James Redford writes:
You state that Prof. Frank J. Tipler “suggests that the Shroud of Turin is the key for figuring out how to save the universe from ultimate collapse …” That is incorrect.
And then he goes on to explain why I am incorrect here. I did not do a good job of explaining.
A bit down the page he writes:
You go on to state “… so that brilliant minds can build and sustain a computer simulation of our past lives, including consciousness and free will, thereby giving us immortality. Heaven is a virtual reality.”
I was trying to explain Tipler in a few words. James clarifies:
If by “brilliant minds” you mean superintelligent immortal minds, then that’s correct. In Biblical language, these would be the saints beheaded by the Beast government who take part in the First Resurrection. The general resurrection of the dead isn’t possible at the time of Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, since for almost all the dead their brains will be far too decomposed to be readable. Hence the Second Resurrection, which is the universal resurrection of the dead (both wicked and saint alike), must wait until enough computational resources come online within the universe, as eventually any desired amount of computational resources will be available, diverging to infinity.
Are there boundaries between science, revelation and imagination? I could never quite figure this out. James, I read the book in 2007. I had several discussions with members of the Shroud Science Group. When I was last in New Orleans I had hoped to meet up with Prof. Tipler. Unfortunately, he was out of town. I have a great deal of respect for him and I don’t doubt that he is brilliant. I just don’t buy his thesis.
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