Abstract

Since Minkowski’s geometrization of relativity, the ontology of time has been dominated by the Block Universe interpretation, which denies an objective present. The Evolving Block Universe (EBU) of Ellis and Drossel (2020) seeks to restore becoming through wavefunction collapse but, as Riggs (2024) shows, inherits circularity: collapse presupposes temporal order. This paper develops an alternative framework - the Radiation-First Ontology (RFO) - in which time corresponds to the closure of null radiative connections rather than the passage of events through spacetime. The universe exists only within a finite generative layer N, where emissions and absorptions close to form new realized events. The realized domain W(s) records fixed closures, while the lawful potential domain F(s) defines unrealized amplitudes in a complex Hilbert space. N thus functions as a spacelike generative plane of becoming: Lorentz-invariant yet ontologically dynamic. Temporal direction arises from the irreversibility of closure, providing a coherent reconciliation of relativity, quantum theory, and becoming. Keywords: time; simultaneity; relativity; quantum ontology; radiation; closure; becoming; block universe.