The time

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This it is not intended to be a theological talk, but just a perspective on something that our minds would like to grasp completely.

THE GREAT SECRETS OF ETERNITY

Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time, taught a theory that time and space (I mean space and time like we usually understand them) are related to one another in a way that is hard for us to fully comprehend. We are not sure if Einstein is perfectly correct because we know that every few years science revises its ideas. For example, space, as we know and understand it, only exists in mortality and nowhere else. Einstein said that the absolute speed of anything is the speed of light. Nothing can go faster than the speed of light. Through the orbiting Hubble telescope we've been able to see glaxies that are 12 billion light years away. That means, traveling at the speed of light (the fastest possible), it would take us 12 billion years to go from here to that galaxy. Yet God can go to any place in the universe in the blink of an eye. You can't do that and still have "space" as we know it. Here's another way to look at it. As LDS, we believe that the spirit world is on this very planet. That means there are two worlds inhabiting the same "space" at the same time. Furthermore, both of them operate under different laws of physics. I also have reason to believe there are more than two worlds existing in the same "space" at the same time. According to earthly physics, that's impossible because two objects cannot occupy the same "space". Therefore, it's obvious that in eternity, there is no such thing as "space" as we now define it. In other words, we can only get a sense of how these two interact, rather than completely understanding it. In the same way, we can only get a sense of time but we don't fully understand it. For example, a deaf person can feel the vibrations of sound but he cannot actually hear it and appreciate it's value and beauty. And the same goes for us regarding time. We have a notion of it but we don't have a perfect knowledge.

We know our present and we remember our past, even though we will gradually forget it as time

goes on. Furthermore, there is no way for us to have any knowledge of the future. But, for God

everything is present. There is no past and there is no future. And because of this, He knows the

end from the beginning. Are not prophecies a glimpse of what is to come in the future? And

prophecies are always fulfilled for the simple reason that they are already written and can't be

changed.

Don't misunderstand me, I am not speaking about predestination. Man is the owner of his own

future. There are two kinds of prophecies. One is to foresee actual future events that cannot be

changed. For example, the coming millennium, the last judgment, resurrection and other future

events. These things will surely happen because they are part of God's plan.

There is a second kind of prophecy which is a warning from God to help us change. This is

illustrated in the story of Jonah. If Ninevah didn't repent God's prophecy would have been fulfilled, but by repenting they avoided the punishment. These kinds of prophecies are used as a warning from a loving Father by showing what punishments await them if they don't remain faithful to Him. This kind of prophecy clearly demonstrates that mankind is not predestined, but each individual has the opportunity to build his future for himself. How could prophecy be used to warn people, if they have no opportunity to change the outcome?

I said that man doesn't fully understand time, but he is starting to better grasp it. A century ago

man could live only in the present. However, since the coming of television, and VCRs we can at

least, watch the past happen again and again if we want, even if we can't actually relive the past.

Even more than this, we can also see things that are currently happening in every part of the earth.

If this is possible for us, how much more so is it for God?

According to latter-day revelation, when man comes to earth he forgets his celestial past, and the scriptures tell us that a veil is placed over our minds. But, how does this veil work? It's simple. God doesn't allow us to remember the past and prevents us from seeing our future. There may

be some who point to prophecies as seeing into the future, and that is true, except it is God who is

showing us the future, rather than us seeing it on our own.

While in mortality, man is forced to live in the present. The present is a telestial condition. "Time" only exists in mortality. In the pre-existence, in the spirit world, and in the

resurrection, there is no dimension of "time." In other words, "time" only exists here in mortality. We have a valid explanation of why it was necessary for us to experience this dimension while in mortality, because it didn't exist before we came here. And once we die, we go back to the dimension we grew up in and the dimension we will live in forever. In other words, "eternity" is the very opposite of "time." That means, when we die, the dimension of "time" ceases to exist for us and we go back to living in "eternity."

The glory of God is Intelligence and intelligence is the sum of all things, or wisdom; that means

the perfect application of the right principles. That the principle of time, as we know it, was

introduced at the beginning of the creation (seeGenesis 1:5) shows us that our time had its beginning at that point without the division of space from light and darkness and we know now that time is influenced by space and vice-versa (see D&C 130:7).

Alma 40:8 All is as one day with God, and THE TIME ONLY IS MEASURED UNTO MEN.

This it is not intended to be a theological talk, but just a perspective on something that our minds would like to grasp completely.

To go back to The Bible and the Book of Mormon