St. Augustine's Relativistic Theory of Time

by Stephen M. Barr at Church Life Journal.

'''The story is often told[1] that when St. Augustine was asked this ['What was your Creator God doing for all that infinite time before he got around to making the world? Why did he sit idle for those infinite ages? What was he waiting for?'], he replied, 'God was creating hell for people who ask such questions.' Some find this response amusing. Others see it as a perfect illustration of how religion discourages the asking of questions and requires blind faith of its adherents.

'''But here’s the thing: St. Augustine never said this and, in fact, severely criticized the person who did. Here is what the saint actually said:

"I do not give the answer that someone is said to have given (evading by a joke the force of the objection), 'He was preparing hell for those who pry into such deep subjects.' . . . I do not answer in this way. I would rather respond, 'I do not know,' concerning what I do not know than say something for which a man inquiring about such profound matters is laughed at, while the one giving a false answer is praised."[2]

'''This is a wonderful statement and completely characteristic of that great Church Father. Far from seeing faith as putting an end to questions, St. Augustine saw faith as a spur to inquiry.
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'''[1]Robert Jastrow told this story both in his popular book God and the Astronomers (Norton, 1st edition, 1978) and in an article "Have Astronomers Found God?" New York Times, June 25, 1978. But he merely gave new life to an old myth that has been repeated in many places.

'''[2]St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. John K. Ryan (New York: Doubleday and Co.. Inc., 1960), bk. 11, ch. 12.'''