Morris Inch

Space/Time Odyssey: A Christian Perspective



Posted: Tuesday, October 06, 2009

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Space/Time Odyssey: A Christian Perspective (Eloquent Books) was the second of my three book projects published this year. It focuses on a Christian worldview. This, in turn, implies a comprehensive view of life that incorporates some of its more problematic features---such as the existence of evil and the prospect of life after death. In so doing, it invests life with meaning, and enables one to effect constructive change. A recent study suggests that only twenty percent of professing Christians interviewed proved competent in this regard.

Space is what we move around in: left and right, forward and backward, and up and down. We see things spread around us in space: birds flying through the air and cows walking around in a field. We can move around in space from one place to another. It sometimes seems inviting, other times intimidating, but as a rule we simply take it for granted.

Time appears related to duration. I calculated as a child that it took me about ten minutes to walk to school. Unless, as was sometimes the case, a predrictably mean-tempered dog caused me to assume a more indirect route. We, nonetheless, are told that time proceeds at a different rate for a space traveler than one left behind on earth. Were this not sufficiently confusing, our perceptions of time differ according to our vantage point. For instance, whether we are on a speeding train or watching it from a road crossing.

Moreover, space and time coexist, providing a continuum through which we make our way. It resembles a long voyage, herein alluded to as an odyssey.

It helps to know our destination, what we may encounter along the way, and the means at our disposal. Accordingly, Scripture proves to be a helpful guide. This recalls the satirical comment, "If nothing else works, read the instructions."

Many flounder in the process. Such as the terrorist, who unable to discover a constructive purpose in life, turns to destruction. Then, in a more subtle sense, the materialist who accumulates much, but salvages nothing.

I initially discuss the notion of a sacred canopy, as a graphic way of expressing the fact that we live in God's world and by his grace. After that, I expand on the course of salvation history, along with commentary on its geographic setting. The final chapter entertains the past as prelude, which would seem to speak for itself.

Morris A. Inch is a Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. He is also a past president of the Institute of Holy Land Studies (renamed Jerusalem University College), Jerusalem, Israel. He was awarded an A.B. from Houghton College, M.Div. from Gordon Divinity School and Ph.D. from Boston University. He has authorded about forty books. See his publication website at http:www.ourchurch.com/member/p/publications

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