Theologically and philosophically and very non-exhaustively within this article, as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by time; and by the unchanging nature of an infinite, eternal God that exists within created, finite time.
For humanity:
The past cannot be (literally) relived, but can be experienced in a sense, as in remembered and learned from.
The future can never be grasped, but can be planned for.
The present is all we can literally live in.
A positive in regard to a Christian, biblical, worldview is what I shall state is the continued present.
That is being within the salvific work of the triune God through Jesus Christ, when a believer dies, it is most reasonable that his/her disembodied spirit (soon, I am not stating dogmatically, instantaneously) resides in the spiritual realm of Paradise.
Bauer on page 614 describes Paradise from Luke 23, 2 Corinthians 12 and Revelation 2 as a place above the earth. Now from my philosophical/theological perspective I do not take this plain literally, as in some place in the clouds, or above the clouds, or even beyond the solar system or beyond the physical Universe, as in a place that can be physically found via space/travel.
The Bible (New Testament more distinctly) teaches that Paradise is a place where spirits in Christ go after death, and Old Testament/Hebrew Bible saints went to spiritually after death. The Bible teaches this using figurative literal language.
There is also the issue of Paul's 2 Corinthians reference and his willingness to consider departing the body to be with the Lord in Philippians 1.
Upon the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, those in Christ have a restored, immortal body to live within the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21-22) and the culminated Kingdom of God.
The theological assumption is that Paradise is a temporary realm for those in Jesus Christ and Old Testament saints.
Paradise = Heaven1
The culminated Kingdom of God = Heaven2
Both present the continued present.
BAUER, W (1979) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Translated by Eric H. Wahlstrom, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
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| Some guy @work. Someone sneaked a photo. |
