tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post7557578681238675620..comments2024-03-18T20:24:18.935-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: Of balloons and transubstantiationAlexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-43992926229579418672016-07-31T08:14:01.264-05:002016-07-31T08:14:01.264-05:00Okay, I’m happier now. Okay, I’m happier now. SMatthewStoltehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06632670946997680263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-78981356436558876582016-07-30T21:59:29.546-05:002016-07-30T21:59:29.546-05:00I misunderstood your worry. You're rather worr...I misunderstood your worry. You're rather worried about the implication that heaven is spatially connected to us. I do doubt that it is spatially connected to us, but it might be - I think the view that it's connected was the predominant view among Christians until recently. Even the name "heaven" suggests that.<br /><br />If it's not connected to us, then we can just imagine the surfaces of two balloons merging in one place.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-15504458666001497782016-07-30T15:45:27.841-05:002016-07-30T15:45:27.841-05:00I am assuming that ‘earth’ is just a synonym for ‘...I am assuming that ‘earth’ is just a synonym for ‘universe’ in this context. <br />I am also assuming that the red and blue circles are both bigger than my thumbs, so there is some place in the church which is not the host and there is also some place in heaven which is not the host. <br /><br />Part of my problem is that it seems like you need our universe to be the entire surface of the balloon, and you also need it not to be the entire surface of the balloon. You need it to be the entire surface, because there is a path from every point on the balloon to every other point, and there would be even if I didn’t bring my thumbs together/there were no consecration of the host. But you need it <i>not</i> to be the entire surface, because you first need a distinction between heaven and earth in order to make the fact that the two places which the host occupies <i>theologically</i> interesting (rather than merely interesting for the physicist). <br /><br />Perhaps the red and blue circles should not represent one church and heaven but rather two distinct churches. And heaven should be represented by the surface of my thumbs. SMatthewStoltehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06632670946997680263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-40295927735924721542016-07-30T13:58:22.152-05:002016-07-30T13:58:22.152-05:00But the area which is in both heaven and earth coi...But the area which is in both heaven and earth coincides with the Eucharistic host. So only if your vehicle managed to be in the same place as the host could it go to heaven. Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-20126108748978199952016-07-30T12:28:52.787-05:002016-07-30T12:28:52.787-05:00According to this model, someone could arrive in h...According to this model, someone could arrive in heaven by means of a very fast vehicle. If the balloon is big enough, we might suppose that this means of getting to heaven would pose all sorts of engineering problems. It might even be unfeasible given the shortness of life and the limitations of relativity. <br /><br />But that doesn’t seem to match up with the way we should think of heaven. Church isn’t a workaround to otherwise insoluble engineering problems. SMatthewStoltehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06632670946997680263noreply@blogger.com