Time is really weird. You may be inclined to say only the present is real, while the future and past have a sort of “unreality” to them. Or perhaps you think only the past and present are real, while the future is unwritten. Philosophers have tried to understand how time, religion, and physics relate throughout time itself. Our understanding of how time works underwent a radical shift when relativity came along. We can no longer say that you and I experience the present in the same way. Events that you see as simultaneous I may see in succession. Time may flow faster for you than it does for me. Even the moment we define as now may be different. Why can’t we travel freely in time like we can in space? What happened before the Big Bang? How does the reality of the future relate to free will? How is the narrative of time important for religion, and can it be reconciled with what we see in physics? Today I’m joined by Dr. Timothy Maness to discuss time, religion, and physics. Tim is a philosophical theologian interested in the way physics and cosmology interact with religion, He has a Ph.D. in religion and science from Boston University, an MA from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago’s Zygon Center for Religion and Science, and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Chicago. So let’s go on this weird and wonderful voyage through our understanding of time! If you are a patron of the podcast, check the Patreon page all this month for bonus content from this episode. Background music you heard are clips from: Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/33345 Ft: Morusque, Jeris, CSoul, Alex Beroza Black Ice by Mr_Yesterday (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Mr_Yesterday/58884 Ft: reusenoise Ethereal Space by Snowflake (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/33318 Ft: Zep Hurme Warm Vacuum Tube by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfrosch Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtone