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Time as “Dance”: Theological-Philosophical Reflections and Meditations

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Embracing the Ivory Tower and Stained Glass Windows

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Abstract

What is time? is a question that has been asked several times in history, from Augustin to physicists nowadays with their ingenious solutions to measuring time in a so far unknown precision. And it is a question which human beings ask themselves when turning-points in life arise. This contribution will relate cosmic time with God’s time, often called eternity, in the context of lived time (“gelebte Zeit“) and with respect to deceleration as a phenomenon in modern society. In particular it will evaluate the contribution of Antje Jackelén in her essential book “Time and Eternity” in order to ask for an understanding of time which allows human beings to experience time in all its diversity – including escaping from a linear understanding of time towards a dynamic, “dancing“one and realizing a distinction between the predictable “Futur“and the unexptected “L‘Avenir“of time with respect to the French philosopher Jacques Derrida.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Chapter 2 is a revised version of Meisinger 2009.

  2. 2.

    Varadaraja V. Raman is convinced that her work “will become a classic in the literature devoted to the subject of time.” (2009, 974)

  3. 3.

    Byrne (2009, 954) is also critical of that issue and even states that hymns “as they become outdated and stale, can fail to make any meaningful contact with the lives of the persons who are asked to sing them.”

  4. 4.

    Wolfgang Achtner, Stefan Kunz and Thomas Walter ([1998] 2002, 174) reflect about similar issues under the heading of “a kind of illness of time” – an expression worth thinking about.

  5. 5.

    Hubert Meisinger and Jan C. Schmidt (2006) reflect about different dimensions of an interdisciplinary dialogue. Compare Meisinger (2013) on the role of poetry and arts in the interdisciplinary dialogue. Byrne also stresses the role of literature and poetry in the context of a deep understanding of time as narrated, as “lived time” (2009, 961).

  6. 6.

    My translation of: “Indem eine widerholte Bewegung plötzlich unterbrochen wird, blitzt eine potenziell andere Realität auf, zeigt sich, dass das Hier und jetzt auch ganz anders sein und ganz anders werden könnte.” This may help to clarify Byrne’s critique who had liked Jackelén to be more precise about her understanding of dance: “The metaphor is helpful but essentially empty until we know what kind of dance we are engaged in” (2009, 955).

  7. 7.

    Schwan (2014), Herrmann-Pfandt (2014) and Schroeter-Wittke (2014) deal with that question more in detail. Also compare Sidney Carter’s “Lord oft he Dance” from 1963 (Jackelén 2005, 71).

  8. 8.

    On time and eternity in natural sciences compare Albright 2009.

  9. 9.

    Stoeger (2006) reflects on the interaction of his scientific knowledge with his Christian belief.

  10. 10.

    On the question of knowledge and wisdom in science and theology compare Meisinger et al. 2005, 2006.

  11. 11.

    Reinhold Esterbauer (1996) stresses the fact even more that there does not exist one understanding of time in science, philosophy, and theology.

  12. 12.

    Müller even goes one step further and thinks about a what he calls “Zeitspiel” (”time game”): an iteration of the dual modes of time on themselves, which would make up a three-dimensional time cube: PaPrPa, PrPrPa, FuPrPa and so on (1987, 210–212). I like to call that “Rubik’s Cube” model of time.

  13. 13.

    “Alles Schreiben über Zeit endet im Fragment. Zur Zeit gibt es nichts Endgültiges, nichts Abgeschlossenes und nichts Vollständiges. BLEIBEN SIE DRAN!” (my translation).

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  1. Zentrum Gesellschaftliche Verantwortung, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 113-115, D-55128, Mainz, Germany

    Hubert Meisinger

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    Jennifer Baldwin

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Meisinger, H. (2016). Time as “Dance”: Theological-Philosophical Reflections and Meditations. In: Baldwin, J. (eds) Embracing the Ivory Tower and Stained Glass Windows. Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23944-6_4

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