, but rather as a series of moments.

In heaven, I think that we may be able to move along our own timelines at will, experience whatever instant we choose. We won’t have to recall a past moment, we will be able to be there. But again, this is just speculation.

 

[Spirithound]

Since in heaven there is no past, no future, only now, and God sees everything in the now, what about the souls in heaven? Do they also experience or see everything in the “now” also? Do they see what happened to them as though it just happened to them too, or is God the only one who see the past present and future in heaven?

Good question!
I would say it is logically certain that any human in heaven would not be able to affect any point in time on Earth before they left it. I think it is logical that if there is only the “now” in heaven, that anybody there could experience any point of Earth-time in the now. Oh!..maybe seeing what happened to them as though it just happened to them too is what the Final/General Judgement will be like!?

 

[DavidFilmer]

I will qualify my answer, as others have, by saying that nobody knows for sure. The Church has never taught on this subject.

But, from a philosophical point of view, I will point out that God cannot be limited. If he knows, he must know everything. If he is good, he must be perfectly good.

If he is present, he must be fully present - at all times in all places. Thus, God possesses the property of Omnipresence. There is no reason to believe that humans will attain this divine attribute (or ANY divine attribute) in Heaven.

So I believe that we will experience some concept of time (“before,” “now,” and “in the future”).

However, I do not believe we will be enslaved by time, as we are in this lifetime. Nobody in Heaven will say, “I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time…” We will have as much “time” as we need to do whatever we wish.

Anti-Catholics sometimes claim that the Saints (they almost always name Mary specifically) could not possibly have “time” to hear all of the prayerful petitions addressed to them by so many people “at once.” They assume that time in Heaven works like time on earth. On earth, if 10,000 people ask you to do something every second, you could not possibly do this. But, in Heaven, we will have “time” to respond to as many petitions as we might receive - and we will take joy in answering each one.

 

[Teresita99]

. I think it is logical that if there is only the “now” in heaven, that anybody there could experience any point of Earth-time in the now.

There is a thing called the Twin Paradox used to illustrate relativity in time. Taryn and Karyn are twins. In 2003 Karyn stays home, but Taryn flies to Alpha Centauri and back at very nearly the speed of light, a voyage that takes eight years of Karyn’s time, but only a few days of Taryn’s time. So Karyn thinks its 2011, she’s physically eight years older, but Taryn thinks it’s still 2003 and her ship’s clock agrees. She is physically only a few days older.

When Taryn steps off her spaceship and meets her twin, what year is it, 2003 or 2011? It doesn’t matter! There is no time, there is only a universal eternal NOW, but clocks and heartbeats can beat slower or faster depending on their relative motion or position within a gravity well.

The eternal Now on Earth as it is in Heaven.

 

[Spirithound]

There is a thing called the Twin Paradox used to illustrate relativity in time. Taryn and Karyn are twins. In 2003 Karyn stays home, but Taryn flies to Alpha Centauri and back at very nearly the speed of light, a voyage that takes eight years of Karyn’s time, but only a few days of Taryn’s time. So Karyn thinks its 2011, she’s physically eight years older, but Taryn thinks it’s still 2003 and her ship’s clock agrees. She is physically only a few days older.

When Taryn steps off her spaceship and meets her twin, what year is it, 2003 or 2011? It doesn’t matter! There is no time, there is only a universal eternal NOW, but clocks and heartbeats can beat slower or faster depending on their relative motion or position within a gravity well.

The eternal Now on Earth as it is in Heaven.

That’s no paradox, it’s just a neat scientific discovery. It certainly does not imply a universal NOW. A true universal NOW would facilitate viewing any point in time with no preparation.