Allan posted a comment in another thread that was very thought provoking and inspired a reply from me that takes it into a new direction from the topic of the original thread, that is why I am taking this discussion to its own thread
My wife and I are avid viewers of Doctor Who. She is British and has watched it all her life. I’m American and remember seeing some of the early Doctor Who episodes with Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor, but it is the latest incarnation of the Doctor Who series, by Russell T. Davies, that has peaked my interest in the deeper meaning of Doctor Who. We are sometimes astounded by the theological echoes of the gospel in some of the Doctor Who episodes. Maybe because we are bringing our own perspectives into it and we are seeing something there that others may not. Nevertheless, it is quite thought provoking and even exhilarating at times.
The Torchwood spin off from Doctor Who is also excellent. I would highly recommend the fourth season “Miracle Day” to anyone on the forum. The premise of this story is an unexplained event, “The Blessing,” which brings immortality to every human being in the same moment, but it is immortality without incorruptibility. Even grievously sick and injured people do not die but continue to suffer in that state. The finite limits (food, resources, living space) of the planet are still in effect but the human population continues to grow with no deaths to keep it under control. Seeing how all this is resolved at the end has powerful gospel resonance to it. This story illustrates how resurrection is far more than mere personal immortality. Resurrection, at root, is about the justice of God making all living relationships right and equitable, without that immortality would be a horror.
You raise a very important point when you say that the past is just as real as the present and future. This is counter-intuitive to us but nevertheless the case. We have no trouble imagining that there are billions of light years of space out there that exist concurrently but to assert that all the past moments are still there is hard to get your head around. We experience time as linear–the arrow of time–but the past is not truly dead and as the physicist John Wheeler postulated it can be changed by an act of quantum observation.
I recently came across a paper “The Physics of a Miracle: The Post-Resurrection Body of Jesus from the Perspective of Quantum Theory,” ( transformingviolence.nd.edu/assets/26224/banderapaper.pdf ) which discusses mimetic (from mimic) quantum theory. I am still trying to digest it and get my head around it but the implications, if true, are truly astounding and could resolve much of the apparent incompatibility between the Biblical witness and the standard scientific narrative of the history of life on Earth. The idea of how by the act of one man (Adam) death was introduced into the creation retroactively changed the history of life on Earth prior to that one man’s existence; and how by the death of one man (the crucified Jesus) can undo that damaged past and create a new future (universal resurrection)that goes far beyond what was possible even if that one man Adam had not made the fatal choice.
You raise the dilemma of how if the past is changed then people and events that had happened will in some cases not have happened (they are deleted from the chain of causality) and therefore certain individuals (not real people, the non elect) will never have existed. I think intrinsically all of as are in a sense not real, or truly the human image of the Human One—yet. Jesus is the Elect One, as Karl Barth asserted, he is the last remnant of the chosen and the sole remaining faithful one and authentic human being (son of man) that will fulfill what the first Adam could not.
I have a very radical, all inclusive and expansive view of what “all things in Christ” means. I understand the reconciliation of all things as more than just a handshake and hug between us and God. Reconciliation is what resolves all the contradictions, paradoxes and tensions that characterize the world as it is. This is done in the singularity event of Golgotha and the resurrection of Jesus the Healer. The linear chain of causality is broken and all the chains of sin and death that damaged and bound the good creation are removed and the creation is set free to be made new. And that new bit is what the transforming, redefining power of resurrection/new birth is about.
Even the most inhuman and incorrigible psychopath will not be erased from reality. All the things that contributed to his psychopathy will be removed and undone and what may remain of his self may not be more than a zygote but he will be resurrected (born again) into a radically new reality of the healing, nourishing new creation of YHWH and the Lamb. Becoming like a child before we can experience the kingdom of God is more than just a spiritual metaphor or simply having the characteristics of a child (innocence, lack of social status, ability to trust completely), it is something as deeply, physically real as resurrection.
To illustrated this in a dramatic way here is a portion of the script from the season 1 Doctor Who episode “Boom Town” (2005). who-transcripts.atspace.com/
This episode is about an alien (Raxacoricofallapatorians)psychopathic family, the Slitheenes, who are wanted for their genocidal crimes across the universe. They kill important members of the British government and are able to make “body suites” from the corpses, which they then ware and are able to pass themselves of as the original person. Their plan is to instigate World War III and a nuclear exchange that will irradiate the planet and sell of its irradiated material to extraterrestrial buyers for a considerable profit–billions of lives for mega profits.
One of the Slitheenes kills the mayor of Cardiff (Margaret) and as the mayor she pushes for building a nuclear power plant in the middle of Cardiff as an escape plan B for herself if the original family plan fails. The reason she wants to build it there is because a space-time rift is over Cardiff that will allow her to make an escape. The nuclear station will be designed to explode, opening the space-time rift, as soon as it reaches capacity. The opening of that space-time rift for her escape will be at the expense of the destruction of Earth and billions of lives lost–but she is psychopath of the epic kind, so no matter. Eventually the Doctor is able to thwart the Slitheens who replaced the key figures of the British government but Margaret escapes and makes one last attempt by using the power source of the Tardis (the time vortex) to facilitate her escape. Doing so will destroy the Earth. Here is the portion of the script for those scenes:
Margaret is sitting with her back to the console, on the metal grilling.
MARGARET
(darkly)
I gather it’s not always like this… having to wait.
(pause as she considers this)
I bet you’re always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last, you have consequences… how does it feel?
THE DOCTOR
I didn’t butcher them.
JACK
Don’t answer back. That’s what she wants.
THE DOCTOR
(needing him to understand)
I didn’t!
(to Margaret)
What about you? You had an emergency teleport, you didn’t zap them to safety, did you?
MARGARET
It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs.
The Doctor and Jack snigger.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
(sharply)
It wasn’t funny!
THE DOCTOR
(sheepishly)
Sorry.
But Margaret turns around, and they’re both still grinning their heads off.
THE DOCTOR (CONT’D)
It is a BIT funny!
The Doctor and Jack start laughing again - and Margaret joins in.
MARGARET
(more relaxed)
Do I get a last request?
THE DOCTOR
(humour gone)
Depends what it is.
MARGARET
I grew quite fond of my little human life. All those rituals… the brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things… there’s a little restaurant. Just round the bay.
The Doctor glances around at her.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
It became quite a favourite of mine.
The Doctor walks towards her and leans over the railings to talk to her properly.
THE DOCTOR
Is that what you want? A last meal?
MARGARET
(defiantly)
Don’t I have rights?
JACK
Oh, like she’s not gonna try to escape.
MARGARET
(bitterly)
Except I can never escape the Doctor, so where’s the danger?
(she considers the Doctor, a challenger)
But I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature you’re about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?
THE DOCTOR
Strong enough.
MARGARET
I wonder. I’ve seen you fight your enemies… now dine with them.
THE DOCTOR
You won’t change my mind.
MARGARET
Prove it.
The Doctor is sorely tempted, he wants to see what can become of this. But…
THE DOCTOR
(walking away)
There are people out there. If you slip away just for one second, they’ll be in danger.
JACK
Except… I’ve got these.
(holds up a pair of metal hoops, like bangles)
You both wear one. If she moves… more than ten feet away…
He makes a loud buzzing noise, mimicking an electric shock. Margaret jumps in alarm.
JACK (CONT’D)
She gets zapped by ten thousand volts.
THE DOCTOR
Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner? My treat?
MARGARET
(sickly smile)
Dinner in bondage… works for me.
EXT. RESTAURANT
The Doctor and Margaret enter the restaurant, chatting away and holding hands because of the handcuffs.
INT. TARDIS
Jack is lying on his back halfway underneath the console, happily wiring the extrapolator up the the TARDIS.
INT. RESTAURANT
The Doctor and Margaret take their seats.
INT. TARDIS
The lights on the extrapolator flash and Jack watches it with a big smile on his face.
INT. RESTAURANT
The Doctor and Margaret are reading their menus.
MARGARET
Here we are, out on a date, and you haven’t even asked my proper name.
THE DOCTOR
It’s not a date! What’s your name?
MARGARET
Blon. I am Blon Fel Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. That’s what it’ll say on my death certificate.
THE DOCTOR
Nice to meet you, Blon.
MARGARET
I’m sure.
The Doctor goes back to reading the menu, but Margaret has put hers down. She looks out of the window.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
Look… that’s where I was living as Margaret.
The Doctor turns around in his seat to follow her gaze.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
Nice little flat. Over there. On the top. Next to the one with the light on.
Behind the Doctor’s back, she opens her ring and empties some sort of powder into his wine glass.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
Two bedrooms… bayside view…
The Doctor turns back around to face her, and she is sitting as normal.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
I was rather content. Don’t suppose I’ll see it again.
And the Doctor swaps their glasses around.
THE DOCTOR
Suppose not.
He returns his attention to the menu.
MARGARET
(sarcastically)
Thank you.
THE DOCTOR
(matching her sarcasm)
Pleasure.
MARGARET
Tell me then, Doctor - what do you know of our species?
THE DOCTOR
Only what I’ve seen.
MARGARET
Did you know, for example… in extreme cases… when her life is in danger… a female Raxacoricofallapatorian can manufacture a poison dart within her own finger–
She suddenly points her finger at him and a dart flies out of its tip - but the Doctor is ready. He catches it in his fist without so much as looking up from the menu.
THE DOCTOR
Yes, I did.
MARGARET
(pleasantly)
Just checking.
The Doctor grins at her.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
And one more thing… between you and me…
She casts a furtive look around the restaurant, and they both lean in as if she wants to tell him a secret.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
(whispers)
As a final resort, the excess poison can be exhaled through the lungs.
She suddenly breaths a green gas out of her mouth. Without even flinching, the Doctor whips out a Gold Spot and gives her open mouth a squirt.
THE DOCTOR
That’s better.
He leans back in his seat, while Margaret sticks her tongue out at the taste of the breath freshener.
THE DOCTOR (CONT’D)
Now then, what d’you think? Mmm, steak looks nice. Steak and chips!
Margaret, peeved, opens her menu.
INT. RESTAURANT
Margaret is openly trying to get through to the Doctor, now.
MARGARET
Public execution is a slow death. They prepare a thin acetic acid… lower me into the cauldron… and boil me. The acidity is perfectly gauged to strip away the skin. Internal organs fall out into the liquid. And I become soup. And still alive. Still screaming.
THE DOCTOR
I don’t make the law.
MARGARET
But you deliver it.
(no reply)
Will you stay to watch?
THE DOCTOR
(resignedly)
What else can I do?
MARGARET
The Slitheen family’s huge. There’s a lot more of us, all scattered off-world. Take me to them. Take me somewhere safe.
THE DOCTOR
But then you’ll just start again.
MARGARET
(whispers)
I promise I won’t.
THE DOCTOR
You’ve been in that skin-suit too long. You’ve forgotten. There used to be a REAL Margaret Blaine. You killed her and stripped her and used the skin. You’re pleading for mercy out of a dead woman’s lips.
MARGARET
Perhaps I have got used to it. A human life. An ordinary life. That’s all I’m asking.
The Doctor fixes her under his gaze.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
Give me a chance, Doctor… I can change.
THE DOCTOR
I don’t believe you.
She sighs, defeated.
INT. RESTAURANT
MARGARET
I promise you, I’ve changed since we last met, Doctor. There was this girl… just today… young thing. Something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me, I was going to kill her without a thought. And then… I stopped. She’s alive somewhere right now, she’s walking around this city because I CAN change - I DID change. I know I can’t prove it–
THE DOCTOR
(calmly)
I believe you.
MARGARET
Then you know I’m capable of better.
THE DOCTOR
It doesn’t mean anything.
MARGARET
I spared her life.
THE DOCTOR
You let one of them go, but that’s nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim’s spared. Because she smiled… because he’s got freckles… 'cos they begged… and that’s how you live with yourself. That’s how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind’s in the right direction… you happen to be kind.
MARGARET
(coldly)
Only a killer would know that.
Pause. Not the answer the Doctor was expecting, and he’s thrown.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
Is that right? From what I’ve seen, your happy-go-lucky little life leaves devastation in its wake. Always moving on 'cos you dare not look back. Playing with so many peoples lives - you might as well be a God.
The Doctor loses eye contact, slightly hurt.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
And you’re right, Doctor… you’re absolutely right. Sometimes… you let one go.
She looks into the Doctor’s eyes, her own full of tears.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
(softly)
Let me go.
She definitely touched a nerve. The Doctor stares at her at a loss - he doesn’t know what to do.
INT. RESTAURANT
Margaret is speaking quickly now, her desperation growing.
MARGARET
In the family Slitheen, we had no choice. I was made to carry out my first kill at thirteen. If I’d refused, my father would have fed me to the Venom Grubs.
The Doctor’s head turns to the side as he also hears the low rumble.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
If I’m a killer, it’s because I was born to kill - it’s all I know!
No reply, as the Doctor is listening to the rumble intently with his brow furrowed.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
Doctor? Are you even LISTENING to me?
THE DOCTOR
Can you hear that?
MARGARET
I’m begging for my life–!
THE DOCTOR
No, listen, shush…
He holds up a hand to silence Margaret. He peers at the glasses on the table, which are beginning to shake slightly. Very suddenly, the glass windows shatter and the diners begin to scream.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY
The Doctor and Margaret hurry down a flight of stairs, the sound of screaming and smashing in the background. Margaret is falling behind…
MARGARET
(urgently)
The handcuffs!
The Doctor waits for her at the foot of the stairs and pulls off her handcuff.
THE DOCTOR
(grabbing her wrist)
Don’t think you’re running away.
MARGARET
(fearful)
Oh, I’m sticking with you.
He pulls her off in the direction of the TARDIS, glass shattering on their heads.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
(shouting over the noise)
Some date this turned out to be!
They run, bumping into people through the chaos, down another set of steps.
EXT. CARDIFF MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
The Doctor’s eyes widen with shock as they finally see the TARDIS at the other side of the square. A huge bolt of lightening rips out of the TARDIS roof and into the sky.
THE DOCTOR
It’s the rift. The rift’s opening!
Storm clouds gather above the TARDIS.
INT. TARDIS
Jack panics as the sparks fly out of the console and the extrapolator flashes madly as he rips out the wires connecting it.
EXT. CARDIFF MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
The Doctor and Margaret hurry across the Millennium Square, the ground starting to crack beneath their feet. Margaret looks terrified as he fits the key inside the lock of the TARDIS and pulls her inside.
INT. TARDIS
The whole ship is shuddering, the lights blinking.
THE DOCTOR
(yelling to Jack)
What the hell are you doing??
JACK
It just went crazy!
THE DOCTOR
(running to the console)
It’s the rift! Time and space are ripping apart. The whole city’s gonna disappear!
Small explosions erupt from the console.
INT. TARDIS
More explosions from the console as the Doctor and Jack work furiously.
JACK
It’s the extrapolator! I’ve disconnected it but it’s still feeding off the engine! It’s USING the TARDIS - I can’t stop it!
THE DOCTOR
Never mind Cardiff - it’s gonna rip open the planet!
Rose bursts into the TARDIS.
ROSE
What is it?? What’s happening?!
MARGARET
(gleefully)
Oh, just little ME!
She frees one of her arms from the skin-suit revealing the Slitheen claw. She grabs Rose around the neck. The Doctor darts forward, but…
MARGARET (CONT’D)
(threateningly)
One wrong move and she snaps like a promise.
THE DOCTOR
I might’ve known.
MARGARET
(moving closer with Rose)
I’ve had you bleating all night, poor baby, now shut it.
(to Jack)
You - fly boy - put the extrapolator at my feet.
Jack hesitates. Margaret tightens her grip around Rose’s neck. Jack looks at the Doctor for help - he nods, so Jack does as he is told.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
(pleasantly)
Thank you. Just as I planned.
ROSE
(strangulated)
I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station.
MARGARET
Failing that - if I were to be… arrested… then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator. Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So the extrapolator was programmed to go to Plan B!
She pulls one of Rose’s plaits roughly. Rose whimpers.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
To lock onto the nearest alien power source and open the rift.
(looks around the TARDIS with awe)
And what a power source it found… I’m back on schedule… thanks to you.
JACK
The rift’s gonna convulse - she’ll destroy the whole planet.
MARGARET
And you with it!
She pushes Rose aside so that she can stand on the extrapolator - but still keeps a hold of her neck.
MARGARET (CONT’D)
(evil smile)
While I ride this board over the crest of the inferno all the way to freedom. Stand back boys… surf’s up.
Outside, there is a burst of lightning from the TARDIS light. Inside, a panel of the console directly in front of Margaret suddenly bursts open, and a blinding white light floods out. Margaret looks at it in surprise, then up at the Doctor on the other side of the console.
THE DOCTOR
(calmly)
Of course, opening the rift means you’ll pull this ship apart.
MARGARET
So sue me.
THE DOCTOR
It’s not just any old power source. It’s the TARDIS. My TARDIS. The best ship in the universe.
MARGARET
(nastily)
It’ll make wonderful scrap.
ROSE
(struggling to see)
What’s that light?
THE DOCTOR
The heart of the TARDIS. This ship’s alive. You’ve opened its soul.
Breathing heavily, Margaret stares into the light, as if forgetting everything else. Her voice becomes dreamy and vague.
MARGARET
It’s … so bright…
THE DOCTOR
Look at it, Margaret…
MARGARET
… Beautiful…
THE DOCTOR
Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light.
Margaret is transfixed by the light, and her grip on Rose relaxes. Rose stumbles out of the way and back to Jack. Margaret continues to stare into the light, a blissful smile spreading across her face. Then, she looks up at the Doctor who smiles slightly.
MARGARET
(softly, genuinely)
Thank you …
She is engulfed by the light, and when it clears, her body-suit flops on top of the extrapolator, empty. The Doctor immediately springs into action, darting around the console.
THE DOCTOR
Don’t look - stay there - close your eyes!
He slams down levers and the gap in the console closes, shutting out the white light.
THE DOCTOR (CONT’D)
Now, Jack, come on - shut it all down. Shut down!
Jack rushes over to the console.
THE DOCTOR (CONT’D)
Rose, that panel over there - turn all the switches to the right.
They work busily, the console exploding with sparks. And finally, the shaking lessens and the lightening shooting from the top of the TARDIS into the sky disappears, all back to normal.
THE DOCTOR
Nicely done. Thank you, all.
ROSE
What happened to Margaret?
JACK
Must’ve got burnt up. Carried out her own death sentence.
THE DOCTOR
(looking down at the body-suit)
No. I don’t think she’s dead.
ROSE
Then, where’d she go?
THE DOCTOR
She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, and even I don’t know how strong that is. And the ship’s telepathic - like I told you, Rose. Gets inside your head. Translates alien languages. Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts…
He kneels down next to the skin-suit for a closer look. Rose and Jack follow suit, so all three of them are huddled around it. The Doctor reaches inside the skin-suit and pulls out an egg.
THE DOCTOR
Here she is!
ROSE
She’s an egg?
THE DOCTOR
Regressed to her childhood.
JACK
She’s an egg?
THE DOCTOR
She can start again! Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell 'em to bring her up properly, she might be all right!
JACK
Or she might be worse.
THE DOCTOR
That’s her choice.
ROSE
She’s an egg.
THE DOCTOR
She’s an egg.
THE DOCTOR
(briskly)
Off we go, then. Always moving on…
He pulls a lever.
JACK
Next stop, Raxacoricofallapatorius. Now, you don’t often get to say that.
He smirks. They have balanced the egg on top of the console.
THE DOCTOR
We’ll just stop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again! A second chance.
So there you have it. This illustrates the basic truth of the gospel far better than most formal theological explanations which are not approachable and understandable by most people.
The most incorrigible and sociopathic among us, with no sense of empathy, without a conscious are not lost. They are effectively reduced to “an egg” if need be, by the liberating process of judgement (removing and filtering out all that made them less than truly human) and will start from scratch (resurrection/new birth) and become a new self in the healing and nurturing environment of the family of the new creation (“the sons of God”) in the presence of the all-bountiful One (YHWH and Jesus the Healer). It will not be a harsh punishing torment in the purifying flames but a basking in the comforting, healing and transforming light of the great Healer and giver of life. The best physicians try to minimize the trauma of their therapies how much more so the great Healer who is also our creator.
Dave
