sacg1198@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Scott A Cattanach) (08/24/90)
Does the term 'free will' apply to a being not bound by time? My thinking is that as free will involves decisions, change, etc., and that a timeless being does not change and his actions and being are one (and I realise that not Christians hold this model of God) it may not. Will we be unbound from time as part of our glorification? Are the demons/angels bound by time? I ask because if we and they are not, we have a possible answer to the 'why won't there be any sin in the second eternity? question, namely that a sin would be a change in our perfected state and timeless beings cannot change, as change is a relation dependant on time. If the angels and demons are not bound, this could explain why they cannot repent/fall (the fallen ones would have to be fallen from the beginning, all that will fall have fallen under this model). Unbound by time does not necessarily imply omniscience. An unbound devil still would be no match for God (right?). If we are to spend 'eternity' in Heaven or Hell (as opposed to just an infinite string of years), wouldn't we need to be unbound? God cannot sin because He cannot change, as opposed to some outside force or rule preventing Him from sinning. Jesus could be tempted to sin as He put on bounded-by-time with the rest of His humanity. (otherwise, His temptation in the desert is like someone tempting me to sprout wings and fly, no brownie points for resistance) Is there any problem with unbounded demons that would be solved by having a day, week, month, etc. of unfallenness before they fell? -- -catt (catt@uiuc.edu) I've never really trusted Smokey the Bear. Everytime I see him I wonder what happened to the Boy Scout that was orginally wearing that hat.