What was God doing before He made the Universe?

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Qoeleth

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Let’s assume the God is eternal and unchanging.
If He is eternally the Creator/eternally Creative, it would seem to follow that the Universe must also be eternal.
If God is like the Sun, and Creation is like the light from the Sun, then the existence of light from the sun must be co-exist with the sun itself.

If, on the other hand, the Universe is NOT eternal, what was God doing before He created the Universe, and what change occurred that cause the universe to be made? And would the idea of a change in God’s will/power/action (leading to the Creation of the Universe) be inconsistent with the eternal perfection of God?

This is an old problem- but I would like to see if there are any new solutions.
 
Not inconsistent. God was, is, and will forever be a perfect Trinity. The three persons are eternal and at some point in eternity motivated by love the immutable God who is spirit gave life to a changeable physical universe. It’s a mystery about what the Holy Trinity was doing before creation. Maybe perhaps loving one another and being one in love before the beginning of creation.
 
he could have been/ or continues to be creating other times and places that we can’t even imagine.
other universes, dimensions, worlds… God knows.

he’d be an intelligent sun. so he can control the sunlight.
 
Qoeleth said:
If, on the other hand, the Universe is NOT eternal, what was God doing before He created the Universe, and what change occurred that cause the universe to be made?

This is an old problem- but I would like to see if there are any new solutions.
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There was no before. Time and space are not separate, but came into existance together. There was no “before the universe” in human understandable terms.

(And its not a new idea, probably some 50-90 years old.)
 
Qoeleth said:
If God is like the Sun, and Creation is like the light from the Sun, then the existence of light from the sun must be co-exist with the sun itself.
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Yikes, I never realized that Catholics worship a sun god. 😃

Eternal can mean being without beginning or end; existing outside of time.
 
This is a fun question. I’m going to spend some time imagining God enjoying some nachos and doodling on a sketchpad. I would think God would love nachos. He made us in his image, he’s got to have tastebuds.

Making myself hungry again.
 
There is a story that I remember hearing way back when I believed, a story of a war in Heaven and a fallen angel who was once God’s favorite. The story never made much sense to me, but then it was just a story.

It’s been a long time since I heard a good bedtime story. Does anyone remember the story of the fallen angel? Perhaps if I were to hear it again, it might make sense this time…
 
Qoeleth said:
Let’s assume the God is eternal and unchanging.
If He is eternally the Creator/eternally Creative, it would seem to follow that the Universe must also be eternal.
If God is like the Sun, and Creation is like the light from the Sun, then the existence of light from the sun must be co-exist with the sun itself.

If, on the other hand, the Universe is NOT eternal, what was God doing before He created the Universe, and what change occurred that cause the universe to be made? And would the idea of a change in God’s will/power/action (leading to the Creation of the Universe) be inconsistent with the eternal perfection of God?

This is an old problem- but I would like to see if there are any new solutions.
Click to expand...
When God created the universe, created also space and time.
 
Dymphna82 said:
This is a fun question. I’m going to spend some time imagining God enjoying some nachos and doodling on a sketchpad. I would think God would love nachos. He made us in his image, he’s got to have tastebuds.

Making myself hungry again.
Click to expand...
how about pizza or some antipasto?😉
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
When God created the universe, created also space and time.
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It is difficult to imagine an entity existing outside of time. I guess this is why the idea of God existing eternally is appealing. It is much easier to imagine limitless time than to imagine no time.
 
God is immutable, so from HIS perspective, EVERYTHING is eternal; and that includes His Creation. We just cant grasp the whole of it. :shrug: From His perspective, theres “just” the eternal NOW.
 
Fiasco said:
God is immutable, so from HIS perspective, EVERYTHING is eternal; and that includes His Creation. We just cant grasp the whole of it. :shrug: From His perspective, theres “just” the eternal NOW.
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So, from this post and other, ‘time’ is simply a characteristic or part of this universe. Correct?

Then if time is something which came into being with the universe, is it fair to say that the universe has existed for “all time”? Is that pretty much the same as being ‘eternal’ (in one sense of the word)?

Or, if time is not something really real (from God’s perspective/an absolutely objective perspective)- and only an eternal NOW exists- does this show that past and present are just illusions?
 
Qoeleth said:
Let’s assume the God is eternal and unchanging.
If He is eternally the Creator/eternally Creative, it would seem to follow that the Universe must also be eternal.
If God is like the Sun, and Creation is like the light from the Sun, then the existence of light from the sun must be co-exist with the sun itself.
Click to expand...
I think the analogy is faulty and can lead to confusion. If God is like the sun, Creation is like the void of space and the Light from the sun is the Creative Presence of God in the void. Time/Space is created from nothingness.

There’s no such thing as “before” Creation: God always is and God’s existence necessitates “not-God,” the nothingness.

It’s not like God is a guy sitting at a drawing board figuring out what to Create. It’s more like if water comes into contact with dust, mud will result. It’s just the way the things interact. All of the nothingness “wishes” to be oned with God, the way all the dust “wishes” to become soaked with water. It is just the nature of the thing, or the no thing. 😉
 
I normally would bring up the whole spatiotemporal issue, but since that has been done already I will add something new: Why does it matter?
 
carn said:
There was no before. Time and space are not separate, but came into existance together. There was no “before the universe” in human understandable terms.

(And its not a new idea, probably some 50-90 years old.)
Click to expand...
This is one of my favorite things to think about. If God exists outside of time and He is eternal, doesn’t that mean that His creation is co-eternal? Since there is no before or after for God, when did He create? I can’t see how it could be any other way.

To God, all of our decision are already made. He knows how it ends, we’re just seeing it play out. Could be we are only seeing our life one moment at a time but exist eternally “somwhere”.
 
J_Peterson said:
This is one of my favorite things to think about. If God exists outside of time and He is eternal, doesn’t that mean that His creation is co-eternal? Since there is no before or after for God, when did He create? I can’t see how it could be any other way.

To God, all of our decision are already made. He knows how it ends, we’re just seeing it play out. Could be we are only seeing our life one moment at a time but exist eternally “somwhere”.
Click to expand...
If God is eternal, then God is not outside of time. Eternity is a temporal concept.
 
tgrath said:
If God is eternal, then God is not outside of time. Eternity is a temporal concept.
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So you would understand the eternity of God as infinite temporal extension, rather than being outside time?

Is it possible to be outside of time?

Especially, in the case of God, where He (seems to) act, respond, etc., which seem to be temporal events.

Can a being outside of time be a personal being?
 
What was God doing before He made the Universe?

My answer is very simple… Whatever His baaad All-Powerful Self felt like.
 
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