Posted on 01/24/2011 8:55:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[snip]
Aliens vs. religion?
One impact that extraterrestrials might have on society is in the sector of religion, said theologian Ted Peters at the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif. For instance, aliens might lead religions to question whether a second genesis of life elsewhere belongs within the biblical understanding of creation. Might Jesus Christ have appeared more than once in the universe? [10 Alien Encounters Debunked]
"It's been argued for a couple of centuries now whether one incarnation of God as Jesus Christ for the entirety of creation is sufficient, with some thinking that God would do so multiple times as appropriate for the capacity of any individual species to comprehend," Peters told SPACE.com.
To see what effects the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence might have on religion, Peters and his colleagues surveyed more than 1,300 individuals worldwide from multiple religious traditions, -- including Roman Catholics, evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Mormons, Jews, Buddhists and non-religious groups.
They found the vast majority of religious believers — regardless of religion — were overwhelmingly confident that they wouldn’t suffer a collapse in faith in the face of evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. In addition, roughly one-third of religious people thought that the faith of other religions would be threatened, while two-thirds of nonreligious people thought that aliens would sway the faith of the religious as a whole.
Can space change religious beliefs?
There are many open questions as to how people on Earth might view beliefs from space. Could advances that alien civilizations could bring be perceived much like a secular form of salvation? Might advanced civilizations and their perhaps equally advanced philosophies make our religions feel primitive?.......
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
The Bible deals ONLY with our earth; and, prescribes nothing related to this question. For Pete's Sake, the Bible was originally directed at people who didn't even know what stars were or that the sun was a star and the earth orbited it. How could the Bible address something like that. Just buecause it didn't address that stuff is no reason to believe non-Biblical stuff doesn't exist or is by default evil.
If we ever do have a verified and certain encounter with alien spaceships/persons...it will absolutely rock every known religion to it’s core.
How did they get “there”, if you’re using the Bible as your authoritative source?
All humans are descended from Adam, through a bottleneck of Noah, then scattered at Babel, resulting in the races you refer to.
So, how did they get from Adam, or Noah, onto other planets?
Actually, it states that “all of creation” (Rom 8:22) is groaning under the curse of Adam’s sin.
“Our earth” does not constitute “all of creation”.
No. “In my house there are many mansions...” Plenty of room for aliens.
It would just mean that the Genesis was more incomprehensibly vast than we could imagine...
CS Lewis posited an almost inverse question. What if a Christian missionary from earth traveled to a world where the occupants hadn't fallen from grace (i.e. their "Eve" had resisted the tempatation in the garden)?
Well said. Very well said.
Before there was a universe, God created the angels. He created the angels and the universe, Lucifer was the “anointed cherub,” chief of the angels, Ezek. 28, and as such placed upon planet earth. The earth, not some planet in another solar system or galaxy, was Lucifer’s kingdom - which is why he is called “the prince of this world,” John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, and 2 Cor. 4:4.
But Lucifer didn’t like being under subjection to God, he wanted to be number one, he became lifted up in pride and God demoted him, Isa. 14, giving him the name Satan, meaning God’s adversary.
Which is why you find him already there in the garden of Eden, he is there because he is the prince of this world, planet earth was his domain, he looked at Adam and Eve, whom God has given planet earth as their’s to rule, as intruders into his domain, and deceives Eve bringing their expulsion from the garden.
Now, there is nothing more lowly than a snake, slithering along on the ground, and that is precisely what God did to Satan, this prideful creature who said, “I will be like the most high, Isa. 14:14. God cursed him.
So we end up with man losing his rulership position of planet earth, cast out of the garden as sinners, but with Satan still in possession of it.
What does all this tell us? That the great drama of the universe is terra-specific, planet earth-specific. Not the Mormon planet Kolob, nor any other planet anywhere else. God has chosen THIS planet in THIS solar system, in THIS galaxy, for the great drama of redemption. It also tells us that it is only the Bible that has the answer to all this ET nonsense.
It's a euphemism.
The were created by God, but not referenced in the Bible. The Bible serves no purpose when referring to ETs.
All humans are descended from Adam....
All EARTH humans are decended from Adam. The Bible does not tell us ANY of the story about ET races, beasts, planets, etc. The Bible does not serve as any refernce to anything off this planet, except for the notion that the entire Universe was created by God.
It does no seuch thing. The Bible is completely devoid of any such references.
ETs simply make no sense with God’s plan of salvation.
Adam’s sin cursed ALL OF CREATION.
Not really fair for that ET out there, now is it, unless they sinned against God as well?
And then did Jesus have to go and die “once for all” on each of these other planets? (see the graphic above showing an alien “Jesus” dying on crosses on each planet)
Not in the scope of the Bible, for sure. But the Bible doesn't bring us all of the stories of the Universe, it ONLY brings us the story of this one single planet.
There certainly could be similar dramas played out on billions of worlds, couldn't there? Each of those worlds could have its own Bible, couldn't they?
The Bible does not address the question of ET life, one way or the other. It wasn't necessary for it to do so.
You would have an argument ONLY if the Christ story occured after we developed interstellar travel, and became really fruitful and multiplicative.
Why not? He is a pretty tough rascal.
Perhaps God brought salvation to them in other ways. Perhaps they did not fall in the first place.
The Bible brings US our salvation. We're really too small to be concerned about the really big picture ... that big picture is sized about right for God.
You keep missing, or dismissing, the references to “ALL OF CREATION”.
Or do you think this “all of creation” for some reason only means the Earth?
You keep missing the fact that "ALL OF CREATION" was meant for people who didn't understand that there was a bigger picture. The original recipients of the Bible had no idea about the Cosmos, and wouldn't have believed it had they been given the details.
Or do you think this “all of creation” for some reason only means the Earth?
Yes, see above.
I believe the Creation story is about the earth, with only inference to the bigger picture. The only reference to the bigger picture was "and God created the heavens and the earth. From that point on, the Bible is about the earthly domain only.
We’ve reached an impasse in belief then.
Sure we have. But, consider the following:
The Bible mentions camels, donkeys, doves, snakes, and a few other species. It does not mention zebras, iguanas, or praying mantis. To use your logic, none of the other critters exist simply because they are not mentioned.
That can be extended to the Chinese, because they are not mentioned either.
How about electricity, magnetism, or cosmic rays? They also don't exist in your model. Are earthy biological entities made up of cells, and rely on chemical processes, or is this all nonsense because that wasn't described in the Bible? The Bible didn't describe the biological organisms on this planet; and, you don't they exist elsewhere for the same reason? This seems like truly flawed logic and perhaps psychology.
How do you selectively believe in some things that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but not others?
“It does no seuch thing. The Bible is completely devoid of any such references.”
Your faith is obviously extra-Biblical. You have to go beyond the Bible for your sci-fi kind of faith. Though the Bible is the book of God, apparently it isn’t good enough for you. God is the one who created all these galaxies and planets, yet, per my post, it is planet earth that the Bible tells us God has chosen as his cosmic stage.
Creating a universe is no great thing to God, if he so chooses, he could vaporize this one, and start over with another one. Truth is, all these galaxies, etc. that astronomers see with their latest and greatest technology, are nothing but lifeless gas and rock. Which is there to test people’s faith here on this third rock from the sun.
Which are we going to place our faith in, the Bible or ET’s from other planets? Faith, Gingis Khan, faith, that is what this is all about.
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