Is God Timeless? How Does He Hear Our Thoughts?

Another question from my Facebook post, asking questions about who and how God is.

Question:

I believe 100%. I saw an angel when I was young and my brother had one come out in front of him when he was driving at night stopping him from having an accident. My Babcia has Jesus come to her in a dream when she was in one of the camps during the war and he told her not to worry that she’d be on the ship that was coming and she was – on the same ship as her dream. I also heard the angels sing when Pope John Paul II died. It was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

What I’ll never understand is how God has just always been. Also how he hears our prayers when we say them in our head.

Answer:

I love this question, it’s great! It can get scientists and theologians equally tied up in knots trying to explain it.

The root of it is asking what was there before Creation? At the point of Creation, when nothing existed yet and then that moment later when things DID exist, what was around at that moment before? Physicists have come up with all manner of things to try and explain it, and most of them don’t actually answer the question but instead just push the question further back.

·        Some say that before the Big Bang was a singularity that existed within nothingness that became unstable and then exploded, creating our universe – but where did the singularity come from?

·        Other theories suggest that the universe is eternal, that there was no beginning of time and it just always has been – but again the question still has to be asked, then who or what created the universe? Time being eternal does not explain away the question, it just tries to define a Creator out of existence.

·        Another theory states that Earth was seeded by aliens, or possibly that spores from another planet landed on earth and began life here. Again, this doesn’t answer the question of Creation, it just pushes it away to another world, but you still have to answer the question of how life got to that other planet in the first place?

Eventually it comes to that question of: what was there when nothing existed? Or another way to state it is: before our universe existed, what was there?

The answer to that is God. God exists outside of matter, space, energy, and time. I covered this in an earlier post you can find here. The important take away here is that we have to realize that God exists outside of our ability to perceive, or another dimension if you will.

If you want a really good analogy for this, read Flat Land¹. I’ll try to sum it up quickly here – imagine a world when everyone is two dimensional shapes; circles, squares, triangles, and the like. Everything lives in only two dimensions. If you were to go down to the realm of only one dimension, everything there would be perceived as points, or dots on a line if you were from the second dimensional land. See, it wouldn’t matter if you were a circle, a square, or rhomboid of any kind, the people of Point Land (one dimensional space) cannot see you in any other way – they would just see dots on a line.

Moving back up to second dimensional space, you can see everything in the shapes they contain. But now imagine that a three dimensional being comes in – what would you see? Again, you would have no way of imagining what they really look like. All you can see is two dimensional shapes! So, if I, as an observer looking down in Flat Land, were to reach three fingers in to help you, what would you see? You would see three separate beings – three circles, or if you were looking at it from the side as a single dimension, three lines. I am only one person, but people in smaller dimensional perceptions would see many of me in different forms.

This is the same analogy for God, and it also helps to explain the Trinity a little, too. Human beings are three dimensional beings, and we’re stuck in that perception. God exists outside of matter, energy, space, and time! What would that equate to? A fourth dimensional being? Fifth? There are some theologian physicists who think God is more like a tenth dimensional being. Regardless, it doesn’t matter if it is fourth, tenth, or ninety-ninth, we cannot perceive it. We can only imagine it.

So how does He hear our prayers that we only think in our minds? Well, that’s a little like trying to explain to a person from Flat Land what a space ship is – there is just no frame of reference we can use to describe it accurately. How do you tell a flat square what any three dimensional object is, and tell them how it flies into three dimensional space, with combustible fuel, and can land on the moon? For that matter, how would you describe the moon to someone in Flat Land? It isn’t really possible – there is an entire vocabulary that doesn’t exist for people in Flat Land when trying to describe anything in our three dimensional space. God exists in a completely different dimension. Maybe He can see and read our thoughts? Maybe He doesn’t have to – maybe He is pure energy and looks at some kind of cosmic vibration that our thought patterns make, and it translates to Him perfectly what we are thinking?

And how has God always been? Well, remember that He exists outside of Time; He has to in order to have been responsible for creating it. (I will add here that there are competing theories about the beginning of Time and the Universe itself, so I am summarizing only the one that I feel makes the most sense both scientifically and theologically.)² If He exists outside of Time, then the same concept as above applies. How does a being from a higher dimension try to explain what they perceive outside of our perception? It isn’t really possible – again, we can only imagine it. From our perspective we have a limited view of time in a single direction. For example, we cannot go backward in time, or stop time; we are trapped in the steady progress of time going forward. God, however, is not constrained by time – He conceivably exists at every point in time from beginning to end equally, and before Time began.

It is a mind bender, no doubt! Once you start trying to think of that existence in higher terms, though, at least it can begin to ease the mind that while we cannot fully comprehend, we can be confident that God knows what’s going on.

References

1 - Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland

2 - The Origin and Meaning of Time by the Ravi Zacharias institute, https://www.rzim.org/read/just-thinking-magazine/the-origin-and-meaning-of-time

The Terrible Acts in The Book of Judges

Here is another question from Facebook, where I asked anyone to reply with questions about God and the Bible.

Question:

The treatment of women in the Old Testament. Read Judges 19, where a man casually gives a woman over to be raped and killed.

“Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”

It gets worse from there. A lot worse. And this isn’t even the story of Lot.

Answer:

The quick answer here is you are absolutely right. The treatment of his concubine is horrible. There are many terrible things that happen in the book of Judges, and it is here that we need to look at the context of what this book is all about.

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did as they saw fit.”

This is a common phrase throughout Judges. Quick summary of this book: the Israelites, after Joshua died, had no leader and forgot about the miracles that God had performed to help them escape from Egypt and get to the promised land. Without a leader, the people fell into idolatry, sin, and at times anarchy. They did whatever they wanted, and whatever they thought was right. God would then need to raise up a Judge to discipline the Israelites and eventually lead them back to God – which then the people would forget God and their promise again, and the cycle would repeat.

It is not a good part of the story. The depravity that occurs in the book is awful, no question there. So why is it included in the Bible? And does this really point towards the Bible showing that women can be treated so badly and have people get away with it?

I have heard some Jewish scholars in debate talk about how the Old Testament paints some pretty ugly pictures of their people, and that appears to be some proof for the validity of the Bible. What person in their right mind would try to write a story that has so many negative aspects to it, and then use it as justification to get people to believe in the god that it represents? The Jews do not hide the fact that things like this happened. Instead, they remember it so that it can be used as a lesson of how not to act and behave.

Let’s look at this passage that has been referenced, Judges 19. It would be a mistake to say that this is representative of the entire message of the Bible. The Levite here gives up his concubine to be raped and she dies as a result of the experience; he is in the wrong, plain and simple. However, remember the line that is a theme of this book? For chapter 19, the first line is, “Now in those days, Israel had no king.” It isn’t an excuse for his sinful behaviour, it is simply a commentary and reminder: Israel had no king, they had forgotten God and His commandments, and did whatever they wanted thinking it was right and okay to do so. This Levite doesn’t seem to care at all that his concubine is dead and seems completely unphased at her death. When he gets back to his own home, he cuts her body up and sends pieces to the other tribes, inciting anger from them all.

Basically, what is happening here is that the Levite did wrong, but then blames the tribe of Benjamin for what happened instead of taking any responsibility for his actions, and then he encourages the rest of Israel to punish Benjamin for what they have done. They raise an army! Instead of him asking forgiveness or owning up to his mistakes, he sends the armies of Israel to attack one of their own tribes. It really is absurd – “How dare you rape and murder the concubine I carelessly threw out into the street? Now I’ll show you!”

So, the men who raped and murdered that woman, do they get away with it? No. In fact, the war here is quite bloody and brutal, and the tribe of Benjamin is almost wiped out completely – and this just starts another section of the book of Judges where more terrible things happen.

The primary message of the book of Judges is that God will not allow sin to go unpunished, but He is also compassionate and shows mercy along with His judgement. Israel was God’s chosen people – God was their King, but they had forsaken their covenant established at Mount Sinai. God disciplines them for following other gods, disobeying laws, blatant immorality, and committing acts of evil. Yet they were still His chosen people, so God sends Judges when the Israelites cry out for mercy. These Judges were godly people who were leaders to try and deliver the nation. Eventually, this cycle leads to the people getting a central monarch, a king chosen by God as His intermediary, in the hopes that this would help the people to remember God and stop sinning (which doesn’t entirely work – but that’s a different book).

There are some lessons to be learned from Judges: that we must remember to keep God as the pointer of our moral compass; that when we fail to remember God, to ask forgiveness and seek if possible to fix it; and that we need to be wary of hedonism and anarchy, doing things our own way instead of thinking of others needs and God’s will. Bottom line, Judges can be looked at as what not to do.

To address the treatment of women in the Bible, this single passage from Judges is not indicative of all women in the Bible. When Jesus arrives on the scene, He instructs people to care for and respect women. This is definitely outside of the norm! Remember that in the times of Christ, women did not have the same rights as men in any respect. Women were little more than property. So why is it that Jesus treats them with such respect, dignity, and love? In John 4, Jesus is speaking with a Samaritan woman, and does so kindly and openly. When his disciples see this, they begin asking each other why he is doing this, but they don’t interrupt. Jesus shows them that women, and the Samaritan people too, deserve respect so they can be saved.

In those times, a woman’s word held no weight in a court of law, so why would God have women be the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection? If this was a hoax concocted by his disciples, they would never have picked women to be the first to spread the story! They would have hired well-respected men in positions of authority to tell others about Jesus coming back to life. Instead, the angels appear first to Mary and other women, and tell them to let others know. Mary runs and gets Peter and John, who return with her to the empty tomb. The men are saddened by what they see and leave to go home – Mary stays and weeps, and then Jesus arrives and asks her why she is crying. After Jesus speaks her name, she recognizes him and realizes he is alive. She is the first person to see Jesus alive after His resurrection! That is an incredible honour, and it was given to women.

Throughout the Bible, there are many instances of strong women: Sarah, Ruth, the daughters of Zelophehad, Priscilla, Hannah, Ester, and many others. Women play a crucial part in the story the Bible and deserve to be honoured and respected.

How Do You Believe In God, Miracles, And The Bible And Justify It Intellectually?

This is my first foray into answering some questions based on Christian Apologetic. I posted a question out on Facebook page and had a number of people respond with questions and comments. Here in my Blog I will be answering each of those questions as I finish some research and get the time to create a post for them.

I invite those who have additional questions to please ask them of me - I am not a scholar, I do not have degree in Theology, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night. 😎 But I am a believer in Jesus as my Saviour, and I didn't come to that conclusion easily. I still have a lot of questions, and I continue to seek answers in my faith. So while I may not immediately have the answer about God, I am willing to do the research needed to find answers for us both.

Here is a screenshot from the Facebook post, talking with Michael A Ventrella, to set the scene so to speak, about the first question from that post.

 

Question: 

OK, the biggest mystery to me is this: How do religious people who believe in science and evidence and don't fall for believing in supernatural things or astrology justify their belief in organized religion with all its trappings?

In other words, I can understand people who say they believe in god but not in angels and devils and all the magic in the Bible, but how can you believe in those kinds of things and justify it intellectually?

Answer:

This is a good question. Most often it goes hand-in-hand with questions like:

·        “Isn’t God just the same as believing in fairies, dragons, and leprechauns?”

·        “Is faith in religion delusional?”

·        “You are a scientist! How can you possibly believe in God if you have work in (insert area of study here)?” Those areas of study can be biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astrophysics, archaeology, and many more.

Let’s start with a basic premise that if God is real, then this is a God who made the universe, and a being with that immense amount of power does have the power to perform miracles, walk on water, raise people from the dead and other supernatural phenomena, and angels and other spiritual beings then must be real too.

I would also like to add in an observation that people (including myself here) need to look information with an open mind, instead of with a pre-conceived end in mind. This is true for everyone, atheist, creationist, and agnostic alike. Blaise Pascal is reportedly quoted as saying “People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.” If what we are seeking is evidence for or against there being a God, we need to pursue the goal of evidence first without skewing it either way in advance.

In a forensic crime scene, investigators need to look at the evidence and follow the trail – they cannot decide who the criminal is and then make the evidence fit their case. Crime scene investigators take all the evidence they can find and come to the most reasonable conclusion. This is why court cases need to be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt”. They are not looking for 100% - there is always room for doubt, but they need to prove a case so that the most reasonable conclusion is what a jury and judge find a verdict on. ¹

Similarly, we need to look at the evidence for God and find out if it is accurate or not. Can we make the case that the best explanation for certain things is God, or some other cause?

Something that usually surprises a lot of people is that famous historical scientists Galileo, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Newton, Faraday and Clerk-Maxwell were all firm and convinced believers in God.² Many scientists look at the complexity of the universe, the mathematical improbability of life arising from nothing, and rationalize that there had to be some form of Intelligence in order for there to be an Intelligent Design. The complexity in life and its origin cannot be explained simply by natural causes – greater and greater forms of complex life do not arise with gradual change. The fossil record shows explosions of life very suddenly not slowly over great periods of time, and it and all current life forms show reproduction after their own kind rather than morphing into other species.

It has been stated by mathematicians that the probability of the universe existing in the exact way it is now is an astronomically huge number, so infinitesimal a chance that they can just call it impossible. There are others who argue that with probability maths, the existence of anything can be explained simply in a formula that accounts for incredibly small chances. Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, there is still a question that both have to answer: what started it all? What was the moment before? If we assume that the Big Bang is an accurate depiction of the beginning of the universe, then what about the moment before the bang? There had to be something or someone to kick off the chain reaction to start it all.

Some try to get around this and state that if there are an infinite number of universes, most of which don’t support life as we know it but a few that do, we would eventually get around to having our universe just the way it is. They claim this is a naturalist explanation for origins, but this still doesn’t answer the question; ok, fine, there are infinite number of universes, but there still needs to be that moment before the machine started cranking out infinite universes…what caused it to start?

Even when atheistic scientists point to natural explanations for the origin of the universe, they still need to explain it with something supernatural in the end. For example, some scientists have admitted that the development of life on Earth from random chemicals and such coming together at the early stages of the planet’s creation is not possible, so they submit that the seeds of life came from extra-terrestrial origin and had to have been dropped here at some point (Panspermia Theory).³ The challenge with this theory, assuming it was correct, is that it still doesn’t explain origin of life, it just pushes the explanation back one more step – ok, if bacteria from a comet fell to Earth, or intelligent aliens purposefully dropped seeds of life here, where did that bacteria or the aliens come from? There still has to be something that created them before they could be placed on Earth.

In this universe, we are limited to looking from the inside out, but whatever created the universe has to have the capability of looking from the outside in. There is no natural explanation for this yet – the most reasonable explanation is some type of Intelligent power. We’re not saying the God of the Bible yet, we’re just seeing that the evidence points more and more to a Divine Intelligence, instead of random chance.

Stephen Hawking lectured on “The Beginning of Time”⁴. The summary of it is that there was a beginning to the universe (the Big Bang) and it was the start of energy, matter, space, and time. (Side note that there are other papers that have possible theories to go against this, but they have not been proven out, and have a number of their own flaws to contend with).  The inclusion of time as having a beginning is important. How do we get a beginning, a starting point to the universe, from within the universe itself? As we mentioned above, something that exists within the universe could not have created the universe – whatever function, being, intelligence, machine, will, or process that started creation had to exist previous to the universe so that it could create it. The Bible describes God as existing outside of time, and because time has a beginning only a being that existed before time started and also exists outside of matter, energy, and space would be able to create it in the first place. This leaves God as the most reasonable explanation.

There are many unexplained phenomena that happen today. Many can be chalked up to luck, skill, coincidence, or sometimes aliens or government conspiracy. Even with all of those explanations, there are some that have no explanation at all. Are these miracles, or angels intervening on someone’s behalf? I admit that there are a lot of logical explanations that are possible, and I will still seek them out before blindly believing in something supernatural from God – but I don’t discount the possibility of God acting in some way. After all, if He really did create the universe, is it really so hard to believe that He could also heal someone, or send an angel to help you in some way?

Footnotes:

1 – A good person to listen to is J. Warner Wallace, a forensic detective. A couple of good YouTube videos that will go into more detail of studying a crime scene and using the same skills to investigate Biblical accuracy are:  https://youtu.be/DCHJbO-3-jA     https://youtu.be/ayJOAOQJh7E

2 – Excerpt taken from the book Can Science Explain Everything? by John C Lennox, a joint venture with the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, Zacharias Institute, and The Good Book Company.

3 – Panspermia Theory from multiple sources and discussions, however a good summary can be found on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia

4 – Lecture given by Professor S.W.Hawking, which can be found at http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of-time.html