Posted on 09/25/2014 3:49:56 PM PDT by NYer
From a reader (who has sent queries before about a writing project):
I’m sorry if I’m been annoying at all in the past. But I have another question this one is for a writing project that might never get off the ground, but in case it does. Could water that is extratrestrial in origin e.g from a comet or another planet be valid matter for baptism?
I parried back:
Water is water. H2O. Right?
And I went about my day, self-assured in my concise response.
The inquirer reposted:
Yep, essentially. But there exist other types of water like D2O [which everyone knows is deuterium oxide or heavy water] H2O+ [can't say I know that one] (3)H2O [or that one] there are also a couple of newly discovered forms which are both liquid and solid simultaneously. Which shouldn’t be possible but it exists. [That sounds sort of like triple point, but not quite. I have my doubts that the states are simultaneous. Three states can coexist at triple point, but they are different. Right?] Ain’t God wonderful. [No argument there.] Anyway now that I think about it, I have another idea that works better. I can simply make the person reviving baptism have a non-water biochemistry, picture the a human preist baptizing an alein [truly alien, since we don't reverse e and i that often] only to have said alien burst into flames, or an alien baptizing a human only the alien understands “water” to be hydrogen cyanide, …
?!?!?
I hope this isn’t the old dihydrogen monoxide scam again.
Okay… I’ve got nothing.
Nope, I just got something.
From Daniel 3:
O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever. [...] O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [65] O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [...] O ye dews and hoar frosts, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [...] O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
The next one is of the creepy M. Night Shyamalan movie Signs. It starts out all light-hearted and then, suddenly, gets really creepy. But I don’t post spoilers and neither should you. I really hate spoilers (advance descriptions) and I really resent spoilers (the people who spoil). Take that hint. I ban those people.
Water that is liquid and solid at the same time? I take it that this is way beyond the whole liminal state situation wherein the introduction of additional energy can suddenly push the liquid into another state (which I once accomplished in my Rome apartment with beer bottles in a freezer, while now-Archbp. Sample, a metalurgist by training, explained what was happening…. What a rich life I’ve led).
Okay, in the future, if we find that there is life-out-there and that life-out-there wants to be Christian, but that life-out-there takes a real dim view of water (as in bursting into flames at the touch of water – alas, Jar Jar is not one of them), how do we baptize aliens?
Could this be an out? The Church says that we baptize humans with water. Perhaps Holy Mother Church could allow baptism of aliens with, say, liquid helium – which would be exciting, or nitrogen tetroxide - which could be interesting, in tense way, or may even with really pure hydrogen peroxide – which could do a bang up job of it, or perhaps also digoxin – which might require immediate Extreme Unction.
As for the alien baptizing the human with hydrogen cyanide… ad astra per ardua, after all. Who said being Christian was easy? Whatever else it might be, it ain’t a piece of yellow-cake.
There was a cartoon, probably in the Saturday Evening Post, back in the ‘sixties. It showed a crashed flying saucer, and a little green man is crawling across the sand, saying, “Ammonia! Ammonia!”
Then they are protestant and should be burned at the stake like the heretics they are. (Just Kidding, they should only be shunned)
It was in the New Yorker, in 1962. I found it in seconds on Bing, searching for “flying saucer ammonia.”
words fail me this time........
Yeah, I wish he would have actually addressed it a little more seriously as well.
“One could argue that the very central essential note of human nature—that we are rational/spiritual animals, would mean that aliens would be similar in nature to Jesus Christ.”
That’s my take on the face of it. The reasoning ability of humans is part of human nature, theoretically it could exist apart from form. If they can reason enough to potentially choose Christ, seems like it would maybe be copacetic.
But what about holy orders and apostolic succession? If they are male, could they be ordained, or what?
FReegards
Another factor: Is their race fallen? If not, it would be very obvious to us. In fact, if some race of aliens ever did come and start wiping us out, it would probably be an UNFALLEN race.
That’s Gene Wolfe’s take on aliens, the Hierodules from Book of the New Sun are unfallen aliens who wear masks. Pretty wild concept. They were more like saddened big brothers at our antics. I’ve often thought if we ever get visited the first thing they will say is ‘you slay your unhatched young...stop that or eat hot death ray.’
Another thing to think about is more than two sexes or naturally changing from one to the other in the course of their life cycle.
Freegards
One theological argument for the Immaculate Conception is that it would have been impossible for a sinful Mary to function as the mother of a sinless child. In such a close relationship, he would have had to wreak justice on her.
Also, it was because of the Immaculate Conception that Mary had the ability to become pregnant by an act of her will, when she gave her assent to be the Mother of God.
“Let everything that has breath
give praise to the LORD!
“Hallelujah!”
—Psalm 150:6
More grist for the mill:
Vatican Astronomer Says ET Could Phone Home
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens ("The extraterrestrial is my brother")
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