Fallen angels cannot time travel. They lack the Beatific Vision of God, so they cannot draw upon God’s power over time, from His standpoint in Eternity, to move from one point in time to another. Fallen angels (devils, demons) cannot travel forward or backward in time. They are trapped in time, able only to move forward in time as we all do, one second at a time.

Holy angels have the Beatific Vision of God in Heaven. They can also visit earth, within time. This implies that they can, in a sense, time travel. They can go from Heaven, which is beyond all time in the Eternity of God, into any point in the time line. They can then return to Heaven, and then reenter the timeline at a different point.

They can also intervene, by prayer, to multiple points in the timeline in the same prayer. So, for example, a guardian angel can pray for a person to encourage them in self-denial, and that single prayer can have an effect at various points in that person’s life. For Heaven is beyond time. Heaven shares in the Eternity of God. But only God is Eternal in the fullest sense of the word.

There is an example of time travel by an angel in the book of Daniel. A holy angel speaks to Daniel:

{10:12} And he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, because from the first day that you set your heart to understand, by afflicting yourself in the sight of your God, your words have been heeded, and I have arrived because of your words.
{10:13} But the leader of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me for twenty-one days, and behold, Michael, one of the primary leaders, came to help me, and I remained there next to the king of the Persians.
{10:14} But I have come to teach you what will happen to your people in the latter days, because the vision is for a long time from now.”

The angel says, “I have arrived….” So the angel came to Daniel. And what was he doing before he visited Daniel? He was contending with “the leader of the kingdom of the Persians”. But that evil leader “resisted” him for “twenty-one days”. Then the Archangel Michael came to assist him, and the angel remained there “next to the king of the Persians” while Michael also lent his help. Finally, the angel left Michael there, and went to teach Daniel “what will happen to your people in the latter days, because the vision is for a long time from now.”

This event with the leader of the Persians occurs in the future — the near future from our point of view, but the distant future from Daniel’s point of view. The “latter days” is the end times. The leader of the Persians is the fourth leader of the Persians (the first is Hasan Rouhani).

{11:2} And now I will announce to you the truth. Behold, up to a certain point, three kings will stand in Persia, and the fourth will be exceedingly enriched in power above them all. And when he has grown strong by his resources, he will stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

This fourth leader of Persia (Iran) rules the vast territory conquered by the Arab Muslim nations of the Middle East and northern Africa during World War 3, which includes Europe and much of Africa. The leader is a Muslim extremist who thinks to conquer the whole world. The “kingdom of Greece” is actually the free democratic nations, since Greece is where democracy began (some years before Daniel was written).

So the angel is in the future, contending with this leader of Persia. Then he departs to go to Daniel in the past, so that he can described to Daniel what will happen in that future time, from which he just arrived.

As part of their ordinary abilities, holy Angels, depending on their tasks, can go from Heaven to any point in the time line, then return to Heaven, and then reenter the timeline at a different place. This is essentially a type of time travel. But to travel directly from one time to another, an angel would need a miracle from God. It is not within their ordinary power. Angels can obtain miracles from God, so anything is possible for an Angel, as long as God grants their prayer.

Another example of time travel occurs with Enoch and Elijah, by a miracle from God. Enoch lived in the time before divine revelation, before the Jewish faith began. Elijah was one of the holiest prophets of Israel. Both men did not die at the end of their lives, but instead were taken up to heaven by God. So, what happened to them?

St. Bridget quotes the Blessed Virgin Mary as saying that there are no human bodies in Heaven other than those of Jesus and Mary. So Enoch and Elijah cannot be in heaven. They were taken up from this earth to the heavens. Perhaps they briefly visited Heaven in the manner of St. Paul (2 Cor 12:2). But they did not remain there.

St. Thomas held that Enoch and Elijah went to the paradise of Adam and Eve, to await the end times. For e know that these two men are also the two prophets of the book of Revelation. This is confirmed by the words of the Virgin Mary at La Salette, when she spoke of the two prophets, calling them Enoch and Elijah.

But it is not necessary for these two prophets to remain in the Garden of Eden for many hundreds of years, so as to appear during the second part of the tribulation. God is all-powerful. He can move human persons through time, if He wishes to do so, by a miracle. So my belief is that Enoch and Elijah were taken up to Heaven, for purification and to receive the Beatific Vision of God. Then, they were each sent to the future, to the time of the Antichrist, to preach against his errors.

In the case of the holy angels, they can go to heaven and then from there to any point in the timeline. The same may have been the case for Enoch and Elijah. They went to Heaven and then immediately to the future time of the Antichrist.

Therefore, time travel is possible, but only by the power of God.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.

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