Arango's Apologetics Page: The Transfiguration: a Moment in the Space Time Continuum?

I'm sure you’re all familiar with the Transfiguration of Our Lord, so you will most likely understand where I'm probably going with this title. Even if an idea is predictable, it is always worth mentioning. I think I came up with this idea during a eulogy that my father was giving recently for a close friend of our family. Of course, my Dad's idea came from a scriptural/theological foundation, but once I insert the phrase space time continuum, science is being referenced. So, let’s see where we go with this.

The Transfiguration is found in the New Testament in the Synoptic Gospels and in the Second Epistle of Peter it is also mentioned. In this post I will simply use the reference from Luke’s Gospel 9: 28-36, which reads as follows:

“28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus[a] took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake,[b] they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings,[c] one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen;[d] listen to him!” 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen (NRSV).”

Well, what is so unusual about this passage? Suddenly, they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to Jesus. Why is it unusual? That’s simple to say, but not so simple to comprehend using our logic, perhaps. Tapping briefly into biblical chronology, Moses lived about 16 centuries before Jesus, and Elijah about 9. However, in this event both Moses and Elijah are seen by witnesses talking to Jesus in their present time, although all three were supposedly from different time periods. By faith, one can simply say that in heaven (perhaps another dimension) time does not exist; therefore, this sort of interaction like the transfiguration is possible. The problem is that Jesus wasn’t in heaven at the time, he was alive on Earth, but something happened to him for this to take place, seemingly. The verse said: “the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” What happened? I have no idea. Can science explain what took place during the Transfiguration? Maybe, maybe not!

The space time continuum idea was developed in 1906 by Hermann Minkowski, Einsten’s former college professor. The following excerpt which briefly explains the idea may perhaps be helpful in explaining or not explaining how the Transfiguration could have taken place.

"space and time, as physical constructs, have to be combined into a new mathematical/physical entity called 'space-time', because the equations of relativity show that both the space and time coordinates of any event must get mixed together by the mathematics, in order to accurately describe what we see. Because space consists of 3 dimensions, and time is 1-dimensional, space-time must, therefore, be a 4-dimensional object. It is believed to be a 'continuum' because so far as we know, there are no missing points in space or instants in time, and both can be subdivided without any apparent limit in size or duration. So, physicists now routinely consider our world to be embedded in this 4-dimensional Space-Time continuum, and all events, places, moments in history, actions and so on are described in terms of their location in Space-Time (einstein.stanford.edu).”

The reality is that I am probably still just as perplexed. The excerpt does say that “physicists now routinely consider our world to be embedded in this 4-dimensional Space-Time continuum, and all events, places, moments in history, actions and so on are described in terms of their location in Space-Time.” The Transfiguration was a moment in history, according to the New Testament, and during this event 3 individuals from different moments in history converged at the same moment in time. How did this happen? I have no idea, perhaps Jesus had a time machine. Since I have no explanation for the event, I simply must conclude by saying: Merriam-Webster's defines a Miracle as "an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs." Blessings, and I hope you enjoyed reading!