Julia Bosco Theology 7 Ms.

Mahlock 26 December 2013 Prompt 4 ( altered a little) Explain how the name given to Moses by God support the idea that God transcends time and space.

When God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush that did not burn, God gave Moses his name. This was the first instance in the Bible that God provided one of his servants with a name; said it was Ehyeh asher ehyeh. While the direct translation from hebrew to english is I shall be that I shall be, the most conventional translation is simply I am. This name given to Moses by God supports the idea that God is independent of time and space because it is the I form of the verb to be, and it suggests an idea of a non specific maybe even perfect being. The name given to Moses by God is the I form of the verb to be. The selection of this verb by God for humanity to call him supports the idea that God is transcends both space and time. It does this because I am points to existence and essence. It shows the existence of God and that God is the essence of existence. I am means that the entity exists. It is non specific to where that being exists, but it verifies that it does exist. If God calls himself I am, one could understand that God is the existence; God is the entity that allows existence. Then this could be understood to mean that God is the essence of existence. He is the element of matter and energy that allows everything to existence. This means that God cannot be bound by space and time because space and time are elements that are defined by existence. Without this defining

existence, which in this case is God, space and time do not in and of themselves exist. God tells Moses that He is I am, that He is being. That He is the entity that allows being and the essence that provides the matter and energy that existence or the ability to be. God, if He truly is the essence that of existence, then cannot be bound by elements that have been given the ability to exist by Him. For example, God cannot be bound by space and time because if he was bound by space and time these entities in and of themselves would have to have the ability to exist without Him because if he were bound by these two elements then they would have the power to exist without Him; since God is the essence that allows existence then it would not be possible for him to exist within and under the power of independent elements such as time and space. Another reason that the name given to Moses by God supports the idea that God transcends time and space is because it refers to a non specific maybe even perfect being. The name I am is non specific and allows it to be unbound by time and space. It does not designate a location or a time period it only has reference to existence. This non specific reference allows for the comprehension that this existence is not bound by time and space for if its existence was specific , I am here, I was there, then the being speaking is designating that it is with in space and time for one provides location and the other timing. The name given to Moses provides neither of those designations or boundaries in which to confine its existence in so thus suggesting for God these boundaries of time and space do not define His existence. Both time and space are human inventions that are to classify and specify the where the being is . They are boundaries that allow us to divide events so they are conceivable to the human mind in a linear and comprehensible form of events. Without the conception of time and space, the human mind lacks the ability to comprehend one event from another for they would all blend together in a fashion that is cannot discerned. Humanity need specificity in order to comprehend events thus

existing within both time and space. The nature of non specific name given to Moses supports that God exists without space and time because space and time are rooted in being definitive and specific. This non specific name allows God as a being to exist anywhere or everywhere or no where at any given moment or at every given moment in time. The name allows for this seemingly impossible ambiguity and allows for the existence of being independent of both space and time. When God appeared to Moses, He gave Moses His name; this name allows for Him to exist independent of time and space. Both space and time are human conventions that allow for specificity and boundaries for existence. The idea that these conventions do not apply to God is supported the name that He gave to Moses. The name I am is the I form of the verb to be and is non specific. These attributes are vital in the idea of the existence of God outside of space and time for the first suggests that God is the being that allows for existence while the second allows for the God to appear to be ambiguous in His existence, in reference to timing and location, which allows him to exist outside of space and time.