Several great movies, books, stories about time travel have graced us in the past hundred years or so beginning with H. G. Wells, The Time Machine in 1895.TheBack to the Future series in 1985 was very entertaining I thought. Many living today will remember Star Trek and the OK Corral— Spectre of the Gun? and the Star Gate TV Series which began in 1997.
Albert Einstein in 1916 raised the possibility of real time travel by us mortals. but scientifically speaking, "It is uncertain if time travel to the past is physically possible. Forward time travel, outside the usual sense of the perception of time, is an extensively observed phenomenon and well-understood within the framework of special relativity and general relativity. However, making one body advance or delay more than a few milliseconds compared to another body is not feasible with current technology. As for backward time travel, it is possible to find solutions in general relativity that allow for it, such as a rotating black hole. Traveling to an arbitrary point in space-time has very limited support in theoretical physics, and is usually connected only with quantum mechanics or wormholes." (Wikipedia)
All of these examples are legends of the old creation, not the new! A science news report in 2020, below, is an example of ongoing secular studies. The ability of science to tell us much about ultimate reality is very limited. See "The Limits of Science." (Many fascinating concepts about time and space are suggested in the Wikipedia article on Time Travel). The speed of light, currently 186,000 miles per hour appears to be the top limiting speed in the universe. But see "Faster than the Speed of Light?" and The Speed of Light Exceeded by Chuck Missler. Also recommended from Chuck: Warp Speed Travel – Theoretically Possible?
One interesting aspect of us traveling into the past is the "Grandfather Paradox." If we found a way to revisit the past, we probably would not be able to change it!
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In a new peer-reviewed paper, a senior honors undergraduate says he has mathematically proven the physical feasibility of a specific kind of time travel. The paper appears in Classical and Quantum Gravity.
University of Queensland student Germain Tobar, who the university’s press release calls “prodigious,” worked with UQ physics professor Fabio Costa on this paper. In “Reversible dynamics with closed time-like curves and freedom of choice,” Tobar and Costa say they’ve found a middle ground in mathematics that solves a major logical paradox in one model of time travel. Let’s dig in.
The math itself is complex, but it boils down to something fairly simple. Time travel discussion focuses on closed time-like curves (CTCs), something Albert Einstein first posited. And Tobar and Costa say that as long as just two pieces of an entire scenario within a CTC are still in “causal order” when you leave, the rest is subject to local free will.
“Our results show that CTCs are not only compatible with determinism and with the local 'free choice' of operations, but also with a rich and diverse range of scenarios and dynamical processes,” their paper concludes.
In a university statement, Costa illustrates the science with an analogy:
“Say you traveled in time, in an attempt to stop COVID-19's patient zero from being exposed to the virus. However if you stopped that individual from becoming infected, that would eliminate the motivation for you to go back and stop the pandemic in the first place. This is a paradox, an inconsistency that often leads people to think that time travel cannot occur in our universe. Logically it's hard to accept because that would affect our freedom to make any arbitrary action. It would mean you can time travel, but you cannot do anything that would cause a paradox to occur."
Some outcomes of this are grouped as the “butterfly effect,” which refers to unintended large consequences of small actions. But the real truth, in terms of the mathematical outcomes, is more like another classic parable: the monkey’s paw. Be careful what you wish for, and be careful what you time travel for. Tobar explains in the statement:
“In the Coronavirus patient zero example, you might try and stop patient zero from becoming infected, but in doing so you would catch the virus and become patient zero, or someone else would. No matter what you did, the salient events would just recalibrate around you. Try as you might to create a paradox, the events will always adjust themselves, to avoid any inconsistency.”
While that sounds frustrating for the person trying to prevent a pandemic or kill Hitler, for mathematicians, it helps to smooth a fundamental speed bump in the way we think about time. It also fits with recent quantum findings from Los Alamos, for example, and the way random walk mathematics behave in one and two dimensions.
At the very least, this research suggests that anyone eventually designing a way to meaningfully travel in time could do so and experiment without an underlying fear of ruining the world—at least not right away.
Caroline Delbert is a writer, book editor, researcher, and avid reader.
If a superior intelligent Being is in fact responsible for our existence, then such a god has it in his power, in his ability, to remain unknown and unknowable should he so choose. Without revelation initiated by God we would know nothing about the nature of this Being.
The Bible, however, declares that the Creator has in fact made Himself known, and has given us a very large body of knowledge about His nature, character, attributes, and activities. The Biblical record, unfolding as it does over the space of hundreds of years, indicates to us that the self-disclosure of God is progressive in history. It was Jesus who said that "all the hidden things of darkness will be brought to light," and "there is nothing secret that will not be made known."
Furthermore the God of the Bible is a Personal God who enters into personal, intimate relationships with individuals and with groups of individuals.
The Bible tells us we are surrounded by myriads of angelic beings, a statement that no reputable scientist has put forth nor attempted to prove (or disprove) scientifically. Furthermore we learn from the Bible that the angels are given the responsibility by God for governing the forces of nature and for guiding the course of nations! Were it not for scripture, we would think of the spiritual realm as ghostlike or "imaginary" rather than permanent, substantial, and enduring. Scripture tells us that man is not just a physical being, but also a spiritual being, and that man is, above all else, a spirit. Though human evil is everywhere evident to anyone who is honest about himself and the world, this fact is constantly denied in the halls of science, in schools, and in political campaigns---denied almost everywhere by men, but not by the Bible.
The Bible confirms that the universe is an orderly, composite structure but goes further by making clear our Creator's goals and purposes in both creation and redemption. Scripture tells us clearly where history is heading and how things will end. Secular science and secular history see none of this accurately. Rather than man's being incidental to creation, the Bible places him squarely in the center as the highest of created beings, intended by God to exercise dominion over the earth, and later over the new creation God is now building. It is the Bible that explains us to ourselves and provides the remedy for human evil so that healing and restoration can begin within us. Where else but in Holy Writ can we learn about the causes of war, the reasons for upset ecologies, the purposes of government, and the "Four Last Things" (Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell) that no man can avoid discovering in experience in the end?
Finally, Christians hold that truth, properly perceived as revelation from God, is absolute truth and can be depended upon fully to guide a person in this life and in the next. Scientific truth may or may not hold up under the tests of time and comparison with absolute truth. Unless it does, scientific truth has limited value and limited scope.
See
A relevant teaching from the Bible, about new bodies already waiting for followers of Jesus to don when they exit this mortal life, is found in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5. Several words from the original Greek are of interest. Notice that our present bodies are likened to a temporary tent and our resurrection bodies are instead solid and permanent. Note the verb "we have" is present tense, “now.” Our present bodies (limited to only four dimensions) are dying but the "dearly departing" as he or she is leaving earth-time experiences immortality immediately. That is, he or she time travels in an instant --"in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" --to the First Resurrection--to join all other believers from their departure in this life into the presence of God, as described in 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Not all men enjoy a personal relationship with the risen Lord Jesus. Though loved by God, some reject Jesus to their dying day. When they die they cannot join the redeemed in heaven. They will be granted their foolish heart's desires and be excluded forever from the presence of God.
"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, [Greek: skenos, a tent] is destroyed, we have [present tense] a building [Greek: oikos, a permanent building] from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him."
The accounts in the New Testament of the activities of our Lord Jesus after His resurrection (for 40 days) provide a wealth of insights into the nature of resurrection bodies! When Jesus came back from the dead on that Sunday morning He was, after all, in a new body. (His old body, by the way, was also sinless).
“...Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:1-3)
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:4-11)
Therefore, your resurrection body already exists (if you know Jesus):
1. It comes “Ready to Wear.” The new body is not to be found in this life, nor available to be test driven in the present space-time domain, where we are presently imprisoned.
2. Your new body is disease-free, tangible, fully functional home for spirit and soul. No sin, no sickness, no disease, self-renewing.
3. Resurrection bodies are apparently capable of time travel. This is a difficult subject for secular science, confined as science is to very limited spatial and time dimensions. Flights of fancy and fairy tales from SciFi miss the mark as well. But approaching the subject with "sanctified imagination" is acceptable.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-15)
Jonah walked 600 miles to Nineveh. Possibly he traversed 20 miles per day. Caravansaries for wealthy camel caravans for the rich were there, but no motels, hotels, or hospitality houses existed for the lone prophets of God. No tents nor sleeping bags either--huddle for comfort. Wear a heavy outer garment if you own one. Moses walked xxx miles from the Nile Delta to Mt. Nebo. He put in forty years of active duty on foot. No SUV, no Jeep, probably not even a donkey. Total miles walked in 40 years? The Apostle Paul walked at least x miles in y years. He went on foot mostly but occasionally by boat. There were good Roman roads, but there were many perils.
“...I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things...” (2 Corinthians 11:23-33)
“Frequent flyers” today go z miles a year at 500 mph subsonic. Frequent Flyers build up a thousand miles with ease. Still others take a slow boat to China at 30 knots or drive the highways at 65. Bullet trains on the other hand are faster, but they still go only 200 MPH. Cruise ships have all the luxuries of home and more. They cost a lot. And they are slow--30 knots max.
Resurrection bodies will surely be more fun to soar around in than a flying carpet. Expect no clear-air turbulence. No lightning strikes. Good weather I suppose? No airport check-ins or delays. Automated security and safety checks are built in to resurrection bodies? Imagine visiting a far-away friend all the way off in a different land, and by means of a time warp going there in “no time at all!” No jet lag. Back home in time for dinner. Faster than light travel in our future? Why not! ("Sanctified Imagination" is all that is required).
Meanwhile back in conventional space-time, “eternal life” means living in the Now without “zoning out.” It’s available today while waiting for our new bodies.
“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Visiting remote places will surely not be a problem. Visit Timbuktu for instance. Jesus probably did not walk to Galilee to serve breakfast to his disciples (John 21) after His resurrection. In a resurrection body one does not need a moped, an SUV or a glorified donkey--as far as anyone I have talked to knows.
Jesus did not apparently overnight in the Garden of Gethsemane after the resurrection, nor crash at some disciple’s house. Apparently Jesus did "commute" from heaven to earth and back to earth again during the forty days between His Resurrection and His Ascension? He did have an all new body.
4. My resurrection body is evidently like the new body Jesus now has. Genetically it is probably consistent from my old body to the new. I will be appropriately dressed and not naked. I expect to breathe the air, eat the food, enjoy good wine, and smell the roses. My earthly origin, family tree, my descent from Adam, my redemptive history remain part of who I became--my records, my “inheritance” was sent on ahead.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
5. New bodies are tangible, recognizable but evidently are equipped with some sort of a cloaking device. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus hid His identity from Cleopas and his traveling companion, until the right time, (Luke 23:13ff).
Food and Water are evidently still needed. Quality time with real people down below is conceivable, though none of them yet have their resurrection bodies. A fully enjoyable lifestyle is at hand. We will have Eyes that See, and Ears that Hear. Extended range of sensing—but no x-ray vision. Memory healed. Missing limbs restored. Self-repairing. Non-aging.
How old will I look in my new body? Not everyone will look as if they are 30, most likely. Life would be dull, even in heaven, if we were all the same age. So I suppose the populace of New Jerusalem will consist of men, women and children of all ages? The diversity and variety will be great as three main branches of mankind will be there, descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. There will be no marrying or reproduction as there is now. But new bodies are said to be “glorious.”
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21)
The resurrection body each Christian will receive at the time we enter heaven, will be like the body Jesus traveled around in during the 40-day interval between His resurrection and ascension.
Scope this all out (the Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus in the Gospels and Acts, that is), using a Harmony of the Gospels. BlueLetter Bible has the best Harmony I know of.
6. There will be no defects nor breakdowns in a resurrection body.
7. Your work assignment and mine from the time of the Rapture to the Second Advent (in New Jerusalem and elsewhere) will probably be to serve Jesus in the Army of the Lord while living at home in New Jerusalem. There will be plenty to do for those who stay at home and who are not called into “military service.” That great City of New Jerusalem exists now as the eternal home of God’s heavenly people. John the Apostle saw NJ in the First Century--it is not a dream city still on the drawing boards.
The majority of Christians showing up at the Rapture will not be well-read Bible students. Others who understand more will have to explain to others how they arrived home in New Jerusalem and what the future holds (near term and longer). No rivalry, selfish completion or vying for first place. Jesus is Numero Uno for everyone.
8. We will be non-frangible in our new bodies. Walking through walls will probably not be a problem. Walk on Water? Probably not a problem.
9. We will be at home in Gardens of Delights. Eden restored! Animals welcome. Plenty of children around.
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6-9)
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7)
9. Male and Female, but there will be no reproductive sex, no marriage and giving in marriage. Narnia-ready. Animals surely. Lots of kids. No more people will be needed. Male and Female reflect the Image of God in man, and are features of the original creation and the New.10. There will be plenty of “time” for everything. Time is surely multidimensional in New Jerusalem!
11. New bodies come with a whole new new sensor array! Eyes that see, ears that hear, tongues that can not lie. No glasses, dentures, braces or hearing aids!
12. We will probably have the ability to appear and disappear into and out of earth (linear) time. In this light we can see that Jesus did not retire when He ascended into heaven!
The Grandfather Paradox (Wikipedia)
Back to the Future (Wikipedia)
(Tachyons) Faster than the Speed of Light
Seek The Things That Are Above
Music: I'll Fly Away, Alison Kraus
Lambert Dolphin
