In theology class the other night we were discussing the doctrine of God. Who is God? What can we know about God? How do we know God? Where is God? How does God relate to the world?
In our discussion group during class I posed a question along these lines: What if the future has not happened yet?
Some of us who live and think within a Christian context have the idea that the story has already played itself out (at least in the mind of God). What happens tomorrow in my life, in the events of the world, God has already seen/allowed/willed/ordained/known.
But what if it has not happened yet? Rather than starting a philosophical/theological argument over this issue (What must God know, in order to be God, etc…I also find is fascinating to examine the affects of doctrines/beliefs on people and communities as opposed to simply discussing what is “true” or “untrue”), how is your imaginative/creative impulse affected by the notion that the future has not happened yet. The story has not yet been written. Anything can happen.
Furthermore what if we thought of the eschatological visions of scripture as God’s redemptive trajectory. How does that affect our imaginative/creative impulse?
One of my imaginative/creative impulses: When Tolstoy wrote a novel did God read along with anticipation? When Monet painted did God gasp at the beauty of the finished project? When Mozart composed his first symphony did God listen with wonder?
