What was God up to before He came and made Earth?

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TomS333

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Just a thought but what did God do before he came over to this part of the universe to make Earth and the events of Genesis? Was HE elsewhere creating other worlds and species beforehand? I know HE made the Angels at some point so probably went about making features in Heaven for a few millennia. But if God has been about since before the dawn of time (which HE must have been since HE is creator of all things), why didn’t he create Earth earlier?
 
God alone can tell you. Other stars and planets existed before the Earth, so I’d say He was in some other corner of the universe creating whatever it is that exists over there. God has a reason for doing things at particular times though, hence why Jesus wasn’t born immediately after the Fall from Eden.
 
Rhys_Thomas_00 said:
God alone can tell you. Other stars and planets existed before the Earth, so I’d say He was in some other corner of the universe creating whatever it is that exists over there. God has a reason for doing things at particular times though, hence why Jesus wasn’t born immediately after the Fall from Eden.
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Just a small note. This language suggests that God inhabits the universe. This is a mis-characterization. Pagan gods inhabit the universe. God is outside of the universe, beyond it.
 
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I realise that. I envisaged it more like looking down at a map on a computer game and bringing a particular area into focus so you could do things at that particular point. I didn’t mean it quite how I wrote it.
 
I figured that’s what you meant, I just wanted to make the clarification for other readers.
 
That’s fair enough. Thank you.
 
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He was probably working out and also getting plenty of rest for the big job ahead.
 
Why did,nt God create earth earlier?
Well when do you think God should have created the earth?

I’m fairly happy that God created the earth when He did.
When you meet God are you going to say” Hey God, I’m very very annoyed that you created the earth much later than what I considered appropriate “

Do you know what will happen to you?

God will give you a well deserved clatter on the ear and you,ll be sent on your way.
 
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It is a valid question to ask what was God doing before creating earth.

Here is the only possible answer.

The Trinitarian God was involved in the timeless love that exists between the Three Persons of the Godhead.
 
For God, the words “before” and “earlier” have NO meaning. Time did not exist before creation and God was, is and always will be outside of time. He simply IS. For God all time is but an instant.
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This is the answer.

But also, for the OP, even though it’s impossible for us to visualize (because our experience and imagination is tied to time and space), we know that God must be outside of space and time, because he is unchanging. So yes, he was “doing” nothing, in one sense, but also doing “everything,” in another sense. In what sense? God is fully actual. God is existence or being itself — he is not a being, but being itself.
 
I have no idea. I guess maybe we will find out when we get home, even if I got to make a small detour by Purgatory first. I believe he created life on other worlds so maybe as some one else already pointed that out. Who knows, lol.
 
TomS333 said:
Just a thought but what did God do before he came over to this part of the universe to make Earth and the events of Genesis?
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The best response I’ve ever heard to this question was a joke I heard a theologian make:

“What did God do before He made the earth?”

“Nothing – He didn’t have any time!!!” 🤣

@TomS333, there are some foundational problems with the way you’ve formed up your question:
  • “What did God do before …” – there was no ‘before’ or ‘after’ until there was the notion of a temporal framework. If I want to approach this philosophically, I look to Aristotle, who defined time as “the measure of change” of things. If I want to approach it scientifically, I notice that the definition of units of measure of time are a certain number of vibrations within an atom of cesium. In both cases, I note that, where there are no ‘things’ to measure, there is no ‘time’ (or ‘temporal framework’) with which to measure them.
  • “before he came over to this part of the universe to make Earth” – you could be saying one of two things:
    • something physical pre-existed the Creation that God created – that, like the first point, would be in error. We believe that God created everything from nothing, and therefore, there was no creation ‘before’ God’s creation.
    • perhaps you’re asking why God created the universe fourteen billion years ago, but the earth came into existence only four to five billion years ago? I would answer that the earth came to be as a result of natural processes which God set in motion with the creation of the universe. It’s not like He got busy for eight billion years and then said, “whoops! I forgot to put the earth together! I better get on that right away!”
  • “he went about making features in Heaven for a few millennia” – this is much like the first bullet point: no, things in Heaven aren’t part of the temporal framework of creation, so there’s no timeline (or extent of time) relevant to their existence or creation.
My guess, though, is that it’s none of these, and I’m just taking your question too literally. I’m thinking that you’re just being a bit facetious, and so the answer is precisely what others have already mentioned: God exists outside of the universe, and therefore, outside of time and space. For God, everything is just a moment of “Now” – no past, no future… just an eternal “now”. So, for God, there was no “before” or “after” the creation of the universe, or a “before” or “after” the creation of the earth – from His perspective, it’s all happening now.
 
As Deacon says above, there is no time for God. God transcends time. God created time. There is no past, present, or future. God simply is. God reaches into time, and most particularly through the Incarnation, God entered time as man… but God is also outside of the universe. God sees the past, present, and future all at once. I think of all of time, from the Big Bang until the Second Coming, as a bubble with God all around that bubble. Eternity is now for God.
 
Yes.?

Us meaning the Holy Trinity of God.

It was not , is not , and never has been a Trinity of human persons.

Anybody who believes that is mistaken.
 
I don’t personify God. God just is. He is in an energy, a force, an eternal being.
 
God has revealed himself to be personal, why would you deny Him the attribution in your prayer?
 
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