Martinez Dettinger: Natural Disasters and Time

 Abram relates how the Hebrews are purportedly the first culture to understand time as linear because they connected non-repeating natural disasters with an idea of linear time. They also connected this with the will of YHWH. Abram quoted: 

“[F]or the first time, we find affirmed, and increasingly accepted, the idea that historical events have a value in themselves, insofar as they are determined by the will of God.”

Excerpt From: David Abram. “The Spell of the Sensuous.” Apple Books. 

How does a non-linear understanding of time affect the conception of the will of God? Abrams connects the conception of non-linear time with writing because the Hebrews were able to write and record the history of their people because they were an early alphabetic culture. This allowed them to understand that the natural disasters are non-repeating. Would the Abrahamic God, then be considered more mythical and if it wasn't found that time is linear. Or would the style of writing be used less as a record-keeping ability and more of a story-telling narrative? So much of modern textual-oriented culture would be different if not for the conception of time of the Hebrews and their connections between linear time and God. Their conception of time allowed them to understand a God whose will was expressed in a non-repeating fashion as opposed to the more cyclical wrath of the gods of Greek mythology. This allowed the Hebrew faith and culture to persevere even though they were in a most perpetual state of exile.

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