tlijy@cc.curtin.edu.au (04/09/91)
Hi, I am interested to know how christians think of extraterrestrial intelegence, if there is any. I am talking about spiritual creatures in heaven, I am talking about any form of life in this physical universe. _Jason Y. Li Satellite & Remote Sensing Res. Group |1) PSImail: psi%050529452300070::TLIJY Dept. of Applied Physics __________|2) Internet: TLIJY@cc.curtin.edu.au Curtin Univ. of Tech. |3) Bitnet: TLIJY%cc.curtin.edu.au@cunyvm.bitnet Perth, West. Australia |4) UUCP : uunet!munnari.oz!cc.curtin.edu.au!TLIJY
conan@wish-bone.berkeley.edu (David Cruz-Uribe) (04/10/91)
In article <Apr.9.04.23.10.1991.6022@athos.rutgers.edu> tlijy@cc.curtin.edu.au writes: > >I am interested to know how christians think of extraterrestrial intelegence, >if there is any. > >I am talking about spiritual creatures in heaven, I am talking about any >form of life in this physical universe. Speaking solely for myself (I don't believe that my Church holds firm opinions on the matter) there does not seem to be anything in Scripture which asserts that Humanity is the only intelligent species in the universe. And if there are, "in my Father's house there are many rooms....". Yours in Christ, David Cruz-Uribe, SFO
djdaneh@pacbell.com (Dan'l DanehyOakes) (04/14/91)
In article <Apr.9.04.23.10.1991.6022@athos.rutgers.edu> tlijy@cc.curtin.edu.au writes: >I am interested to know how christians think of extraterrestrial intelegence, >if there is any. > >I am talking about spiritual creatures in heaven, I am talking about any >form of life in this physical universe. Hi, I'm assuming that the second sentence should read "I am _not_ talking about spiritual creatures..." First of all, the Bible does not address this question. There are passages that have been taken to mean one way or the other (for example, Jesus' famous comments about "other flocks"), but nothing definitive. So the question is wide open for speculation -- and, I might add, there has been no dearth of speculation! I am going to concentrate on examples from the field of science fiction, because I happen to be extremely familiar with that field. There is a deep and rich body of SF written in many spiritual traditions, including Christian. If you aren't interested in a survey of this stuff, skip to the end of the message -- I'll insert END OF MESSAGE in big letters so you can go to it easily -- where I'll draw some general conclusions. CS Lewis, for example, wrote a trilogy of novels: OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET; PERELANDRA; and THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH, which dealt with Earth's contacts with the life on Mars ("Malacandra") and Venus ("Perelandra"). Lewis seems to have taken the point of view that God most likely has filled the Universe with life. In the first volume, we see that life on Malacandra is older than on our own, and never fell. This gives Lewis the scope for what may be his single greatest achievement, the portrayal of a society of unfallen sentient beings ("hnau") of several interesting species. In this society, people age and die as on Earth ("Thulcandra"), but they don't mind the way we do: they see it as a natural and beautiful part of life. Also, they see and talk to angels ("eldila") regularly. He seems to think that we have no business exporting our fallen nature to the rest of the Universe, a point which certainly merits consideration. In the second, Lewis' hero is transported (this time by God's will; in the first, he was kidnapped by villains) to Perelandra, a world younger than our own. The hnau of Perelandra are human in form, because hnau are in God's form. Prior to the Incarnation of God, hnau need only be made in God's spiritual form, but after God took on a physical form, they were constrained. (Or something like that.) The hnau of Perelandra are also unfallen, but one of the villains from the first volume, apparently possessed by a daemon, arrives to tempt them. This is a maturing of the viewpoint of the first book: since we *are* fallen, and since some of us *will* travel to other worlds, it is up to Christians to travel also and prevent the spread of evil to unfallen worlds. The third volume is not relevant to this discussion, as it involves no extraterestrial life. *** James Blish, an atheist-agnostic, wrote one of the most important works of Christian science fiction, A CASE OF CONSCIENCE. In this novel, a Jesuit priest travels to a distant planet where Man has made his first contact with another sentient form -- a form which, at first glance, appears never to have fallen. But over time, he realizes that this cannot be so (the fallen "world" we live in is the Universe, not merely Earth), and finally concludes, from this and from certain aspects of the Lithians themselves, that these creatures are in fact a trap set for human souls by the Devil. To explain what actions he takes based on this would spoil the plot of a brilliant novel, so I shan't; but I will say that it challenges the moral assumptions of everyone who reads it carefully. *** Another non-Christian who wrote work of importance to Christans w.r.t. extraterrestrials is Arthur C. Clarke. Indeed, all his work is imbued with a deep mystical feel concerning the destiny of humanity, which every Christian should read (imao) -- especially CHILDHOOD'S END, THE CITY AND THE STARS, and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. But the piece which relates directly to Christianity is a short story, "The Star." In "The Star," our hero (another Catholic priest -- non-Christians tend to view either Catholics or Fundamentalists as "generic" Christians, I have noticed) takes part in the discovery of a planet surrounding a star which went nova millenia before the story begins. On this planet, they find traces of a highly advanced civilization, which was destroyed by the star's explosion. The star's explosion, it turns out, cast light which would have reached Earth at approximately the time of Jesus' birth -- this is the Christmas Star. The hero is cast into a terrible crisis of faith. How could God destroy an entire race of people, just to give a sign? Surely there were other stars God could have used? Etc. Of course, this is the old Problem of Evil blown to extreme proportions; but it is very moving and effective fiction, from a man whose fiction usually lacks emotional depth. Here, the ETs are treated as just more creatures of God, to be used for God's purposes without consulting their wishes. It is hard to say more than this without deep analysis. *** Orson Scott Card, a Mormon, has written a number of books about alien races. In all of them, the aliens seem to be of the same fallen nature as ourselves. Tragedy inevitably arises from this. (Scott is a talented but very depressing, and sometimes quite annoying, writer.) *** Ray Bradbury, in his short story "The Man," proposed a vision of Christ taking his message of salvation from world to world to world across the Universe. Obviously, a fully-fallen Universe with races everywhere that need to be saved. (I find myself horrified at this. How many times must He die?) *** There's lots more. *** This is the END OF MESSAGE I promised. The questions that arise for Christians are: Is there sentient life elsewhere in the Universe? (Some think that God would not make an entire Universe and people only one planet; others observe that God is not subject to our notions of economy.) If so, is it "created in God's image," i.e., does it have the same kind of soul we believe we have? (Totally undeterminable. Why shouldn't it have? On the other hand, why should it?) If it does, has it fallen? (This comes down to: Do we live on a fallen planet, or in a fallen Universe?) If it has not fallen, are we likely to taint it? (A very good question actually.) Or can we learn from it? Whether or not it has fallen, do we have any right to invade the worlds God has set aside for its use? (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods!) The Roach