Great piece. I would just emphasize that although these esoteric and exoteric conceptions of God differ, they do pertain to the same object. In the same way, the story of Adam and Eve is both a mythic account of our timeless nature, as well as an historical account of our forbears.
Yes Enai, does have a point. I guess on my conception of God, God can't be a being that starts history, because if God is the ground of being, so God is just as present in every moment as any other. I do think it is fine to say that the exoteric creation story is a reflection of the very same truth within the framework of linear time. I would just claim that this linear time framework is less fundamental in the sense that it is a creation of the human intellect while the ground of being is not.
The fact is implicit in the premise that there is both an esoteric and exoteric conception of God. An esoteric conception is meant to be understood by few whereas an exoteric conception is meant to be understood by many. The common element is the subject, God.
To Dan's point, I do not see how God being present throughout eternity precludes the possibility, let alone the necessity, of creation. And I do not understand what you mean when you say that linear time is less fundamental than eternity; time is the medium through which eternity manifests - neither can be comprehended without the other.
Really interesting point. I think I see where you are coming from. I way saying eternity is fundamental in the sense that the experience of linear time is something we actively create through memory and thought, and that if we stop this process we find ourselves in the eternal present. Though if don't look at this from that first person point of view I think you are right that we can understand the sense of time to sort of spontaneously arise out of eternity (creation) and even to be necessary to create the sense of an individual person moving through time that can "experience" eternity.
Great piece. I would just emphasize that although these esoteric and exoteric conceptions of God differ, they do pertain to the same object. In the same way, the story of Adam and Eve is both a mythic account of our timeless nature, as well as an historical account of our forbears.
How do we know they "pertain to" the same object?
Yes Enai, does have a point. I guess on my conception of God, God can't be a being that starts history, because if God is the ground of being, so God is just as present in every moment as any other. I do think it is fine to say that the exoteric creation story is a reflection of the very same truth within the framework of linear time. I would just claim that this linear time framework is less fundamental in the sense that it is a creation of the human intellect while the ground of being is not.
The fact is implicit in the premise that there is both an esoteric and exoteric conception of God. An esoteric conception is meant to be understood by few whereas an exoteric conception is meant to be understood by many. The common element is the subject, God.
To Dan's point, I do not see how God being present throughout eternity precludes the possibility, let alone the necessity, of creation. And I do not understand what you mean when you say that linear time is less fundamental than eternity; time is the medium through which eternity manifests - neither can be comprehended without the other.
Really interesting point. I think I see where you are coming from. I way saying eternity is fundamental in the sense that the experience of linear time is something we actively create through memory and thought, and that if we stop this process we find ourselves in the eternal present. Though if don't look at this from that first person point of view I think you are right that we can understand the sense of time to sort of spontaneously arise out of eternity (creation) and even to be necessary to create the sense of an individual person moving through time that can "experience" eternity.