Category Archives: God

Time and place and transience Part 4: I don’t want what is precious to be gone and lost forever We are used to the idea of God being the repository of all good values, but I now want to put forward the idea that he is also the repository of all experience. We’ve met theContinue reading “Time and place and transience. Part 4”

Time and place and transience Part 3: What is it we’re really searching for? So, what is it that gives being in a time and place – and whatever we do in that situation – significance? Is, in fact, transience a problem? Does it matter that an event has happened and is now over? IsContinue reading “Time and place and transience. Part 3”

Time and place and transience Part 2: You can be happy if you give up searching – but only by accepting you are lost in meaninglessness The Greeks’ concern with transience seems to be about a search or desire for our actions to have some substance. If everything is transient, does this mean that ourContinue reading “Time and place and transience. Part 2”

Time and place and transience (A theological reflection in 6 parts) Time and place and transience Part 1: Searching for a place to stand in a river of transience I realise that I have particular concerns and interests in the issues of what it means to pass time – presumably in doing something in thatContinue reading “Time and place and transience. Part 1”

Passing the time Part 5: Summing up with God We seem to have two strands of thought running in parallel. On the one hand, it is true that – although we are rarely conscious of the passing of our lives – our lives gain importance from being limited in time. It is because we don’tContinue reading “Passing the time. Part 5”

Passing the time Part 4: Back to consider again if it really would be a bad thing if life went on forever. Let’s return to the idea of our physical lives needing to be limited by death to give them meaning, for I am not sure that this is true. Certainly, linked to my experienceContinue reading “Passing the time. Part 4”

Passing the time Part 3: Eternal life in heaven Let’s consider now the idea of eternal life in heaven. It is extremely difficult to imagine what this could actually be like if it exists as a literal reality. I have, however, spent nearly all my life as a firm believer in the life of heavenContinue reading “Passing the time. Part 3”

Passing the time Part 2: Experience is timeless – but some say it is death that makes life meaningful The first thing that strikes me, as I consider it, is that the experience of the present moment is, in fact, timeless. Although we understand that each passing moment is just that: passing away to beContinue reading “Passing the time. Part 2”

Passing the time (A philosophical reflection on what the passing of time means. In 5 parts) Part 1: Sitting in my sunny window this morning I want to consider what the passing of time means. This morning, I sat by the window at the back of my house as the glorious morning sun poured in.Continue reading “Passing the time. Part 1”

What use is God if he can’t actually do anything for us? Part 9: Where have we got to? My new framework of understanding God as the voice in our heads successfully retains what is, in practice, the essence of religion for most people: the sense of a personal relationship with God, who loves them,Continue reading “What use is God if he can’t actually do anything for us? Part 9”