What was He (She?) doing before He made heaven and earth?

~ Live & Learn

Augustine is frank about his ignorance of the divine and natural order and dogged in his pursuit of clarity. His conclusions and his introspective method would inform centuries of subsequent philosophers, from Descartes (whose cogito ergo sum—I think therefore I am—is a direct echo of Augustine’s dubito ergo sum, I doubt therefore I am) to Heidegger to Wittgenstein. He grapples with the Beginning: “I will set about replying to the questioner who asks, ‘What was God doing before he made heaven and earth?’ But I will not respond with that joke someone is said to have made: ‘He is getting hell ready for people who inquisitively peer into deep matters.’

~ Alan Burdick, “Why Time Flies: A Mostly Scientific Investigation” (Simon & Schuster, January 24, 2017)

Photo: via Mennyfox55

7 thoughts on “What was He (She?) doing before He made heaven and earth?”

    1. And that is the big question. Sad (distressing), really. Your thought left me in the same frame of mind as the last question and answer in this 20 Question interview with Deepak Chopra found here:

      20 Questions: Deepak Chopra Has 3 Simple and Surprising Productivity Secrets for You Start by asking yourself if what you are doing brings you joy

      20. What are you learning now?

      If you think that there was ever a peaceful world, it’s an illusion.

      Humans are most violent of all creatures. When we idealize a past civilization as being amazing, it’s because we are looking at luminaries or philosophers throughout the ages. What I’m learning: stop fooling yourself, human beings are predators, the most dangerous animal on this planet, and now we have the capacity for extinction. I’m being realistic that unless we all drastically have some kind of spiritual mutation, we are heading for an extinction.

      It sounds dire, morbid, doomsday. I tweeted asking everyone if they could commit today to total non-violence in their lives, in every aspect of their lives. It seems that a lot of people want to do that.

      20 Questions: Deepak Chopra Has 3 Simple and Surprising Productivity Secrets for YouStart by asking yourself if what you are doing brings you joy.

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