Charlie Pace is the son of Desmond and Penny Hume. At some point in the next 2 seasons, Charlie Hume will time travel back to the 1980s, get adopted by Simon & Megan Pace, and become Charlie Pace. This will create a causal loop Marty McFly style - Charlie will end up being named after himself.
Before I begin, allow me to quote from Genesis for a bit.
Genesis 22: 1-24 -
"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. ... And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. And they went both of them together... And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son."
Desmond first begins to see flashes of Charlie's death in 3x04 - Every Man For Himself (though we don't find that out until later). Between that episode and 3x22 - Through The Looking Glass, references to Abraham and Isaac always seem to surround Desmond and Charlie. I do not believe this is a coincedence.
The most obvious (and the only specific one I can recall at the moment, but I remember seeing a few more) is the name Moriah Vineyards from episode 3x17 - Catch-22. From Lostpedia : "Some time later Desmond and Brother Campbell talk while putting labels on the Moriah Vineyard wine bottles they make at the monastery, and packing them in crates. Desmond remarks on how Moriah is an odd name for a Monastery wine since it was the location where Abraham was asked to kill Isaac in the Bible. Campbell reminds him that God ended up sparing Isaac. Desmond says that God could have not asked for the sacrifice to begin with, but Campbell counters that it was necessary as a test of faith and a lesson in the value of sacrifice." Later in the same episode, Desmond refers to this himself while speaking about saving Charlie's life - "Like God, testing Abraham, except I failed, because I changed what I saw."
Desmond's flashes can be seen as messages from God, which mirror God's command to Abraham. Since we have no shortage of possible God-proxys on the island, just pick your favorite and go with it (island/Jacob/time/etc.) Now, it is possible that Desmond was receiving other future flashes in addition to Charlie's imminent death, but since they only really mentioned one (Locke's speech) let's assume that he was only seeing this one recurring vision after that. And as far as we know, after Charlie died, Desmond never received any flashes again (jumping backwards in The Constant doesn't count). Desmond is granted this amazing power, and God uses it exclusively to tell him that someone he's known for less than a month has to die? Seems like a waste of that ability, unless that was the sole purpose of the ability to begin with; and unless there was a specific, deeper connection between the two men.
When Desmond finally accepts that Charlie must die, he presents it to Charlie as a sacrifice: Charlie must die in order to save Claire. Charlie accepts his sacrifice willingly. Biblical scholars tend to agree that Isaac accepted his sacrifice willingly (after realizing that Abraham had not brought any animals to be sacrificed). Also, although the modern view is that Isaac was a child at the time, traditionally he was roughly 25, the same age as Charlie. (though some believe that he was as old as 37, given that the very next chapter takes place 37 years after his birth.)
The hardest part to reconcile with this theory is the fact that an alternate sacrifice was provided by God after Abraham passed the test. I figure that God decided to allow Charlie to be sacrificed because, unlike Abraham, Desmond failed his test of faith. One might reasonably assume that had Desmond allowed Charlie to be struck by lightning, as was originally intended, an alternate sacrifice would have been provided. We'll never know! Theory by Tim
Before I begin, allow me to quote from Genesis for a bit.
Genesis 22: 1-24 -
"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah And offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. ... And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. And they went both of them together... And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son."
Desmond first begins to see flashes of Charlie's death in 3x04 - Every Man For Himself (though we don't find that out until later). Between that episode and 3x22 - Through The Looking Glass, references to Abraham and Isaac always seem to surround Desmond and Charlie. I do not believe this is a coincedence.
The most obvious (and the only specific one I can recall at the moment, but I remember seeing a few more) is the name Moriah Vineyards from episode 3x17 - Catch-22. From Lostpedia : "Some time later Desmond and Brother Campbell talk while putting labels on the Moriah Vineyard wine bottles they make at the monastery, and packing them in crates. Desmond remarks on how Moriah is an odd name for a Monastery wine since it was the location where Abraham was asked to kill Isaac in the Bible. Campbell reminds him that God ended up sparing Isaac. Desmond says that God could have not asked for the sacrifice to begin with, but Campbell counters that it was necessary as a test of faith and a lesson in the value of sacrifice." Later in the same episode, Desmond refers to this himself while speaking about saving Charlie's life - "Like God, testing Abraham, except I failed, because I changed what I saw."
Desmond's flashes can be seen as messages from God, which mirror God's command to Abraham. Since we have no shortage of possible God-proxys on the island, just pick your favorite and go with it (island/Jacob/time/etc.) Now, it is possible that Desmond was receiving other future flashes in addition to Charlie's imminent death, but since they only really mentioned one (Locke's speech) let's assume that he was only seeing this one recurring vision after that. And as far as we know, after Charlie died, Desmond never received any flashes again (jumping backwards in The Constant doesn't count). Desmond is granted this amazing power, and God uses it exclusively to tell him that someone he's known for less than a month has to die? Seems like a waste of that ability, unless that was the sole purpose of the ability to begin with; and unless there was a specific, deeper connection between the two men.
When Desmond finally accepts that Charlie must die, he presents it to Charlie as a sacrifice: Charlie must die in order to save Claire. Charlie accepts his sacrifice willingly. Biblical scholars tend to agree that Isaac accepted his sacrifice willingly (after realizing that Abraham had not brought any animals to be sacrificed). Also, although the modern view is that Isaac was a child at the time, traditionally he was roughly 25, the same age as Charlie. (though some believe that he was as old as 37, given that the very next chapter takes place 37 years after his birth.)
The hardest part to reconcile with this theory is the fact that an alternate sacrifice was provided by God after Abraham passed the test. I figure that God decided to allow Charlie to be sacrificed because, unlike Abraham, Desmond failed his test of faith. One might reasonably assume that had Desmond allowed Charlie to be struck by lightning, as was originally intended, an alternate sacrifice would have been provided. We'll never know! Theory by Tim
