Almost half of all Britons believe in aliens
I linked earlier to a Telegraph piece which reports that 44 per cent of UK adults are convinced of the existence of extra-terrestrial life. In response, Simian made this comment:
Almost half of Britons believe in aliens…
Given what we know about the size, composition and age of the Universe, it is arguably extremely unlikely that there ISN’T life in other parts of the Universe. But it probably isn’t little green men in flying saucers.
What is the Christian view on this? If an alien civilisation were somehow able to make recognisable contact with us, would that undermine Christianity?
If we believe in the existence of angels or demons then would it not be fair to say that Christians already believe in alien life?
Back in October I posted this:
Because of the recent discovery of potentially habitable exoplanet Gliese 581g, talk of aliens is everywhere across the Christian Interweb.
As I’ve noted previously, few are as prepared for alien contact as the Catholic Church who are preparing theologically and are ready to baptise our first visitors.
Dr James McGrath noted this development yesterday:
NASA is going to be holding a press conference on December 2nd, and the line-up of panelists has some speculating that they will be announcing that they have discovered life elsewhere than on Earth (or at least from elsewhere). The NASA press release simply says that it relates to an “astrobiology discovery” and that it will “discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.”I’m sure we’ll all be eagerly awaiting the announcement – in the mean time, feel free to speculate wildly!
For me personally, if an alien civilisation were to make recognisable contact with us, it wouldn’t undermine my faith, as in Jesus, God is drawing all creation to Himself and that would necessarily include any possible alien life.
Tags: Christianity, News, Religion Society
November 30th, 2010 at 11:31 am
It is inevitable that there is life elsewhere in the universe, but most of it is going to be low level (like it is here on earth) microbes, small organisms. Logic dictates that this is likely so when I say I believe in life on other planets I don’t mean little green men, greys or anything like that. I think those belong to the realm of the fairy tradition. Like this story, which of told today would be about aliens and UFO’s:
http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/scotland/mid-lothian/folklore/the-fairy-boy-of-leith.html
November 30th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Well, it could be a difficult one. If, like in the cartoon shows, we get alien visitors who already know about Jesus then it will be easy to share the gospel. However, if we find ourselves in the company of aliens who have no concept about the Christian Heaven, then it is going to be difficult to sell them a gospel which is based upon the redemption from the sins of Adam and Eve. It is largely a gospel which brings good news to humans. It is humans that have fallen from Grace, and it was a human Jesus that God came down to us and saved us from the human sins of Adam and Eve (the original sin). Adam and Eve where made from the ‘dust’ of the earth.
My point is that the gospel is a story about human creation, sin and redemption. Now, aliens would of course be included in the creation of the universe, and one can only assume that God would have made, tested and improved them in many of the same ways that He is doing to us, but there is no saying that they would have failed so drastically in the same areas that humans have. And in saying this, it is quite possible that they may have utterly failed and have already been written out of the book of life. To quote a contemporary politician, “who knows”?
November 30th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
@Gordon,
“The letter tells of the experience of Captain Burton when he was based in Leith, with the events recounted occurring in 1648 or 1649 at the latest, some 15 years prior to the letter being written! Burton would regularly meet acquaintances at a house where they would drink wine. It was owned by a woman who was, in Burton’s words, of good reputation,“
All the women of Sunny Leith are of course of good reputation.
November 30th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
I wonder whether anyone suggested to Christopher Columbus that, if there was an unknown continent and people lived there, that would prove Christianity was untrue.
It’s the same argument, I would have thought.
November 30th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
@Goy You may have a point there!
December 1st, 2010 at 8:54 am
@ Roger Pearce
I don’t think so. Columbus was really discovering more of the same, just in a different part of the same planet. Once they had got over the shock people would have realised this.
We humans do not have the technology to make ourselves intelligible to alien sentient beings, or to travel to a planet outside our own solar system, so contact by an alien would be a result of a superior state of development. Thus the Earth would be confirmed as the unremarkable planet revolving around an very ordinary star in the outer edge of an average Galaxy that we know it to be. In terms of the Universe, this would be proof that there is nothing special about us.
I did not say it would ‘prove Chritianity untrue’. But I wondered if it would undermine Christianity, because we would have proof of just how insignificant we are, compared to other sentient beings within the Universe, of which there is no mention in the Bible. (Unless soneone can correct me on this).
The Webmaster’s cartoon sort of unintentionally makes that point.
December 1st, 2010 at 10:46 am
“compared to other sentient beings within the Universe, of which there is no mention in the Bible. ”
Apart from angels obviously!
December 1st, 2010 at 10:51 am
You got me there Gordon!
I should have been more precise and written …the ‘natural’ Universe…
December 1st, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Nowhere in the Bible does it directly mention aliens, however, there are a few scriptures that are difficult to understand, especially in Genesis where it talks about the sons of God and the daughters of men etc. Also we have the men of re known and the Nephilim etc. I am not suggesting that these are references to aliens but it does set the imagination off. Then we have the weird descriptions of EZEKIEL 1:4- 1:24 – maybe he was having a bad day>>who knows.
I am not so sure how special we are supposed to consider ourselves in the light of biblical scriptures. The story seems to be one about an exceptional stupid race of people who never seem to quite grasp the gravity of the situation. And in fact still don’t. Ah well – selah.
December 1st, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Genesis rather tantalizingly suggests that the main reason for the flood is because God doesn’t want men interbreeding with “Nephilim”. The stuff about sin being the reaon for the flood seems to be a second layer of reasoning.