IMC 2026: Sessions

Paper 1130-a:

This paper focuses on the twelfth-century Sinai icon, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, as affective means through which Byzantine beholders could access an atemporal/nonlocational zone: the absence of place and time. Drawing from visual and textual evidence, I demonstrate that icons, though seemingly static, operate as time-based media in the collective psyche of Byzantium—through perceived inspiritment, and embodied devotional interaction. Further, dreaming and visions—suspensions of temporal and spatial boundaries—are paramount to this icon’s creation, veneration, and theological function. Contrasting with contemporary Western linear experiential frameworks, the atemporal Byzantine divine realm emerges as omnipresent reality, perpetually inhabitable through the image.

Paper 1130-b:

Medieval Muslim scholarship viewed temporalities with reference to the term al-Dahr or time. It is the name of a Surah as well as appearing twice in Quran. While discussed by Quranic exegetes throughout Islamic history, the concept of time in Al-Rāzī’s (d.1209) thought is unique in that he was a medieval rationalist who elucidated Quranic themes and concepts in his exegetical treatise, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb (lit. keys to the unseen). This work carries eighty odd references to al-Dahr or time, elucidating its dimensions rationally and connecting them to the Islamic cosmological tradition. His intricate consolidation of reason with Quranic concepts brings forth interesting perspectives on time, day, night, life, death, calamities and the universe itself. Here al-Razi delves into the realm of theology and connects the afore mentioned concepts to God.

Much has been written on these themes in the Islamic perspective, and scholars have also explored al-Razi's intellectual discourses, but the concept of time in the thought of this rationalist exegete of the Quran remains untouched.

This paper would bring together his exegetical discourse on time and offer a view into medieval Islamic rationalism as represented in al-Razi's Mafātīḥ.

Paper 1130-c:

This paper explores how Augustine’s understanding of time and eternity is deeply rooted in biblical foundations. His conception of time significantly shaped subsequent Christian theological and philosophical thought. Greek philosophy conceived time as an abstract dimension in which events unfold, while the Bible presents time as a meaningful gift from the Creator – purposeful, and oriented toward eternity (Job 1:21; Ps 90:3-12; Isa 40:6-8; Isa 60:19-20). Unlike the Greek view of time as a mere framework, biblical literature approaches temporality primarily through the content of time rather than independent dimension. In the Confessions, Augustine interprets time as an inner experience connected to memory, perception, and expectation, portraying eternity as a transformative eternal present beyond linear time. In the City of God, he frames time historically as the linear progression of salvation culminating in the Last Judgment. This paper investigates how Augustine integrates this linear, goal-directed concept of time with human consciousness and God’s transcendence, who grants and withdraws time. By comparing these perspectives with biblical texts, it highlights how Augustine articulates the distinction between time and eternity and conceives eternity as a single eternal present, a time of transformation that guides the human being toward the fullness of God’s presence.