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Single Idea 5976

[from 'Confessions' by Augustine, in 28. God / A. Divine Nature / 5. God and Time ]

Full Idea

O Lord, since you are outside time in eternity, are you unaware of the things that I tell you?

Gist of Idea

If God is outside time in eternity, can He hear prayers?

Source

Augustine (Confessions [c.398], XI.01)

Book Reference

Augustine: 'Confessions', ed/tr. Pine-Coffin,R.S. [Penguin 1961], p.253


A Reaction

This strikes me as the single most difficult and most elusive question about the nature of a supreme divine being. If the being is trapped in time, as we are, it is greatly diminished, and if it is outside, it is hard to see how it could be a participant.