Leonardo and Gabriel by Tigner Tim
Author:Tigner, Tim [Tigner, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-30T16:00:00+00:00
Arguments
After the big revelation, Leonardo expected Gabriel to fade away, but the archangel remained fully lit and center stage. That too was a blessing, as Leonardo had questions screaming for answers.
He blurted out the first one that came to mind. “But time is—” He paused, unable to properly complete the sentence.
“What?” Gabriel asked with the hint of a mischievous smile. “Not a wizened old man with a white robe and a mighty wand?”
Leonardo felt foolish.
But only for a second.
“Time is not animate.”
Gabriel’s smile faded. “You want to add Animate to our list?”
Leonardo felt like a cheater, and his words came out correspondingly weak. “It’s just assumed.”
Gabriel’s tone remained forceful and steady. “Perhaps that assumption is the primary problem. The blind spot that prevents people from seeing the truth.”
“Are you implying that God is not animate?”
Gabriel’s gaze didn’t waiver. “Answer me this: What do you mean by animate?”
“Alive.”
“Define alive—in a way that’s not circular.”
Leonardo didn’t have a ready answer. After struggling through a few false starts, the best he could come up with was, “Not dead.”
“And I suppose you’ll define dead as not alive? ”
Leonardo saw the archangel’s point. Odd that he hadn’t considered that circularity on prior occasion.
Gabriel continued. “If you try to define alive without creating a circular reference, and you bear in mind that plants, for example, are alive, you’ll likely end up with something like: Still in existence, force, or operation . Does that sound accurate to you?”
“It does.”
“Good. Now tell me this: Does that definition apply to time?”
Leonardo guessed that this was what it felt like to be one of Socrates’ students, led to obvious conclusions by obscure questions—with one’s intellectual inferiority on constant display. “Time’s existence, force and operation are all evidenced by our every action. By this very discussion. This is so weird.”
“Answer the question.”
“Yes. Time does indeed fit that definition of animate.”
Gabriel didn’t rest on his laurels. “Alternatively, you might define animate as Marked by alertness, energy, animation or activity .”
Leonardo liked that definition. It was closer to what he initially had in mind. “Yes, that sounds better. It feels right too.”
“Good. Then answer me this: How would you know whether any of those defining characteristics was exhibited by an incorporeal entity—as we’ve repeatedly determined that God must be?”
“Huh,” was all Leonardo managed to say. He felt blindsided once again. He had literally proven his powers of observation to be second to none by creating descriptive accounts of beating bird and insect wings. But Gabriel had stumped him. How could you observe alertness, energy, animation, or activity in God—given that It had no physical presence?
He began thinking out loud. “Well, direct observation is out, since by definition we can’t see that which is incorporeal. Although” —he corrected himself with a sense of excitement, “light and shadow are exceptions, so there may be others.”
“Let me know if you think of any.” Gabriel’s tone revealed the inevitable conclusion to that quest. “Meanwhile, keep going.”
“That leaves us with only indirect observation.”
“Exactly. And—” Gabriel held up a
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