Re: a question for monists

At 03:14 PM 3/29/2005, D. F. Siemens, Jr. wrote:
> >
>Jan,
>I think you've confused two senses of 'eternal'. God is eternal in the
>sense of being timeless and so, in the traditional understanding,
>sees/knows everything within the created realm, which open theology and
>process theology deny. The normal theology requires being infinite to be
>eternal in this sense, a characteristic of the Godhead, not of creatures.
>The second sense is a matter of infinite time which, like the natural
>numbers, has an end which can never be reached by counting or being. It
>can, however, have a beginning. My eternal life, as I know it, began when
>I placed my faith in Christ. In God's view, my eternal life was
>foreknown. As a finite creature, I shall never attain to God's infinite,
>timeless view. As a creature, I had a beginning. I could have an end if
>God had not promised otherwise. But I can never become uncreated, without
>beginning, infinite.
>Davd
>Dave

That is exactly what I deny. You receive eternal life indeed when you
place your faith in Christ. However, for now, you still live in
time. When you are resurrected you will live in eternity, yes, but I
believe that none of us know what "eternity" is. "Time" is also created by
God> We live now in time When we die we have to wait in the grave until
we are resurrected in "Eternity", but what "eternity" means none of us
knows. I am convinced that it is not just "Time without end." I base that
on 1 Thess. 4: 12-18.

This is the last posting I will do for now on this subject, since if I
continue, I will just have to repeat what I wrote before.

Jan de Koning
Received on Thu Mar 31 09:48:37 2005