Seite - 97 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 05/02

THE LINEAR TIMELINE In Western Judeo-Christian thought, time has a beginning: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1, KJV), and an end: “And it shall come to pass in the last days” (Isa. 2:2). Linear biblical time is irreversible and strives wholly towards the final event, the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven.4 The prophets promise us that we have a deciding influence on this end, which is not a predetermined future: “For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings … then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever” (Jer. 7:5–7). Man, in the Bible, finds himself within the stream of time, at any moment of which he may be sub- jected to the test of whether or not he succeeds or fails to live up to God’s will.5 This perception of time as an arrow leading from Genesis to Apocalypse lies at the foundations of Western culture and can be described as a vector. This vector has an ascending trajectory, as opposed to a horizontal one, similar to the vector of physical time. Since there is hope for future success, the unpre- determined future is always perceived as a higher, more perfect point in time. In other words, the upward pointing vector represents our concept of time as having upward momentum (see fig. 1). Earthly time in the Bible is linear, and this fact is evident not only in the cos- mology of the creation story. For example, the task assigned to Moses has a linear timeline with upward momentum in that there is an expectation of future success. This looking forward towards the future, which appears for the first time in the Old Testament as opposed to the predetermined future commonly accepted in the ancient world, brings about a new idea of faith. Time is not circular, but unidirectional and irreversible. The recognition of God’s will in the present contains the hope for a better future, a future in which one can be re- warded. This perception is manifested when God says to Abraham: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless 4 Leibowitz 2002. 5 Rauch 1978, 10–11. Fig. 1: Biblical time narrative graph. Western Apocalyptic Time and Personal Authentic Time | 97www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/2, 95–116