Time, Garbage, Gospel

This is a book about time, that mysterious web in which we seem to be trapped. Many poets, philosophers, and scientists have tried to explore some of its mysteries, such as the Arrow of Time (Why must there be one?), the beginning and end (Was there a beginning? Will there be an end?), and questions concerning time travel (Is it possible?).

Ordinary clock time, as extended by Einstein, has been the starting point for most explorations. This kind of time is easily described and measured, but is not easily related to subjective human experience or to the deep questions mentioned above. The author introduces another measure of time, called entropic time, which is directly related to the processes of aging, changing, and decaying that we observe and experience.

Modern physics and astronomy have shown that entropic time is indeed irreversible, is always increasing, that it started from zero at the event we call the big bang, and that it corresponds to the aging and expansion of the universe ever since. That’s the bad news.

The author notes that many people seem to have surrendered any hope of renewal, dreaming instead of escape from a doomed earth by travel to other planets. He maintains that such speculations are folly and that we must rather cherish and conserve this beautiful planet that we occupy instead of going out to trash other planets as well.

The good news is that the Creator of the universe is also the Lord of Time, the Alpha and the Omega, and that the chaos and decay that we see will end with the resurrection of those who have died in Christ and the renewal of the universe. This is the promise from God’s Word.