The book of Romans: brief summary

The book of Romans is a book encapsulated within the new testament of the Christian Bible. It is by far the longest of the Pauline letters and it, in my opinion anyway, contains a lot of fine philosophy for one to ponder upon (even if you're atheist or agnostic, this book of The Bible sure is worth a read).
The first part (refer to 1 : 1 to 32): firstly we are reminded about Paul, his position as an apostle and also about what he intends to tell the people of Rome (hence the name). Paul does not set his limit to include only the Jewish people, rather he wants the Gentiles to take note as well! Paul also tells us about what stopped him from getting to the capital city of Italy sooner than he did as well (not to mention the fact that Paul implies that Jesus' human bloodline derives from David). As we progress past verse 16, we read that Paul is not ashamed of his gospel because it has a powerful impact on some people. After verse 18 we see that Paul is not shy to tell the Roman people about the wrath of God. Basically some people had taken the whole concept of God (who exists within infinite simplicity) and made it into something finite and potent (an idol). From the aforementioned point on-wards Paul makes reference to Solomon (who overtook David as king, some say Solomon was very wise), therefore allowing Paul to draw upon the nature of unnatural sexual behavioral problems and how that can result in an unhealthy frame of mind. Paul also opposes the worship of deity-type idols (which were apparently common in ancient Rome); although Paul does advocate that righteousness from God causes itself to be distinct from the law - the law from which the prophets seek their reason to testify from (and he also alerts us about the legacy of Jesus Christ!).
The second part (refer to 2 : 1 to 4): furthermore to the point, here we read Paul calling out to the Jewish people who are hypocritical of others. Some argue that Paul was not really writing to the Jews per say but was rather addressing a "typical and boastful person." (read up on Stanley Stowers for more on that).
However from chapters 5 to 11 we are basically reassured about the concept of salvation from our original sin. Paul also writes about the casting away of Israel and the conditions that will cause Israel to once again be God's chosen nation.
Moreover, from chapters 12 to 15 we read upon the point of believers being transformed. Paul declares that as a result of the crucifixion of Christ the believers will be "dead to the law." Paul also tells us that living a Christian lifestyle in the most stereotypical, quintessential way possible (i.e. frequently studying scripture instead of giving into the procrastination that results from the urge to find yourself playing computer games or checking Facebook; you should be going to church etc...) will leave us with no desire to ever want to commit a sin, by definition. It is also stated that the law has dominion over man for as long as he lives - arguably it does if it extends from God, the thing greater than all things conceivable as not everybody would feel obligated to follow a law not implemented by something absolute and personal (even the thieves make their excuses when they steal, have you noticed that?). The opposing viewpoint here is relative morality whereby comparing moral codes is like comparing foods or films, but that is self-refuting and I write that because an individual feels the need to hold such an opinion - and that is an absolute! If the law (or rather condition or parameter) extends from people then you only feel obligated to follow it if doing x gets you y and you desire y (read up on Kant's theory of the hypothetical imperative if the philosophy here is pulling you in!!!).
In the conclusion (refer to 15 : 14 to 16 : 27) Paul notifies us of his travel agenda, his greetings and also about his salutations. It should be noted that woman (approx. one third of the 21 Christians identified here) had an important role to play from within the church in Rome at that time. It was also interesting to see that Paul made no reference to Saint Peter (he was apparently the Pope at this time), and some theologians think that this was due to an incident that occurred at Antioch between Paul and Saint Peter!
So I hope you enjoyed that and I also hope that it entices you to read the book of Romans!

Theology and time travel

Time travel is the hypothetical concept of shifting an object from one point in time to another point in time (either forwards or backwards). The very notion of one being able to move freely between the co-ordinates of time sounds rather absurd on the basis that we are constrained by general relativity (matter, space and time are co-dependent), but general relativity is the thing that may just hold the key to time travel!
Firstly, the concept of the gravitational time dilation shows us that accelerating towards the speed of light can allow us to slow the passage of time down (but I do not know if something can even travel that fast), but this happens on any scale really (never using stairs may add roughly a nanosecond onto your life span, an astronaut ages less when they are in outer space relative to what they would have done being on earth etc...) thus giving us the impression that time can be halted. To take the aforementioned concept a little further, one can take a look at hypothetical wormholing that may have been formed within the spacetime relationship. Anyway, in accordance with the mass-accepted theory of general relativity, gravity itself (you know the thing that keeps us on the earth? ;) ) is caused by the mass of an object putting it's mass on some sort of cosmic sheet, physicists probably know it better as space-time. The mass of the object shall bestow a distortion upon the fabric of space-time, ergo becoming the cause of the surrounding objects to roll around the massive object (we know this because of the earth's orbit around the sun, for example). Furthermore to the point, please know that it is not only just space that is distorted, but time as well (hence the phrase “space-time”). This means time actually slows down more drastically depending on the manipulation of the space-time fabric. Basically a gravitational field of an object that has higher gravity than that of the other entrance, thus retracting whatever enclosed item there is to a position near the other entrance - a wormhole in a nutshell!!! These wormholes can occur anywhere in space, allowing anyone or anything to pass through them and potentially travel through time. The fact that this should function is because a tear in the space-time fabric distorts reality at that point. Inside a tear in fabric, there is no fabric. There is no time, or space, in actuality there would be nothing in the most literal sense except for the wormhole portals themselves. After travelling through such a tear, the traveler will re-enter through the area of least resistance. If there is another wormhole, or tear, at another point in time, the traveler will enter at that point in time. For the method, time dilation causes the end of the wormhole that has been moved to have aged less than the stationary end, OK well as seen by an external observer anyway; however, time acts differently through the wormhole relative to that outside of it, so that synchronized clocks at either end of the wormhole will always remain as synchronized as they were when seen by an observer prior to passing through the wormhole, no matter how the two ends move around.
Secondly, a purely hypothetical "signal" that can move faster than the speed of light may emit "frames" that would be received prior to their emission. The fact that such is possible suggests that backward time travel can occur. This concept, however, is ever-so mind boggling and can result in one of two consequences:
1) a "grandfather" paradox arises, whereby either a mirror image of the time traveler existing at that point in time exists at the same point in time as the time traveler  or a relative responsible for the existence of the time traveler exists yet hasn't performed the deed that gave way to the time traveler as of yet. This raises questions about the notion of free will and that if, say, the celibate grandfather was to be killed then would the time traveler vanish in an instant? Does this presuppose that causality has already been determined and only the time traveler is able to shift the fate of the future away from what they already remember? (oh, and the earth moves so does the exit point differ from the entry point?)
2) a paralleled universe forms whereby the time traveler's actions do not apply to the universe from where they originated
You see if we were to somehow see our destinies unfold visually, then we would be given a choice to betray our chosen destinies. And the mere fact that this choice exists would make all preformed destiny halt!!!
Nevertheless, causality supports that of the first of St Thomas Aquinas' five ways to prove the existence of God a priori (the argument from first cause), the notion of free will supports that of the Cartesian dualism of the mind and matter and paralleled universes may exist as part of an intelligent design that prevents the occurrence of a "grandfather" paradox in the case of a slip back in time!
 Furthermore, the notion of time in Christian theology is acknowledged by the assumption that God exists in a form unbound by space or time. In doctrinal terms, God is said to be omniscient and omnipresent. This is supported by statements in the Bible such as Jesus's claim "before Abraham was born, I am" (John 8:58) and Peter's claim "[Jesus] was chosen before the creation of the world" (refer to 1 Peter 1:20) (assuming the creation of the world began at t = 0). These quotes simply imply that God does not occupy the same timeline that we do (in fact God exists in infinite simplicity ergo must be timeless!). This is further supported by the assertion "I the LORD do not change" (refer to Malachi 3:6), since change requires movement along, and constrained by, a temporal continuum in general relativity! However, how can something that is timeless give rise to a temporal effect? It must be personal and if it is personal then it must make choices under the auspices of its infinite wisdom (thus refuting deism to an extent!). Some things in the universe are capable of existing, but it was also possible for them not to exist. Anything that can cease to exist will cease to exist; if these things that we know in reality have the potential of not existing then it is reasonable for us to assume that at some point nothing existed within reality. Thus there must be something which has an existence outwith general relativity that does not rely upon anything to account for its existence (non-contingency) in order for everything in reality to have this property of contingency! This is an argument from necessity that supports the existence of God outwith general relativity (thus refuting pantheism to an extent!).