Traveling in Time?

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Most people have probably indulged in woolgathering about going forward or backward in time, maybe to warn Wild Bill Hickock to sit with his back to the wall in that poker game, warn yourself to stay home instead of going out on a certain night, cheating on the lottery numbers, or somesuch. Time travel has been the subject of many science fiction stories in printed and visual forms. But can it be done? There are things to deal with in physics, logic — and theology.
It's fascinating and fun to consider time travel. Is it possible? It may come as a surprise that there's a very qualified "yes", but there are logic, physics, and theology items to consider.
Restored police box in Glasgow, Scotland / Image credit: Freeimages / Jon Stout
There are many logical problems involved with going back in time that can make for interesting campfire discussions, but the paradoxes are insurmountable. Going forward in time? A form of that is possible according to Einstein (and was a key part of the Joe Haldeman novel The Forever War), but probably not in quite the way many people might think.
What an experience it would be to have a time machine! Just imagine traveling into the future, seeing technological marvels that have yet to be invented, and meeting our distant descendants. What will the world be like in 50 years? Or 100? Consider visiting the earth before the global Flood or encountering a living dinosaur. What would it be like to meet the apostle Paul, Moses, Noah, or Adam? And what Christian could pass up the opportunity to talk with Christ during His earthly ministry?

 Science fiction abounds with time-travel stories. This perhaps reveals a fundamental aspect of human nature: We are fascinated with time. Animals live in the moment, but humans are made in God’s image. We have a sense of eternity that God has placed in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), so it’s not surprising that adventures through time captivate our imaginations. But is time travel really possible?

 As is often the case, truth turns out to be stranger than fiction. Scientists have discovered that time travel is indeed possible. Furthermore, time travel has even been documented. But lest anyone have fanciful hopes of traveling through time in a flying DeLorean, we must understand that real time travel is far more limited than the unrestrained freedom enjoyed by characters of science fiction.
I hope you have time to read the rest of the article. Just click on "Time Travel".