A philosophical question

Part of the challenge in addressing the philosophical question of “before” is recognizing it has no reference to a being who exists out of time.

dmdar said:

Hi,

I received a philosophical question and also an answer! My question was this-

The scripture says that God knew us before the foundation of the world. God is eternal, so He always knew us! Before we were born we were a thought in the mind of God! My question is this- if we were a thought in the mind of God, did we exist?

I shared this question with someone who goes to Christ Community Church, he said the answer was yes, we did exist, we existed in God the Father! I think he was correct!

Click to expand...

It is a good question...because what we experience is what we assume is real, and it is, well sort of. God has indeed made those thoughts in His mind manifest in the world, which He even wrote in heaven. But "the Word became flesh" is a good indication of just how real the things of this world are. As far as we experience from inside the story...as it is written...sure, there is real blood, etc. written into the story and it is impossible from this limited perspective to perceive it fully.

And isn't it curious, that God spoke, and it was so? Just amazing! So, yeah--good question!

But for the answer to you question whether or not we actually existed: Oh yeah! That's the beauty of it, what God imagines is real, is real. And because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever--the whole thing is forever just as He imagined and wrote it before the world began. The world then, is like the reading of a book that was written and afterward only read. The good new is--the end of the story, is good--very good, even beyond our own imagination...if throughout the story we pick up on the fact that this is His word, and begin to believe it. It is a gift from God even to hear it, and when we do--it is a great story!