John Cooper (@no_mark_ever)

An Englishman sees the sun rise in the East (-ish), and it arcs upwards to the right until it reaches its highest point in the South at midday, whereafter it descends in an arc to the right until it finally sets in the West (-ish). At night he notices that the moon is a waxing crescent with the illuminated side on the right. He notices that the moon slowly moves across the sky from left to right, and also that at the same time of night, it is somewhat to the left of where it was at the same time the night before. He also notices that the stars above the horizon appear to circle the Pole Star anticlockwise. An Australian sees the sun rise in the East (-ish), and it arcs upwards to the left until it reaches its highest point in the North at midday, whereafter it descends in an arc to the left until it finally sets in the West (-ish). At night he notices that the moon is a waxing crescent with the illuminated side on the left. He notices that the moon slowly moves across the sky from right to left, and also that at the same time of night, it is somewhat to the right of where it was at the same time the night before. He also notices that the stars above the horizon appear to circle a point in the southern sky in a clockwise direction. These observations are contradictory and yet they are both true. With additional information and a much bigger world-view, they can be harmonised. There are persistent 'contradictions' in the Bible, and they have to do with time. As physical beings in a material universe, we live in a paradigm of time. For us time is linear - past, present and future. God is spirit. He created all things, both material and spiritual, and he has no beginning or ending, being outside of time. In fact, in creating matter and space, he created time. The Bible is the word of God. It contains revelations that no human mind would conceive of. It broadens the mind, if believed. Also, by faith, we 'understand' that the time-contradictions are not, and will be finally understood in Eternity. 'Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him' (Hebrews 2:8) All things, all things are subject to Christ, and yet they are not. They are legally, but not practically. They are from the point of view of eternity, but not from our point of view in time. So theoretically Christians could take one side or the other and argue about it. 'Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil' (Hebrews 2:14) It could be argued from this verse that Satan was destroyed at the crucifixion. And yet other verses imply that he is still active and dangerous. By stressing the latter, are we undermining the work of Christ on the cross? But if we stress the former, might that not make us dangerously careless in this world? 'Jesus Christ ... hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel' (2.Timothy 1:10) If Christ has abolished death, then why do people still die? And is the destruction of death not a future event - 1.Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 20:14 ? Do we diminish the work of Christ by recognising the reality of death? Or are we in heresy if we look forward to the future abolition of death? 'Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him' (Luke 20:37,38) Jesus said these words to the Sadducees who denied that there was going to be a resurrection of the dead. And yet the verse Jesus quoted implies that the patriarchs are already alive. Are the righteous dead already alive, or are they going to be raised at the resurrection on the Last Day? He quoted this verse to prove that there was going to be a resurrection. Another subject for Christians to debate. We get the same 'confusion of tenses' when we look into the subjects of forgiveness, justification, sanctification and glorification. The whole 'sovereignty of God' and 'human responsibility' debate is yet another arm of this biblical phenomenon. 'Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified' (Romans 8:30) Here glorification is seen as the culmination of a series of events, and yet Romans 8:17 tells us that we shall only be glorified with Christ if we share in his sufferings (our responsibility - see chapter 6). This again is due to God's ability to see the end from the beginning - something we just cannot do. If we follow Christ, as the Lord's sheep do - John 10:27,28, we shall find that we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world - Ephesians 1:4.