tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24918253.post4521391748495308214..comments2023-10-20T11:23:11.547-05:00Comments on Fear and Trembling: A Brief Pondering About TimeBenjaminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10142377311082312242noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24918253.post-36142194845865267992008-04-09T09:44:00.000-05:002008-04-09T09:44:00.000-05:00Chris - I agree that thinking about creation is tr...Chris - I agree that thinking about creation is tricky. I mean, the Bible says that creation groans in the pains of childbirth until its glorious redemption, and that God subjected creation to futility in the hopes that it will be set free. (cf. my opinion of Irenaeus in the comments of the Theosis post)<BR/><BR/>That's why speculating about time-bound eternity seems vaguely, I dunno, like selling snake oil.<BR/><BR/>On the other side, though, wouldn't you say that speculating on the nature of the "corruption" is also a little tricky, especially since the Bible says that God is the one doing the "corrupting"? (Romans 8)<BR/><BR/>As far as Jesus ascending into the heavens, I agree that the supernatural could have occurred. I agree that it is theoretically possible that Christ opened a wormhole that took him straight to heaven, or any other such thing. But I also know that the Greeks thought that heaven was literally above the clouds (google pictures of ancient and medieval cosmology if you don't believe me). If I'm being intellectually honest, Christ ascending into heaven by rising through the clouds seems like a cultural product. I struggle with how to take that passage, as a 21st century person with a different sort of cosmology.Benjaminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10142377311082312242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24918253.post-50517814561797692692008-04-08T21:17:00.000-05:002008-04-08T21:17:00.000-05:00I do think about time only in one direction but al...I do think about time only in one direction but also it is a fallen time. The problem with thinking about the after life is the concept of not only man is being restore but all creation will be also. How did time originally work before corruption. Also speaking about Jesus' exit into the stratos, If all things were created threw him then wouldn't forces react to him instead of him to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24918253.post-15458764164873377642008-03-14T15:16:00.000-05:002008-03-14T15:16:00.000-05:00Unfortunately, they graduated all kinds, though I ...Unfortunately, they graduated all kinds, though I must admit that my "I don't know" answer took up a few pages at least. You learn to be wordy in grad school.<BR/><BR/>There has actually been a lot written about the mindset of those who hope for a really cushy "intermediate state". My recollection (which might not be accurate) is that those who measure on the unhappy end of the psychological spectrum tend to believe more in a cushy afterlife. The conclusions are that such beliefs are escapist. In other words, people imagine and wish for a better place because they believe theirs is so miserable.<BR/><BR/>With this in mind, I get disturbed when Christians talk about this kind of cushy afterlife as if it is the "good news" of Christ. I just can't buy that the "good news" is that stuff sucks right now, but as long as you do certain things today, your situation will get better after you die. The good news is so much more than that little perk.<BR/><BR/>I suppose some people might think that the Bible addresses the topic, and that they must therefore believe it - but in my experience those people make the cushy passages normative. But I'm with you, nothing will replace my uncle at the piano. Whether he is conscious or not has no bearing on life on planet Earth. REMEMBERING his life, though, is a different story.<BR/><BR/>I'll think about a post concerning time-bound eternity. There is a lot of physical cosmology mixed in there that might take too much space. Plus, wildly speculating on something that will happen in the future makes me vaguely feel like a false prophet. But I guess that's a personal problem.Benjaminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10142377311082312242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24918253.post-8297723240908699672008-03-14T14:23:00.000-05:002008-03-14T14:23:00.000-05:00I guess it's important to some people to know (as ...I guess it's important to some people to know (as if they could) whether Mom has a conscience and can look "down" on us and know how fun our kids are, etc. But I'm curious about the mindset that leads to this kind of thinking. Is it just a natural outgrowth of the grieving process? It's not that important in my world. I just know that sometimes when I least expect it there is a moment that I know she wouldn't have missed for anything if she were here, and whether she has consciousness or not doesn't make the empty chair next to me feel any more occupied. However, these moments don't begin to rule my own consciousness because these light and momentary (really, fleeting!) troubles are preparing us for eternal glory. So how then do you reconcile that with the idea that there would be a time-bound aspect of our nature in eternity? That sounds like another post--an interesting one!<BR/><BR/>I'm glad they let you graduate from seminary with an "I don't know" answer. Did the students who thought they knew graduate too?Tracy P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07750283241399825265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24918253.post-40738825272146896902008-03-14T10:01:00.000-05:002008-03-14T10:01:00.000-05:00I think it relates. You bring up a good point abou...I think it relates. You bring up a good point about death, but it seems to me that "what happens when we die" is one of humanities most enduring questions. (Isn't it?) Even one of my seminary graduation requirements we even to write about the "intermediate state" between death and the "second coming". So evidently, someone cares about this. (In the paper, I said I didn't know, because the Biblical evidence is confusing.)<BR/><BR/>In any case, I think it is interesting that you lean towards no longer being bound by time in the "afterlife". I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I think that we will always be creatures bound by time, since that is the nature of our creation. But in the "end", I'm not sure it really matters (or that we can have any confidence in our opinion).<BR/><BR/>I'm with you on the control thing.Benjaminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10142377311082312242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24918253.post-17969228524291653992008-03-13T21:43:00.000-05:002008-03-13T21:43:00.000-05:00What I don't get is why people even think you coul...What I don't get is why people even think you could explain "what happens when you die", let alone, why it really matters whether we all enter eternity at individual "points" or at a single "point" (way to avoid using the word time). Isn't the "point" that it is a situation no longer bound by time that we are at a total loss to grasp? Thank God!<BR/><BR/>And hey, we've made our clocks go forward, so we've got that sewn up. (And even extra forward at our own whims so we can have daylight savings time.) We just so want to package things in a way that we can control them. Not that I think time really ever goes backwards...but I appreciate in your writing that, even though you like to try to make all the pieces fit, you are willing to forego the temptation to make sweeping assumptions in order to get it all nicely wrapped up.<BR/><BR/>(And don't worry about whether I "got" what you were trying to say--I'm admittedly a little braindead at the moment, so just say "whatever" if this comment doesn't fit. It must relate somehow...)Tracy P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07750283241399825265noreply@blogger.com