Indeed, dearest sister in Christ, I found P. S. Wesson's Time as an Illusion an extraordinarily insightful and thought-provocative article — especially his hypothesis of physical death as "phase change." What could he possibly have meant by this?
So, facing this puzzling question, I can only go back to what I already know; in this case, first to Plato.
In Timaeus, Plato baldly states that "death is but the separation of body and soul, nothing more." What could he possibly have meant by this declaration?
It helps to know that, for Plato, the soul is immortal; the body mortal. That is to say, the living person persists in time as the manifestation of the intense, abiding cooperation of spiritual and physical principles. Plato suggests that, at death, the physical principle dissolves. That is to say, the body aspect becomes wholly subject to the second law of thermodynamics when the soul, understood as the "form" of the physical body, "withdraws." This is the meaning of what we humans call "death."
Plato's main insight here is that the soul does not perish along with the physical body, but persists eternally. The "crisis" of death is much feared — even though according to Wesson, it may be only a "phase change" WRT the eternal life of the soul.
Similarly, it occurs to me that birth is also a "crisis" — but one which no man living has ever been able to describe. But Christians — and classical Greeks — describe this "crisis" as the mortalization — the physical incarnation — of an immortal soul. That is to say, an "intangible entity" attracts and organizes its own physical expression in time, for a time....
Death is but the reverse of this process of Birth. But the soul persists inviolate regardless of whichever transaction — birth or death — is taking place.
I believe this insight was what drew Justin Martyr to the conclusion that the Incarnation of Christ was the very fulfillment, not only of the patriarchs and the prophets, but of classical (Platonic/Aristotelian) philosophy as well.
I find I stand in Justin Martyr's camp in this regard.
Thank you ever so much for writing, dearest sister in Christ!
I found P. S. Wesson’s Time as an Illusion an extraordinarily insightful and thought-provocative article — especially his hypothesis of physical death as “phase change.” What could he possibly have meant by this?
mee too!..
One word... “BUTTERFLY”.. can there be a more perfect metaphor.. object lesson.. in your face teaching.
there are others but this one even a child can understand..
Truly, I believe a strong sense of awareness and not 'belonging' in a mortal body happened often among humans over millennia. I suspect Justin Martyr sensed the same and was seeking understanding which he found in Christ and, as you say, saw Christ also fulfilling classical philosophy.