I highly recommend Fr Dumitru Staniloae’s essay Eternity and Time for anyone interested in this topic. The PDF can be found for free online. Thanks for having me on again guys!
Regarding Zeno's paradoxes, the one I like is where a runner runs the distance in half increments. Let's say he is to run 100 meters total. He runs the first 50 meters, then 25 meters, then 12.5 meters, then 6.25, then 3.125, then 1.5625, then 0.78125, then 0.390625, etc. It appears he will never finish the run because the distance can always be broken in half. But, with each half of the distance spanned, the time would also get cut in half to go that halved distance. So if he could run 100 meters in 12 seconds, it would take 6 seconds to run 50 meters, 3 seconds to run the next 25 meters, 1.5 seconds to run the next 12.5 meters, 0.75 seconds to run the next 6.25 meters, 0.375 seconds to run the next 3.125 meters, 0.1875 seconds to run the next 1.5625 meters, 0.09375 seconds to run the next 0.78125 meters, 0.008522727 seconds to run the next 0.390625 meters, etc. The time between each half distance would go down to zero within 12 seconds because all those reduced time intervals add up to 12 seconds. So, obviously the runner would finish the race dividing his distances by half increments because he isn't pausing in time between each half distance. The increments of time are on an unbroken continuum.
In the first creation story, the beginning of time came before the created light. It seems to me you can't have energy without time since energy is vibration/pulsation/moving force. Movement requires time. When placed in space, energy then expands into pulsating subatomic particles which form atomic particles which form atoms which form molecules, ie, matter. It seems created matter as we know it could not have been without time and energy and space. Matter is materializing energy in space as time progresses. It seems to me then that the Logos is the immediate source (Arché) for created time, energy, space, and matter. The beginning of time was the ordained time or kairos. Chronological time or chronos then followed. Yet, within the span (aeon) of cronos time there are increments of kairos or opportune time. Each day of creation was an ordained or propitious time (kairos) to place what was appropriately created during that time. In the second creation story, God created the garden space, then added a fountain or water source, trees or vegetation appropriate for a garden, a man to tend the garden, and creatures appropriate for a garden, all in a timely or apt order. God would not have placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst or crossroad of the garden unless he had intended Adam to eat of it at an apt or appropriate time. Adam unfortunately ate of it prematurely. Eve introduced an inopportune time into God's chronological time. Had God then let man eat of the tree of life, he would have lived eternally in his fallen state of fear and shame. That would have been a hell. So, expelling man from the garden was an act of mercy, giving man time to be redeemed. For everything thing under heaven, there is an apt time or season (kairos). That ordained time of redemption came when Mary gave her appropriate fiat. She met eternity and gave her eternal 'yes' at God's opportune time, as opposed to Eve who gave an untimely 'no' to God. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus said the time (kairos) had been fulfilled and the kingdom of God had drawn near, to repent and believe in his good news. The Son of Man (second Adam) was crucified at his Father's apt time. He avoided death on previous occasions because it was not his time (kairos) yet. He told his family he would not go up to Jerusalem with them because it wasn't his time yet. Elsewhere he said it wasn't right for a him or a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem. In the right place and time he hung as the fruit on the tree of life. Chronological time allows us to repent or make a moral/spiritual change (metanoia) from our temporal 'no's' to God to our final 'yes' or fiat to God. If our final response to God is an eternal 'no', then we will be no better than those angels who said 'no' to God in eternity. Mortal man placed in chronological time is at an advantage over the angels in eternity. If they say 'no', they can't take it back or repent. It's an eternal 'no'. Mortal man gets the chance and time to repent from his temporal 'no's'. You see, any moment in chronological time can become our propitious time to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, which can not happen without going in faith to Christ on the cross. God's apt time or kairos is eternity. It existed before chronological time and is the end or teleos of chronological time. Chronological time has a finite span (aeon). God's apt time has an eternal span (aeon). Yet God brings his eternal time into chronological time to meet us materialized creatures in our own space allowing our 'yes' to Him in faith to become an eternal 'yes'. Kairos time in general can be expressed as opportune, appropriate, apt, and propitious time, or as 'carpe diem'. Likewise, God's eternal kairos can be expressed as 'carpe deum'. Seek the Lord while he can be found. Call upon Him while he is near. Redeem the time (kairos).
When we say our 'yes' (fiat of faith) to God at an opportune time at His appointed time (kairos) in our chronological time (chronos), we enter His eternity (Kairos). Mary is the prototype for the redeemed faithful soul. In the faithful soul the Logos is conceived. It's a matter of time (chronos and kairos) until a new spirit is birthed or born from above by the Spirit.
Saying God is [X] where X can be anything uncreated, like eternity, love, etc makes sense only with the Essence-Energy distinction. The problem with latin theology is the Absolute Divine Simplicity doctrine which collapses anything you can say about God into a monad, since not all of the attributes we can attempt to assign to God are equivalent. Without the Essence-Energy distinction, it's impossble to even speak about a Trinity, in ADS there can be no Trinity, there can be no multiplicity in God. And the roman-catholic dogma seems to never resolve this issue, except by making the divine energies as we know them into created things. So for latins, Grace is created, all of the attributes of God that we can partake in would be created things. There is no way to actually experience God directly while alive, in this worldview, and that's the complete opposite of our idea of pariticipation and Theosis as beginning in this life. This then destroys the idea of Salvation as Theosis, and the solution the RC has is the Beatific Vision, negating even the bodily ressurection and the recapitulation of all creation and eternal communion with God both physically and spiritually. It completely undoes christianity itself.
I highly recommend Fr Dumitru Staniloae’s essay Eternity and Time for anyone interested in this topic. The PDF can be found for free online.
Thanks for having me on again guys!
Always glad to have you on Trey.
Alternative Title "The Chad Telosbound converses with the Council of Chad-Orthodox-Brethren"
🔥🔥🔥 God Bless you guys
Great guest and topic👍🏻☦️
Regarding Zeno's paradoxes, the one I like is where a runner runs the distance in half increments. Let's say he is to run 100 meters total. He runs the first 50 meters, then 25 meters, then 12.5 meters, then 6.25, then 3.125, then 1.5625, then 0.78125, then 0.390625, etc. It appears he will never finish the run because the distance can always be broken in half. But, with each half of the distance spanned, the time would also get cut in half to go that halved distance. So if he could run 100 meters in 12 seconds, it would take 6 seconds to run 50 meters, 3 seconds to run the next 25 meters, 1.5 seconds to run the next 12.5 meters, 0.75 seconds to run the next 6.25 meters, 0.375 seconds to run the next 3.125 meters, 0.1875 seconds to run the next 1.5625 meters, 0.09375 seconds to run the next 0.78125 meters, 0.008522727 seconds to run the next 0.390625 meters, etc. The time between each half distance would go down to zero within 12 seconds because all those reduced time intervals add up to 12 seconds. So, obviously the runner would finish the race dividing his distances by half increments because he isn't pausing in time between each half distance. The increments of time are on an unbroken continuum.
In the first creation story, the beginning of time came before the created light. It seems to me you can't have energy without time since energy is vibration/pulsation/moving force. Movement requires time. When placed in space, energy then expands into pulsating subatomic particles which form atomic particles which form atoms which form molecules, ie, matter. It seems created matter as we know it could not have been without time and energy and space. Matter is materializing energy in space as time progresses.
It seems to me then that the Logos is the immediate source (Arché) for created time, energy, space, and matter. The beginning of time was the ordained time or kairos. Chronological time or chronos then followed. Yet, within the span (aeon) of cronos time there are increments of kairos or opportune time. Each day of creation was an ordained or propitious time (kairos) to place what was appropriately created during that time.
In the second creation story, God created the garden space, then added a fountain or water source, trees or vegetation appropriate for a garden, a man to tend the garden, and creatures appropriate for a garden, all in a timely or apt order. God would not have placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst or crossroad of the garden unless he had intended Adam to eat of it at an apt or appropriate time. Adam unfortunately ate of it prematurely. Eve introduced an inopportune time into God's chronological time. Had God then let man eat of the tree of life, he would have lived eternally in his fallen state of fear and shame. That would have been a hell. So, expelling man from the garden was an act of mercy, giving man time to be redeemed.
For everything thing under heaven, there is an apt time or season (kairos). That ordained time of redemption came when Mary gave her appropriate fiat. She met eternity and gave her eternal 'yes' at God's opportune time, as opposed to Eve who gave an untimely 'no' to God. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus said the time (kairos) had been fulfilled and the kingdom of God had drawn near, to repent and believe in his good news. The Son of Man (second Adam) was crucified at his Father's apt time. He avoided death on previous occasions because it was not his time (kairos) yet. He told his family he would not go up to Jerusalem with them because it wasn't his time yet. Elsewhere he said it wasn't right for a him or a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem. In the right place and time he hung as the fruit on the tree of life.
Chronological time allows us to repent or make a moral/spiritual change (metanoia) from our temporal 'no's' to God to our final 'yes' or fiat to God. If our final response to God is an eternal 'no', then we will be no better than those angels who said 'no' to God in eternity. Mortal man placed in chronological time is at an advantage over the angels in eternity. If they say 'no', they can't take it back or repent. It's an eternal 'no'. Mortal man gets the chance and time to repent from his temporal 'no's'. You see, any moment in chronological time can become our propitious time to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, which can not happen without going in faith to Christ on the cross.
God's apt time or kairos is eternity. It existed before chronological time and is the end or teleos of chronological time. Chronological time has a finite span (aeon). God's apt time has an eternal span (aeon). Yet God brings his eternal time into chronological time to meet us materialized creatures in our own space allowing our 'yes' to Him in faith to become an eternal 'yes'. Kairos time in general can be expressed as opportune, appropriate, apt, and propitious time, or as 'carpe diem'. Likewise, God's eternal kairos can be expressed as 'carpe deum'. Seek the Lord while he can be found. Call upon Him while he is near. Redeem the time (kairos).
Thank you for that insight!
When we say our 'yes' (fiat of faith) to God at an opportune time at His appointed time (kairos) in our chronological time (chronos), we enter His eternity (Kairos). Mary is the prototype for the redeemed faithful soul. In the faithful soul the Logos is conceived. It's a matter of time (chronos and kairos) until a new spirit is birthed or born from above by the Spirit.
Saying God is [X] where X can be anything uncreated, like eternity, love, etc makes sense only with the Essence-Energy distinction. The problem with latin theology is the Absolute Divine Simplicity doctrine which collapses anything you can say about God into a monad, since not all of the attributes we can attempt to assign to God are equivalent.
Without the Essence-Energy distinction, it's impossble to even speak about a Trinity, in ADS there can be no Trinity, there can be no multiplicity in God. And the roman-catholic dogma seems to never resolve this issue, except by making the divine energies as we know them into created things.
So for latins, Grace is created, all of the attributes of God that we can partake in would be created things. There is no way to actually experience God directly while alive, in this worldview, and that's the complete opposite of our idea of pariticipation and Theosis as beginning in this life.
This then destroys the idea of Salvation as Theosis, and the solution the RC has is the Beatific Vision, negating even the bodily ressurection and the recapitulation of all creation and eternal communion with God both physically and spiritually. It completely undoes christianity itself.