Time&Eternity

Time in the Formulation of Scientific Theory 137
Nature and nature’s law lay hid in night.
God said: “Let Newton be,” and all was light. 110
The rendering of Pope’s words at this point is more justified as an expression
of contemporary scientific optimism than as evidence of the illuminating
insights of Newton for our questions regarding time. It is reflective
of the enthusiasm for the simplicity, coherence, and functionality of the
mechanical system. Newton succeeded in uniting earthly and heavenly
mathematics. For two events, it seemed that one could make an objective
decision regarding whether they are absolutely simultaneous and occur at
the same location. Nature was embedded in the uniform flow of absolute
time and not vice versa; time was therefore not understood as a dimension
of nature. The proof of the universality of gravitation allowed nature to appear
as a homogeneous whole. The vertical dualism of heaven and earth and
the polarization of time and eternity thus lost their footing.
With regard to time, one should note that Newton indeed distinguishes
between absolute and relative time; however, the concept of space dominates
his later discussion. Time is treated analogously to space and not vice
versa. God’s standing as the guarantor of absolute space appears to exceed
God’s significance as the basis of absolute time. Evidently, the image of a
God whose principal predicates are power, ultimate cause, and providence
is well-suited to absolute concepts.
Newtonian science has been oriented toward the ideal of uniformity
and symmetry and is basically more space-oriented than time-oriented.
Both the study of hymns and the account of biblical findings (chapters 1
and 2) showed, in contrast, that Christian theology is more time-oriented
than space-oriented. 111 An increasing interest in space was clearly manifested
only in the most recent hymns, which suggests the conclusion that the
interest in space grew when the traditional time-eternity model declined. 112
This change seems to go hand in hand with a shift of emphasis from the notion
of the impending Last Judgment to the call to realize the reign of God
here and now.
Space-oriented classical science and time-oriented classical Christianity—it
is entirely possible that this opposing relationship, which has hardly
been considered until now, has contributed to the conflict-laden aspects of
the history of the dialogue between science and theology; and it is just as
possible that a greater time orientation of science and a more conscious
space orientation of theology during the twentieth century have favorably
influenced the preconditions for this dialogue.
Leibniz’s relationally oriented concept of time does not mean that Leibniz
had a more relational concept of God than Newton did. Instead, the re-