There is agreement in mainstream physics that time travel is possible, though prohibitively difficult.1 So difficult in fact, that it is impossible to conceive of it ever happening in this mortal world on a scale that matters (i.e., objects bigger than subatomic particles).
However, for those of us more interested in understanding as much as we can about God, rather than watching the signing of the Declaration of Independence in real time or the original broadcasts of “I Love Lucy,” the fact that time travel is possible in the universe hints at unrecognized capabilities in Creation that we can barely guess at, let alone exploit. However, they are there whether we know about them and use them or not. A hidden feature-filled universe might be analogous to a sophisticated feature filled computer. We are similar to unsophisticated novices limiting our use of a computer to the simplest tasks such as storing addresses and making a weekly shopping list, only to realize later that the machine can be used for a variety of advanced intellectual tasks, including communicating with the wider world. Who knew?
God is of course the ultimate “power user”2 of his own intellectual creation. However, that is not all he is. Extending the computer analogy, there are differences between a computer power user, an administrator, a coder, and a designer. A power user is very good at using the visible features of a computer system. An administrator has privileges to make basic changes to how a pre-existing system runs, but doesn’t make changes to the program itself. A coder writes the program. Of course, a designer conceives the system from the ground up. God is all of these things. The most limited mortals can do is be users or maybe power users of Creation. Perhaps some saints who achieve higher levels of sanctity rise to the level of having administrator privileges. Designing and coding are strictly left to God.
Why the computer analogy? Many people believe that God is an arbitrary dictator whose default state is indifference. However, he will occasionally rouse himself and intercede into his own Creation through brute force based upon his own inscrutable whims. To these lazy “believers,” everything without an obvious material cause is a “miracle,” and particularly if they have a strong emotional pre-existing religious commitment, to ask questions is to be “unfaithful.”3 The more irrational the belief, the more faithful and satisfied they feel. Yet, irrationality is contrary to God’s nature and signs of Creation’s deep intelligence are all around us. Why would God create an astonishing intellectual edifice such as the universe and then violate the rules he himself created by routinely barging in with “miracles?” Perhaps there are deeper realities and deeper logic embedded within the universe than we can readily see? In this present life, we dimly observe through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12).
As much as every generation feels it has the best bead on things yet, there is still a lot to discover about the universe. It is certain that there are many undiscovered subroutines, backdoors, etc. that we as mere “users” let alone “power users” or “administrators” are unaware of. The discoveries of classical mechanics4 in the 17th century and then of quantum mechanics5 in the 20th century are perhaps the most dramatic examples of new and undreamed of scientific realities being revealed that literally changed everything. Basic science is enthralling because it is the relentless pursuit of these hidden realities, even if some of its most gifted and advanced users are either unaware or willfully ignorant of what they are fundamentally doing.
When an in persona Christi priest of the New Covenant administers a sacrament, particularly the Eucharist, it is because he has been granted something similar to administrator privileges that go beyond mere user or power user capabilities. As an administrator, he can choose when and where he will cause a sacrament such as confecting the Eucharist, knowing that he only does so because of a privilege granted to him and performed by Christ himself. Many miracles of bilocation,6 levitation,7 time travel, apparitions,8 etc. can be profitably understood by recognizing that Creation has many built in aspects and capabilities that God has the privilege to use as he pleases. These privileges are also commonly granted to saints as previews for us mere “users” of what a glorified body is like.9 These seeming “miracles” are really features of Creation just waiting for us to access should we achieve deification. They are not weird one-offs with no rhyme or reason or rational purpose. God’s goal for each of us is that we become deified, so it makes perfect sense that we are shown glorified bodies that are the intended “normal” or “default” state of existence for us if it hadn’t been for the Fall. These seeming “miracles” are only miracles in that they are exceptions from our quotidian mortal existence, not that the truths and powers that they reveal are in any way exceptional. They are what’s real and what’s coming.
There are many instances of pre-Incarnation appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament. We will discuss some of them in upcoming posts and of course they are by definition fascinating examples of time paradoxes. However, what unites them is that they are all examples of God personally guiding his people along his salvific plan. However, there is a fascinating story in the book of Daniel that seems different. The primary point of that story doesn’t seem to be about Yahweh guiding us, but specifically about time travel itself.
The story of Habakkuk bringing stew to Daniel in a Babylonian prison is one of the “additions”10 to the book of Daniel that does not appear in the Hebrew Masoretic text,11 but only appears in the Septuagint.
Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had made a stew and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going to the fields to take it to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said unto Habakkuk, “Go, carry the dinner you have into Babylon to Daniel, who is in the lions’ den.” Habakkuk said, “O Lord, I have never seen Babylon, nor do I know the den.” Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and carried him by the hair of his head, and with the speed of the wind set him in Babylon over the den (Daniel 12:33-36).
The story story seems straightforward enough. The angel of the Lord transports Habakkuk and his stew several hundred miles. After Daniel eats what he has brought, the angel of the Lord returns Habakkuk to “his place.”
However, the story is not straightforward at all. There are many wonderful miracles in this one scene. The first miracle is of course a theophany of the incarnate Yahweh described here as the “angel of the Lord.” The second miracle is Yahweh transporting Habakkuk. The third miracle is how Habakkuk, who was dead for 100 years, was available to do anything!
Was Habakkuk resurrected for this purpose? It would appear not. Certainly there are no descriptions that would lead us to think so. The setting is a tranquil domestic scene where “the angel of the Lord” interrupts Habakkuk’s cooking. We know from all the images and discussions of heavenly banquets in Scripture that there will be eating in heaven, so perhaps this is Habakkuk in heaven? However, the text specifically says that he was “in Judea.” So, wherever Habakkuk was when the “angel of the Lord” visited him, he was very much here on this earth. In addition, he was making what sounds like a routine meal for workers, i.e., “the reapers.”
If Habakkuk was not resurrected, the only other explanation is that he was a time traveler brought a century into the future just for the task of feeding Daniel and then “set down in his place once more?” (Daniel 12:39). This description makes perfect sense with our modern understanding of spacetime — we know that things don’t just exist in specific places; they also exist in specific times. Therefore, Habakkuk’s “place” was in Judea hundreds of miles and a hundred years away from Daniel.
Habakkuk was transported with the “speed of the wind.” Philip is also transported by the “Spirit of the Lord” (Acts 8:39-40). The “Spirit” here is πνευμα or pneuma, which does refer to spirit as in the Holy Spirit but is also a common word for wind or air. Of course, heaven is not just a place but a Person. At Elijah’s ascension into heaven, he was taken up in a “whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:11). We can see that Habakkuk was taken up into God, which means that he was taken into God’s eternal time, a completely different way of existence from our mortal lives. By being within God, he was able to instantly traverse not just a great physical distance, but also time. This is a wonderful Scriptural example of God manipulating spacetime to demonstrate that obvious spacetime miracles such as the Last Supper and the Eucharist are not isolated events.
There are some commentators who try to explain this story by claiming that there was more than one Habakkuk. Their argument is not very strong. Even if true, there is still the problem of explaining how Habakkuk was instantly transported a great distance. Whoever Habakkuk is in Daniel, he has a lot of similarities to the prophet. He lives in Judea like the prophet and is in no way shocked to be talking to the “angel of the Lord,” probably because it is not the first time. If Yahweh simply wanted to provide comfort to Daniel in prison, he could have just taken away his hunger or had food brought to him some more conventional way. As it is, the incident is clearly meant to convey something more about God, time, and the qualities of the universe.
An AI search “is time travel possible?” will easily generate many interesting results, particularly describing Einstein’s Relativity, wormholes, time dilation, closed timelike curves, etc. Some examples of articles:
Ethan Siegel, “Is Time Travel Possible According to Science?” Forbes, April 28, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/04/28/is-time-travel-possible-according-to-science/.
Darren Orf, “Scientists Discovered How to Speed Up Time. Seriously.” Popular Mechanics, February 23, 2023, https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a43027951/quantum-time-travel/.
Sarah Scoles, “Is Time Travel Possible?” Scientific American, April 26, 2023, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-time-travel-possible/.
“Power user,” Wikipedia, accessed April 12, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_user#:~:text=A%20power%20user%20is%20a%20user%20of,are%20not%20used%20by%20the%20average%20user.
These tend tend to be “fundamentalists.” The typical televangelist exemplifies this. However, the opposite extreme is people who see nothing remarkable in the intellectual sophistication of the universe. To them, nothing is ever a miracle, including feats that only the original designer with sovereign powers could perform.
"Classical mechanics,” Wikipedia, accessed April 13, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mechanics.
"Quantum mechanics,” Wikipedia, accessed April 13, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics.
"Bilocation,” Wikipedia, accessed April 13, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilocation.
Carlos M. N. Eire, They Flew — A History of the Impossible, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2023).
"List of Marian apparitions,” Wikipedia, accessed April 13, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marian_apparitions.
Jesus does this frequently by showing us himself glorified at the Transfiguration and walking on water, but in particular his various post-resurrection appearances where he moves freely though time and space such as passing through walls, but where he still has a tangible body that can be touched and consumes normal food (Luke 24:42-45).
“Additions to Daniel,” Wikipedia, accessed April 15, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Additions_to_Daniel.
People are surprised to discover that no complete original Hebrew text of the Bible exists. They were all destroyed, allegedly during the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D. There were supposedly no other extant copies in any library, synagogue, or buried in the ground anywhere in the entire world. The predominant Hebrew version today is known as the Masoretic text which first appeared in the first century after Christ. It was compiled by descendants of the Pharisees and disagrees in many key ways with other texts that pre-existed the time of Christ, such as the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Where Old Testament quotes in the New Testament (including Jesus’s own) differ from the Masoretic, they are consistent with the Septuagint. The Masoretic text is the source for almost all Protestant bibles, including the KJV and various Luther bibles.