Cosmic Book Reviews this month include Eternity's Secret and The Harbinger
The Seen and Unseen Dimensions of Time
COSMIC BOOK REVIEW from the
August 2015 issue
of THE STAR BEACON
Eternity’s
Secret: What the Bible and
Science Have to Say About Time
by Carisia H. Switala, MTS, 2015
eBook from Amazon Kindle, $3.99
By Carisia H. Switala
I assume most people are aware of the
recent "Voice of an Angel" story reported on the news about an 18-month-old girl
who was found alive in an overturned car 14 hours after it crashed in a Utah
river. The four police officers who rescued the little girl said they heard a
woman's voice calling out for help. However, the girl's mother died in the crash
and there were no other people in the car.
The officers really believe something
otherworldly took place. Perhaps this story is a good example of the temporal
and eternal dimensions of time merging together, allowing the mother to call for
help from the unseen dimension.
After years of research, I came to
the realization that time is an elusive concept. Most individuals believe that
looking at their watch and hurrying to get to work on time is the extent to
which this concept is relevant. However, in my opinion, time is so much more
than a measurement of sequential events.
For many years, philosophers and
scientists have been trying to explain time. The ancient Greek philosopher,
Aristotle, believed that time is the measurement of change. Whereas Sir Isaac
Newton, an influential 17th century English physicist and natural philosopher,
believed that space was a static container and time was an absolute flow. Newton
hypothesized that absolute time exists independently of any observer and moves
forward at a steady pace throughout the universe. He also thought that humans
perceive ordinary time as a measurement of objects in motion like the sun.
St. Augustine, an early Christian
theologian and philosopher, believed that time was only in the mind and a human
invention that cannot be applied to the universe or to God. Augustine's view was
that God existed in a timeless void. However, as the human mind evolved into a
thinking machine that applies science to philosophical questions, the idea of
relativity introduced the opinion that time is a physical dimension governed by
physical laws. This opened up a more expansive view of the world and the
universe.
I believe that the ancient idea of
eternity, endless time, is a very profound and complex aspect of the subject.
What seems like the passage of time in a changing world is but an illusion in a
three-dimensional space.
It is difficult for humans to
visualize space. The standard human experience of space can be described in
terms of three dimensions: width, depth, and height. Once the fourth dimension
of time is added to the equation, parallel dimensions and universes become a
clearer possibility in a space-time continuum. This advancement in thought and
knowledge reveals the endless nature of time and the continuation of life,
defusing the idea of a timeless void. It is a perspective that views eternity as
endless time, not the absence of time as St. Augustine suggested.
We measure the passage of time in
seconds, minutes, hours and years, but this doesn't mean that time flows at a
constant rate. Just as the water in a river rushes or slows, depending on the
size of the channel, time flows at different rates in different places. Einstein
believed that the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. In other
words, time is relative. So relativity makes it possible, with the proper
technology, such as a very fast spaceship, for one person to experience several
days while another person simultaneously experiences only a few hours or
minutes.
After I delved into scientific
theory, I discovered that the idea of parallel universes in quantum mechanics
suggests that all possible quantum events can occur in mutually exclusive
histories. These alternate, or parallel, histories would form a branching tree,
symbolizing all possible outcomes of any interaction. If all possibilities
exist, any paradoxes could be explained by having the paradoxical events
happening in different universes. This concept leads to the conclusion that time
travel is possible, and a time traveler should certainly end up in a different
history than the one he or she started from. Hence, relativity and ancient
notions of time variation and parallel universes are very similar.
My research into philosophy, theology
and
science inspired me to merge scientific and religious views about time into one
reality of infinite time. The Bible contains many time-centered passages and
reveals eternity to humanity. Science is also on the verge of discovering the
possibility of opening up the fourth dimension of time in order to make
breakthroughs in time travel. When these two disciplines work together, who
knows what incredible insights into the seen and unseen dimensions of the
universe will be revealed? The result will most likely be humanity’s inspiration
to attain absolute knowledge of the mysteries of eternity.
The new paradigm of time I discerned
is endless time. It encompasses the eternal dimension of the universe that
allows for infinite life. This dimension contains the unending transformations
of nonstop creation. And life doesn't have to start in the temporal world in
order to be infinite because life is eternal and therefore has no starting
point. The illusions of the third dimension emanate from a static view of space
and time, where objects exist and events take place in a linear sequence.
Perhaps one day the next brilliant scientist will be able to mathematically
prove the existence of eternity.
A
book to blow your mind
COSMIC BOOK REVIEW from the
August 2015 issue
of THE STAR BEACON
The Harbinger
by Jonathan Cahn
ISBN 978-1616386108,
Frontline Pub Inc., Jan. 2012
272 pages, paper, $9.76
Kindle eBook $8.43
Review by Xavier
I just finished reading the most
amazing book by “Rabbi” Jonathan Cahn -- he’s a rabbi in the generic sense of
the word (which means “teacher”). I can’t remember the last time I was this
jazzed about a book. Every time I thought I couldn't be more stunned, I'd read
another chapter which would, again, leave me speechless. The book is The
Harbinger and it's a New York Times best-seller.
Cahn is a Messianic Jew who pastors a
church in Wayne, New Jersey. The book deals with biblical themes. Basically, he
examines Isaiah 9:10 and relates it to post-9/11 America. However, this isn't
your typical book on Bible prophecy and the "End Times." In fact, he makes no
specific predictions, leaving the future pretty much open.
He does, however, provide a radically
new -- "new" to many readers at any rate -- interpretation of events that have
already transpired. There are so many amazing coincidences in this book and
they're all compounded and interwoven into one big ancient mystery which has
been reenacted in our day and age.
The book is presented as fiction
(although the story alludes to and deals with very real events of tremendous
significance) and it's easy reading (meaning the author's prose is not
particularly rich or challenging, though the subject matter is weighty).
Unless one is a hardened skeptic, I
can't imagine anyone reading this book and not coming away with the (perhaps
uneasy) impression that there's a whole hidden level of Reality behind the
appearances and headlines. In a word, God is still sovereign and history is,
ultimately, under His control. And I'm not speaking of the "God of the
Philosophers" or "The Force" or "The Implicate Order" or "The ALL" or "The
Universe" -- I'm speaking of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Anyway, I'd urge you to read The
Harbinger. It's out in paperback. But be prepared to be shaken.
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