I am not sure if I should be sending this question to the "religion" part of the "ask me help desk website" or to the "philosophy: section. Well, here goes.

I was raised Catholic. Therefore I was taught the Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago. My first question is, when will we stop saying Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago and say he walked the earth 2500 years ago or 3000 years ago and so on..

My next question is... God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all one. They have always been and always will be. Science says the universe was formed about 13.7 billion years ago.. give or take a few billion years. Well. If that is so, what was God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit doing for before that? If it is true that they always have been and always will be, how long were they just hanging around before 13.7 billion years ago? I know these questions may be hard to answer and when I think about them and the thought of eternity and the mysteries of the Bible and universe, I sometimes get a headache. There are just so many unanswered questions. Our universe is so big and continually grows. Is it possible there are other species of life out there that are so FAR away that we can't detect them? I don't know. Well, before I start asking a million more questions that you won't be able to give me a 100% definitive answer to I will let you go and try to answer these question.

Thank you for your time,

Paul

Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to answer these questions. The only person who could answer them is God himself. I think very deeply about these things and wonder how it could be possible... living eternally... that means forever and ever and ever and ever... no stop... ever... I just can't even begin to imagine that... its actually a bit scary... who knows how big the universe is... it could go on forever and ever... an idea that the human mind cannot comprehend. But what matters is that we have faith in the Him and only Him. He will someday explain these matters to us. Till then, we shall remain clueless.

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I'll take a crack at these.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly what you're asking in your first question. At the risk of totally getting off-topic, I will say that there are those who believe that the Son, the Christ appeared on earth several times BEFORE he appeared as Jesus, son of Mary. The priest Abimalech (sp?) is the chief example, though others feel that any time the phrase "THE angel of the Lord..." (as opposed to "AN angel of the Lord...") appears, that it is a reference to God made flesh. In other words, the Son that we now know as Jesus.

OK, as to what was God doing before He thought of us. First, we have to remember that linear time is a man-made measurement, and means absolutely nothing to God. The best the writers could do to express this was to say that one day to God is like a thousand years... and so on. Was He busy at work with another creation? Maybe. Was He just sitting around, being God? Maybe. The trouble is that our human minds are not fully equipped to deal with the infinite and the eternal, as those things are simply too far outside our experience and cannot be logically comprehended. Likewise, any other time measurement besides progressive linear cannot be fully comprehended.

Maybe I'm just simple, but I chalk it up to one more mystery that God holds the key to, and if I'm lucky, maybe He'll let me understand it one day when we reside in the same house.

DK

Paul, To answer your questions...

My first question is, when will we stop saying Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago and say he walked the earth 2500 years ago or 3000 years ago and so on..
Answer.
If the return of the Messiah has not taken place people will be saying that 500 to 1000 years from now.

My next question is... God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all one. They have always been and always will be. Science says the universe was formed about 13.7 billion years ago.. give or take a few billion years. Well. If that is so, what was God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit doing for before that?
Answer:
My guess is that God was planning the creation of the universe, creating all the laws of physics, and planning how to set evolution of the universe and ultimately life into motion.

If it is true that they always have been and always will be, how long were they just hanging around before 13.7 billion years ago?
Answer:
God exists in eternity. Time is meaningless to Him - He is infinite - No beginning, no end. It boggles our mind just to try to comprehend that.

Is it possible there are other species of life out there that are so FAR away that we can't detect them?
Answer:
Yes it is possible, even probable. God is the author of life. It is in his nature to create life. Considering the vastness of the universe the odds are that there are millions of life forms just in our galaxy of billions of stars and planets.
But given time and with the advance of technology we may be able to contact such life in the future. Star Trek here we come!

I hope that helps,
Fred (arcura)

Fred... thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

Paul

Hello, Paul


[W]hen will we stop saying Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago and say he walked the earth 2500 years ago or 3000 years ago and so on..

When the passage of time makes it accurate to say that.



My next question is... God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all one. They have always been and always will be.

According to the Bible, they are three separate persons in the unity of one Godhead, like a council, with God the Father pre-eminent, the Son next and subordinate to the Father,and the Holy Ghost in third place.




Science says the universe was formed about 13.7 billion years ago.. give or take a few billion years. Well. If that is so, what was God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit doing for before that? If it is true that they always have been and always will be, how long were they just hanging around before 13.7 billion years ago?

Eternal beings have been around forever. What might seem like an extensive period of time to we time bound mortals, is nothing when compared with the foreverness of eternity.



I know these questions may be hard to answer and when I think about them and the thought of eternity and the mysteries of the Bible and universe, I sometimes get a headache.

Welcome to the club!



Is it possible there are other species of life out there that are so FAR away that we can't detect them?

Yes, it is entirely possible. God has said, "Worlds without number have I created."


Well, before I start asking a million more questions that you won't be able to give me a 100% definitive answer to I will let you go and try to answer these questions.


:)


Morganite - also an asker of questions

Paul, It Is Nearly Impossible To Answer This Question Without Using Your Faith. If You Have An Understanding On An Infinite God In Three Persons, It Helps. In 95 More Years They Will Say Jesus Walked The Earth 2100 Years Ago...