[quote]What is God's relationship to time? Question: "What is God's relationship to time?" Answer: We live in a physical world with its four known space-time dimensions of length, width, height (or depth) and time. However, God dwells in a different dimension—the spirit realm—beyond the perception of our physical senses. It’s not that God isn’t real; it’s a matter of His not being limited by the physical laws and dimensions that govern our world (Isaiah 57:15). Knowing that “God is spirit” (John 4:24), what is His relationship to time? In Psalm 90:4, Moses used a simple yet profound analogy in describing the timelessness of God: “For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” The eternity of God is contrasted with the temporality of man. Our lives are but short and frail, but God does not weaken or fail with the passage of time. In a sense, the marking of time is irrelevant to God because He transcends it. Peter, in 2 Peter 3:8, cautioned his readers not to let this one critical fact escape their notice—that God’s perspective on time is far different from mankind’s (Psalm 102:12, 24-27). The Lord does not count time as we do. He is above and outside of the sphere of time. God sees all of eternity’s past and eternity’s future. The time that passes on earth is of no consequence from God’s timeless perspective. A second is no different from an eon; a billion years pass like seconds to the eternal God. Though we cannot possibly comprehend this idea of eternity or the timelessness of God, we in our finite minds try to confine an infinite God to our time schedule. Those who foolishly demand that God operate according to their time frame ignore the fact that He is the “High and Lofty One . . . who lives forever” (Isaiah 57:15). This description of God is far removed from man’s condition: “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). Again, because of our finite minds, we can only grasp the concept of God’s timeless existence in part. And in so doing, we describe Him as a God without a beginning or end, eternal, infinite, everlasting, etc. Psalm 90:2 declares, “From everlasting to everlasting You are God” (see also Psalm 93:2). He always was and always will be. So, what is time? To put it simply, time is duration. Our clocks mark change or, more precisely, our timepieces are benchmarks of change that indicate the passage of time. We could say, then, that time is a necessary precondition for change and change is a sufficient condition to establish the passage of time. In other words, whenever there’s change of any kind we know that time has passed. We see this as we go through life, as we age. And we cannot recover the minutes that have passed by. Additionally, the science of physics tells us that time is a property resulting from the existence of matter. As such, time exists when matter exists. But God is not matter; God, in fact, created matter. The bottom line is this: time began when God created the universe. Before that, God was simply existing. Since there was no matter, and because God does not change, time had no existence and therefore no meaning, no relation to Him. And this brings us to the meaning of the word eternity. Eternity is a term used to express the concept of something that has no end and/or no beginning. God has no beginning or end. He is outside the realm of time. Eternity is not something that can be absolutely related to God. God is even beyond eternity.[/quote] Using this as the basis for my argument that both Scientists and Christian leaders are both stubborn gits, why can't they coexist? Science says that the world is billions of years old, and that life developed over time due to natural selection, but that life was an acciden. Christianity says that God created everything, rules everything, and transcends everything. However, Christians draw the line at those two huge scientific theories (and that's what they are, ideas proven multiple times, or at least more so than disproved) and that the world is only a few thousand years old, and God created everything as is. Although I am a devout Christian, I have decided that Christian leaders are the real stubborn ones here. My source quoted above has really given me some food for thought. First of all, God reigns above all of us, and to attempt to understand God is like a plant questioning the farmer as to how he goes about his daily tasks. We simply cannot understand it. [b]Though, because of our nature, we still try.[/b] Secondly, if God created the universe, this means that he must live outside of our known dimension, otherwise he would've created a dimension in which he is within, and a dreadful paradox is created, which may or may not be the truth. So, if God does not perceive time like we do, can't we argue that the bible does [b]not[/b] state that the universe is less than a few billion years old? Also, if the length of time the earth has been around is in fact 4.2 billion years, can't we also argue that natural selection may have happened? Humans were made last, after all of the species had been created and developed. So the question arises, [b]How long were seven days for God in our time?[/b] they may have been hundreds of thousands of years in our perception. So, Adam named all of the animals. It does not say which ones he named; they very well may have been prehistoric species. And while we're at it, why don't we debate the Big Bang Theory? Does the Bible state in what manner the universe was created, or the direction of the particles or masses? [b]TL;DR[/b] The Bible does not directly invalidate many popular scientific theories. So, why can't they coexist? Please, these are my own opinions that I have debated within myself for years, being impacted by both the Christian and Scientific community. Respond civilly or none at all. [b][i]EDIT:[/i] Arguments that do not back themselves up and state facts as to why I am wrong are considered filler content and useless. If you think I'm wrong, prove it. Give me facts, not opinions. Bible verses, for this topic, are considered reasonable arguments.[/b]