Titus 1:2 (NKJV)
in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
You said that we know that time is not self-existent. I can imagine that it is. How do you know that it isn’t?
Because we have power over time. Things we do can actually change the flow of time. If time was some sort of self-existent absolute, we would be powerless to alter it.
That’s nuts. How can we alter time?
By traveling very fast. This is crazy, and the theory is very complex, but we have confirmed it in actual observations.
This sounds like one of those modern physics things.
Bingo. It’s all based on a 1905 paper by Albert Einstein, titled “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.” The theory described in that paper (relativity) is how Einstein’s name became synonymous with genius.
Fine, but I’m not signing on to something just because Einstein said so. How do we know he’s right?
Because the clocks on the GPS satellites keep losing time at exactly the rate Einstein predicted.
Okay, explain it.
The theory of relativity says that traveling at high speed slows down time. This “time dilation” is best illustrated in what is popularly known as “The Twins Paradox.”
Imagine twins, one of whom becomes an astronaut who goes on a long trip, traveling very fast. When the astronaut returns home, he or she will be younger than the terrestrial twin. As the twins meet again and shake hands, a contradiction arises. Which time is the right time? Has it been many years since they separated, or just a few? Will their touching create a rip in space and time?[1]
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-relativity-theor
The fact of the matter is that there are two different times, and neither is better than the other. The curious reader is encouraged to read the best-selling (for a physics textbook anyway) Spacetime Physics by Taylor and Wheeler.
https://www.eftaylor.com/spacetimephysics
Taylor and Wheeler are the original source of the twins paradox, and their illustrations are widely duplicated (though Taylor and Wheeler called it the clock paradox).
The only possible conclusion is that there isn’t one “master clock” time. Thus, time can’t be existential—it must be created. This radically changes our concept of the creator and of the relationship between the creation and its author.
Wait. Couldn’t traveling fast just slow down how fast the astronaut twin travels through time?
Sounds plausible, but it doesn’t work out in the end. The twins end up the same age.
I don’t get it. Please explain.
Let’s walk through the details. Suppose the astronaut takes off in the year 3000. Because the spaceship goes fast, it has only been gone for 4 years, while 10 years passed back on Earth. If the astronaut was merely moving slowly through time, then it would be 3004 everywhere when the spaceship returns. Instead it’s 3010 on earth. The twins are no longer the same age and yet they can meet and shake hands. There’s no universal time.
Okay, that’s cute, but it’s only a fantasy. What happens in reality that proves Einstein right?
The clocks in the GPS system lose sync. Granted, it’s only a tiny fraction of a second, but the GPS clocks need to be exact. A one nanosecond error translates into a one foot error in position measurement.
And we’ve observed this?
Exactly (pun intended). And the implications of this are profound. Time is an integral part of creation, which means that it’s created. This agrees with the Titus 1:2 quote above. Frankly, nobody really knows what time is; we just know it’s created.
This doesn’t sound like your typical vision of God. Are you saying that this is what Christians believe?
Pretty much. It conforms to the normal meaning of the word “eternity.” I wouldn’t say that most Christians have thought about it a lot, but it’s implied in the creeds.
Wow. This got a lot deeper than I expected.
Yeah. I warned you it would. I’ll fill in some details tomorrow. It’ll be an easier lesson.
Thanks. I could use one.
[1] The actual paradox that gives this scenario its name isn’t this contradiction but a detail far too complex to explain here.
