Was there a point that only God existed?

[STT]

If yes then God is subjected to time otherwise there was no act of creation (from God’s perspective).

 

[mdgspencer]

.
God is outside of time.
To say there was a point when God existed is to speak in terms of human perception, of men who live in time, for when there is a before and after. From human perspective, there was a time in which only God existed, before the universe came to be. However, though God sees the time in which we live, God does not live in time. Time is alien to God’s own existence (though, outside of time, God created time along with the universe).

 

[Roseeurekacross]

God created everything, even time

 

[STT]

God is outside of time.
To say there was a point when God existed is to speak in terms of human perception, of men who live in time, for when there is a before and after. From human perspective, there was a time in which only God existed, before the universe came to be. However, though God sees the time in which we live, God does not live in time. Time is alien to God’s own existence (though, outside of time, God created time along with the universe).

How things look like from God’s perspective if there is no before and after for God? Did God create anything in His perspective?

 

[STT]

God created everything, even time

That I can agree with it but then how things look like from God’s perspective?

 

[rom]

If yes then God is subjected to time

Time exists with creatures, not with God. So, assuming that there was a time when only God existed, then it means that there was a time (metaphorically speaking) when time was not. If time was not, then how can you say that God was subject to time?

otherwise there was no act of creation (from God’s perspective).

If the world always existed, and there was no time when only God existed, then it means that creation happened from eternity. You cannot legitimately conclude that there was no act of creation.

 

[AlNg]

If yes then God is subjected to time otherwise there was no act of creation (from God’s perspective).

Yes, because before the Creation, there was nothing except God.

 

[STT]

Time exists with creatures, not with God. So, assuming that there was a time when only God existed, then it means that there was a time (metaphorically speaking) when time was not. If time was not, then how can you say that God was subject to time?

It means that time is fundamental, not created and has always existed.

If the world always existed, and there was no time when only God existed, then it means that creation happened from eternity. You cannot legitimately conclude that there was no act of creation.

We know that the universe has a beginning. There was no need for God if the universe has always existed. I am interested to see what do you mean with the bold part since the universe simply exists in God’s perspective so what is really the act of creation?

 

[Benadam]

The outside of time is a now that isn’t an increment of time. A biblical word that symbolizes the eternal now is 'half a time’which is an infinite regress of dividing time. If it end in a reality eith no duration beginning or end that is the all encompassing now.

 

[STT]

Yes, because before the Creation, there was nothing except God.

That is problematic too since it means that God has always existed. One could simply says that the universe has always existed.

 

[PJM]

If yes then God is subjected to time otherwise there was no act of creation (from God’s perspective

As John Said: John 1: 1-5
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [ And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Time is a human invention that God permits for OUR understanding.

For GOD everything is PRESENT:
The past, the “present” and even the future.

God Bless you,
Patrick

 

[STT]

As John Said: John 1: 1-5
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [ And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Time is a human invention that God permits for OUR understanding.

For GOD everything is PRESENT:
The past, the “present” and even the future.

God Bless you,
Patrick

We are dealing with a change if God made/created the universe. That is reasonable in temporal framework but not in timeless one.

 

[rom]

It means that time is fundamental, not created and has always existed.

rom:

Imaginary time – or mathematical time - has always existed, but not real time.

Real time, as the duration of material beings, exist with material beings. If material beings did not always exist, then real time did not always exist. Real time is an important property of material beings because it is the measure or duration of their existence. This is why when there was ever a moment when no material beings exist, then there was a moment when time was not.

There was no need for God if the universe has always existed

There will still be need for God if the universe has always existed. An everlasting universe is a universe that is eternally dependent on God.

I am interested to see what do you mean with the bold part since the universe simply exists in God’s perspective so what is really the act of creation?

Creation from eternity means that God’s act of creation takes place in His duration, which is eternity. You need to make a distinction between God’s duration (which is eternity) and the duration of creatures (which is time, I mean real time). Eternity is the duration of an absolutely changeless and necessary being, which God is. Since God is changeless, His duration cannot have a “before” and “after” measurable by time. Time only applies to creatures, which are changeable beings.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

Ask God, simple

 

[AlNg]

Eternity is the duration of an absolutely changeless and necessary being, which God is. Since God is changeless, His duration cannot have a “before” and “after” measurable by time.

That does not seem right because three thousand years ago God was not made man. But two thousand eighteen years ago, God came down from heaven and was made man.

 

[rom]

That does not seem right because three thousand years ago God was not made man. But two thousand eighteen years ago, God came down from heaven and was made man.

Jesus Christ has a dual nature - human and divine. In His Divine nature, there was no change. In His human nature, yes, there was a change. By His divine nature, Christ was eternal because He was the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. By His human nature, He lives in time – He had a beginning ('cause He was born) and a temporary end ('cause He died and rose again.)

 

[AlNg]

In His Divine nature, there was no change.

3000 years ago God was not a man on earth. But 2000 years ago, God came down from heaven and became man. That is a real change when you come down from heaven and become a man, whereas before you were not a man.

 

[HeDa]

God is “I AM” JHWH in Hebrew. That is existence itself which can’t have a before, now and after.

 

[AlNg]

God is “I AM” JHWH in Hebrew. That is existence itself which can’t have a before, now and after.

So there is no NOW in the existence of God? Does that mean that God is not now present in the Eucharist after the Consecration. I thought that before the Consecration, God was not present in the Eucharist, but after the Consecration that God was present to us.

 

[HeDa]

God is not bound by time as having a before and after compared to a now. He is existence itself. The Eucharist is when God becomes present to us humans in our human time simply because we need time to exist. God doesn’t have a clock.