Augustine’s description of time and does it provide a way for God to have perfect foreknowledge

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Furthermore, Augustine views human experience of time as primarily subjective, residing within the mind. He describes time as a "distention (or extension) of the soul" (distentio animi). We experience the past through memory, the present through attention, and the future through expectation. There is no objective "past" or "future" in the same way there is a physical object; they exist as mental constructs. The true "present" is an infinitesimally small, fleeting moment that is constantly becoming the past.

Crucially, God's relationship to time is fundamentally different from that of created beings. Augustine posits that God exists outside of time, in an eternal present. For God, there is no past, present, or future in a sequential sense. All of creation, all of history – from beginning to end – is eternally present before God's gaze. It is not that God foresees events in a linear sequence, but rather that He sees all events simultaneously in His eternal now.

God's Perfect Foreknowledge and Free Will

Augustine's description of time provides a powerful, albeit challenging, way to reconcile God's perfect foreknowledge with human free will.

How it provides a way for reconciliation:

The core of Augustine's solution lies in the distinction between God's eternal "now" and humanity's temporal experience.

1. God's Knowledge is Not Sequential Foresight: Because God exists outside the linear flow of time, His "knowing" our future actions isn't like our "predicting" them. When we predict, we are looking forward in time, implying a future that hasn't happened yet. For God, however, all of time is laid out as an eternal, simultaneous present. It's as if God is viewing a finished film from start to finish all at once, rather than watching it unfold frame by frame.
2. Knowledge Does Not Imply Causation: Augustine argues that God's perfect knowledge of our choices does not cause us to make those choices. His knowledge is simply a perfect apprehension of what free creatures will choose. It's like seeing an event happen (as opposed to making it happen). If you see someone freely choose to pick up a book, your seeing it doesn't compel them to pick it up; it simply reflects their free action. Similarly, God's eternal "seeing" of our choices doesn't predetermine them.
3. Human Freedom Remains Intact: For Augustine, human beings still genuinely deliberate, make choices, and act freely within their own temporal experience. Our choices are real, contingent, and morally significant. God, in His eternal present, simply knows what those free choices will be. His knowledge is exhaustive, but it respects the inherent freedom of the will He Himself endowed to humanity.

Example: Imagine standing on a very tall mountain overlooking a valley where a winding road stretches for miles. You can see the entire road at once – where people are currently, where they've been, and where they will go. The people on the road, however, are still making their choices about how fast to drive, whether to stop, or which turns to take. Your complete view of their journey doesn't force their decisions; it simply reveals them all at once. God's perspective is infinitely greater than this, encompassing all of existence.

My Thoughts on Augustine's Description of Time and its Solution

Augustine's description of time is profoundly insightful and philosophically elegant. His concept of God existing in an "eternal now" effectively addresses the challenge of reconciling divine omniscience with human free will in a way that many subsequent theologians and philosophers have found compelling.

Sample Answer

Augustine of Hippo, in his Confessions, offers a profound and complex contemplation of time, particularly in relation to God's existence and omniscience. His description of time is revolutionary for its era and attempts to address the enduring philosophical and theological problem of reconciling divine perfect foreknowledge with human free will.

Augustine's Description of Time

Augustine's central argument regarding time is that time is a created entity, not an eternal one. It came into existence with creation, not before it. He famously asks, "What was God doing before He created heaven and earth?" and answers that there was no "before" because time itself began with creation. For Augustine, time is inextricably linked to change and motion within the created order.