The Impossibility Of Eternal Time

Ideas which oppose God are a drag on progress, especially when they are elevated to the level of dogma.
For the longest time, the scientific dogma was that “the universe is eternal”. Standing on that dogma, many mocked the opening lines of the Bible stating “In the beginning…”

We should have known better but truth has a persistent habit of coming out and winning the day…

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1

Since the Bible is God’s word, we’d expect that a correct interpretation of it would lead us to understand our surroundings. Here are 2 points which with time (pun intended) we’ve come to appreciate Genesis 1:1…

  1. Since God created matter and energy, they are by definition not eternal. Observation confirms this since their eternality would violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics re: entropy ie: the law which describes the observation that it is impossible for your cup of hot coffee to still be warm if it has been sitting around for an eternity.
  2. Logic itself confirms that the universe cannot be eternal as it shows the impossibility of time per se being eternal ie: you logically cannot have “lots and lots of time going to infinity”. How so?
    By understanding the concept of “infinite”. There are 2 types: Potential and Actual Infinite.
    An example of a potential infinite set is a set of abstract numbers in mathematics which can run indefinitely in either direction.

    *Otherwise known as the A-Theory of time. Read more here: Forming An Actual Infinite By Successive Addition.

    However time itself, if it is to be infinite, needs to be an actual infinite set and you run into the logical impossibility of adding to an actual infinite set. Why? Time is tensed* ie: “the past” runs to “the present” runs to “the future”.
    Therefore, if “the present” is represented by the number 5, then 1 then 2 then 3 then 4 need to precede it – that’s “the past”. If you have “infinite time” prior to the present (5), you’ll never reach “the present”. Clearly this cannot be the case since we are in the present.

This is yet another example of why we need to take God at His word (the Bible) seriously or we’ll waste our precious money/time/opportunity chasing dead ends in our lives and more specifically, in research.

Image from the Internet

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