Time as "dance"
theological-philosophical reflections and meditations
pp. 45-57
in: Jennifer Baldwin (ed), Embracing the ivory tower and stained glass windows, Berlin, Springer, 2016Abstract
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.
