Is There Life on Other Planets? A Biblical Perspective

1.) The Bible does not specifically address the question of life on other planets. But the Scriptures do tell us enough for us to come up with a solid and sound answer.

2.) It is an indisputable Biblical fact that out of all the planets in the universe, the earth is given preeminence and priority. The earth was created first (on Day 1 of the Creation week, Genesis 1:1-2), and contrary to evolutionary theory, the earth existed before the sun, moon and stars, which were all created on Day 4 of the Creation week (Genesis 1:14-19). To the unbiased reader, this indicates that there was something very special about the earth.

3.) God tells us why He formed the earth. He formed it for a purpose: "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD, and there is none else" (Isaiah 45:18). "The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath He given to the children of men" (Psalm 115:16). The Bible clearly teaches that the earth was formed to be inhabited by people and other living creatures. The earth, sea and skies are teeming with life!

4.) The only life recognized in the Scriptures is human life, plant life, animal life and angelic life (which would include the holy angels and the fallen angels or demons). There is no mention of extraterrestrial life beyond these categories.

There has been a debate as to whether plants are technically alive in the full Biblical sense. Consider the following from an article on the Creation Ministries International website: We have long pointed out that biblical ‘death’ can only apply to those things that were alive in the first place! As far as the Bible is concerned, plants are not ‘alive.’ In the Old Testament, vertebrate animals are described by the Hebrew phrase nephesh chayyāh (נפשׁ חיה), translated as “living creature”, or in the case of man, “living soul” (2:7). But it’s notable that plants are never described this way. And they don’t die but “wither” (Psalm37:2). Instead, plants are God’s self-replicating solar-powered food factories, which also act as solar energy concentrators. See http://creation.com/r-c-sproul-jr-plant-death 5.) God tells us why He made the heavenly bodies: "Let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so" (Genesis 1:14-15). All of this is for the advantage of those dwelling on the earth. Nowhere in these verses does it state that the purpose of the heavenly bodies was to provide a home for extraterrestrial life. Instead, the heavenly bodies were created to serve useful functions for those living on earth.

6.) Why do so many people believe in life on other planets? It is mainly because they have been heavily influenced by evolutionary theory. Evolution suggests that if life evolved on our planet, then life certainly could evolve elsewhere in our universe. There must be an innumerable number of planets in the universe, and among these there must be many that have conditions favorable to life, conditions similar to what is found on planet Earth. According to evolutionary theory, if conditions are favorable for life, then life will spring forth (almost of necessity!). Life will evolve from non-life. Life will spontaneously generate from lifeless chemicals by chance. And even though the odds against it happening are great, it will happen anyway, just like it happened on Earth. According to evolutionary thinking, even though it is very unlikely and nearly impossible that life can come from non-life, yet if you have enough time (billions of years), then anything is possible. Blind chance + time + favorable conditions = LIFE. According to evolutionary theory, a creation is not needed. All you need is time and unguided natural processes and favorable conditions, and life will automatically evolve from non-life. It will just happen! With enough time and with enough luck, anything can happen!

According to evolutionary theory, if conditions are favorable for life, then life will spring forth (almost of necessity!). Life will evolve from non-life. Life will spontaneously generate from lifeless chemicals by chance.

Not too many centuries ago people believed in spontaneous generation. Typically, the idea was that certain life forms such as fleas could arise from inanimate matter such as dust, or that maggots could arise from dead flesh. This erroneous notion was put to rest by the experiments of Louis Pasteur in 1862. However, evolutionists still teach that life originally came from non-life. How life could originate from non-life is one of the biggest problems facing the evolutionists because there is no evidence that this has ever happened or that it could happen. Some evolutionists, including Richard Dawkins (as documented in the film Expelled) have even suggested that life may have been seeded on Earth by aliens. In similar fashion, in 1973 the late Nobel prize-winning British molecular biologist, physicist and neuroscientist Professor Francis Crick, along with British chemist Leslie Orgel, proposed the theory of directed panspermia [the intentional spreading of the seeds of life to other planets by an advanced extraterrestrial civilization]. But what Dawkins and Crick never answer is where these aliens originated from. They just push the problem further back.

The Creation model recognizes that life can only come from life, and that the origin of life cannot be explained by natural processes, but can only be explained by Creation. In other words, there is life on planet Earth only because the first life forms were created by an Almighty Creator. According to the Creation model, favorable conditions on a distant planet are not enough. In order to have life on any planet, that life must be created. Life doesn't just happen and life does not come from nonlife. Only God can create life. Life does not arise from nonliving material. Cellular life can only originate by way of creation.

The Creation model recognizes that life can only come from life, and that the origin of life cannot be explained by natural processes, but can only be explained by Creation.

John G. Hartnett explains the problem facing evolutionists: "The probability of life arising by chance from a pile of chemicals has been calculated by various people as an impossibility even given all the atoms in the known universe representing experiments over the alleged 13.8 billion years since the supposed big bang. Even if you shuffled all those atoms, or even started with them in the form of the required biomolecules and randomly shuffled them, you would not get life. Many researchers have admitted the problem. Life could only arise through a super-intelligence creating it; it would not ‘evolve’ anywhere" [Life on Earth 2.0—Really?, article found on creation.com website]

If there is life on other planets, then that life is there only because of creation, not evolution. However, there is no indication from the Scriptures or from empirical observation that such life exists elsewhere in our universe. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is the collective name for scientific activities undertaken to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. For example, electromagnetic radiation is monitored for signs of transmissions from civilizations living on other worlds. Scientific investigation of this potential phenomenon began shortly after the advent of radio in the early 1900s. Focused international efforts to answer a variety of scientific questions have been going on since the 1980s. More recently, Stephen Hawking, a British physicist, and Yuri Milner, a Russian billionaire, along with the SETI Institute, announced a well-funded effort, called the Breakthrough Initiatives, to expand efforts to search for extraterrestrial life. All of these efforts have been in vain. No evidence of extraterrestrial life has been found.

7.) People also believe in life on other planets because the media has predisposed America and the world to this belief. For more than seventy years, we have been saturated with movies and television programs which feature aliens. These have been a major part of America's entertainment diet. Here are just some of the movies and television shows which feature extraterrestrial life: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Abyss, Alien Abduction, The Andromeda Strain, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cowboys & Aliens, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Independence Day, Lost in Space, all the Superman movies and TV shows, Men in Black, all the Star Trek movies and TV shows, all the Star Wars movies, The War of the Worlds, The X Files, etc. For a more complete listing, see; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_featuring_extraterrestrials

The viewing audience would recognize any of these movies as fictional. However, most would say that these movies are based on reality, and that reality is that somewhere out there are intelligent life forms on other planets. And even though we have never encountered such creatures, most believe that they are there and that it's only a matter of time before we meet them, and hopefully they will be friendly!

8.) Another major influence in the development of an extraterrestrial mindset is the numerous accounts of UFO sightings and even UFO abductions. Yet to date there has never been any sighting or abduction which has been so well documented (by photos, eyewitnesses, physical evidence, etc.) as to convince everyone. No one doubts that the Titanic sank in the Atlantic or that the terrorist attack on 9/11 took place because the evidence is indisputable. UFO believers have never been able to produce this kind of indisputable evidence. Creation Ministries International has a wealth of material answering almost every question about UFOs. The following link is a good place to start:

9.) After this age has run its course, the next age, the Kingdom Age, will be ushered in. Scores of Bible passages make it very clear that the Messiah, Jesus Christ the Son of God, will be the exalted King during that time, and will reign from His Davidic throne in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-4; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 2:15-16; Luke 1:31-33). His reign will be on this earth, and not on any other planet. During the Kingdom Age, the earth is given preeminence and priority, and there is not the slightest hint that any other planet or any other intelligent life forms are involved.

10.) The total destruction of the earth and the universe is predicted in the Scriptures in such passages as 2 Peter chapter 3, Matthew 24:35 and Revelation 20:11. In these end-of-the-world prophesies, the earth is given preeminence and priority. It is the earth that "shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10) in a cataclysmic destruction by fire. The universe also will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:10-12; Matthew 24:35; Revelation 20:11), but no other planets are mentioned or singled out by name, just the earth. This destruction will be followed by the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, a new universe uniquely prepared for eternity (Revelation 21:1; 2 Peter 3:13). Again, the earth plays a major role in God's prophetic drama, and no other planets are mentioned.

Dear Friend, The Creator of this universe, the Almighty One, paid a visit to this planet two thousand years ago. "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son" (Galatians 4:4). "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14). "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). This is the visit from outer space that we need to concern ourselves with.

The tragedy is that so many people believe in aliens, but they don't believe in the Son of God who came to bring them salvation and ETERNAL life!

Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust (the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones), that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). And after His victorious and finished work on the cross He rose again from the dead and "passed into the heavens" (Hebrews 4:14). The tragedy is that so many people believe in aliens but they don't believe in the Son of God who came to bring them salvation and eternal life: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:11-12). Choose life today! "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

I was taken in by the “life in outer space” brainwashing for many decades.

It was in books, newspapers, movies, TV, radio, school (all grades and then college) and most folks I knew seemed to believe in all of it.

It is utter nonsense—but it may take another scientific revolution to wade through all the scams.

My take (read this as eisegesis vs exegesis) is that the word "be" in Genesis 1 as verse 3's "let there be light" and verse 14's "let there be firmaments" (sun, moon and stars) may not necessarily mean to come into existence. The Hebrew word hāyâ, according to that Strong's link, has multiple definitions. One of which is "to arise, appear, come".

So it may be that God didn't create the sun, moon, and stars (day 4) after light (day 1). It may be that verse 14 is telling us that it's time for the sun, moon, and stars to appear on day 4. (Think of the earth starting out as a blob of dust and water particles with no way for a person standing on what the ground is now being able to see through the sun through the dense clouds of the atmosphere. But eventually the particles coalesce enough to have a ground and thin enough clouds to see the sun.)

And of course, the word "day", Hebrew word yôm, could mean a 24 hour day or could mean an era. The same kind of meanings for evening and morning (possibly beginning and ending of a daytime, or possible beginning and ending of an era).

Put that all together, and there's not much there there in the Bible text to firmly say that God created the earth in 6 24-hour days with the sun, moon, and stars created after light. Nor is there a lot to firmly say that the creation events lasted long eras with the sun, moon, and stars already created before the light in "day" 1, but not appearing until "day" 4.

What we can say for sure IMHO (think exegesis) is that natural selection isn't how we were made, not even with what some call "theistic evolution" (the belief that God created natural selection and the earliest organisms then sat back and watched us eventually evolve into human beings). However long ago creation was, and however long it took, the Bible text is clear on the process of creating man. God made us in His image, from the dust of the ground, and breathed life into us. That level of intimate detail is way different from natural selection.

The solar system is thought to be 4.5 billion years old, and life on earth supposedly began 4 billion years ago, but the first multi-cellular life is only 600 million years old. So if there is life on other planets it could be a very primitive kind.

Maybe someday science will find evidence of life on other planets. Or maybe little green men will show up on earth (here for the chocolate).

I am reminded of Galileo's saying, "The Bible tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go."

I am reminded of Galileo's saying, "The Bible tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go."

If Galileo said that, he was quoting St. Augustine, who was making the point that the Bible was not meant to teach us science.

As a corollary to this, science is not meant to be a replacement for Divine revelation. The Bible is true (though it is subject to misinterpretation) and that truth does not change, even as God is unchanging. Science can also be true, but it is always subject not only to misinterpretation, but to revision as more facts about a certain subject are uncovered. The two cannot contradict each other, but sometimes they only apparently do because of our misinterpretations and lack of the complete facts. All truth is God's truth and, given all facts and the proper interpretation of those facts, will never contradict each other.

John 5:45–47 – “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Jesus says one must believe Moses’ writings, including Exodus 20:11, which states: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it”

Was Moses reiterating the creation as having been over a literal 7 day period? I believe so and since Jesus said to believe Moses writings you cannot discount the creation story as being 7 literal days.

Yet you are right to say that however it all Happened, that it was God that was in the middle of it and thus, I otherwise have no other strong feelings about the matter.

I agree that Exodus 20:11 is a good reason to lean towards short creation days. If the Sabbath day or rest after 6 days of work is to be like God's day of rest after his 6 creation days, it seems to suggest that God's creation days are 24-hour days.

But then you have passages like Hebrews 4:9-11 -- 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

If God's rest day is still going on from the time of creation at least to the time of the book of Hebrews, that suggests that maybe the other creation days last a really long time too.

Note that in both cases I used words like "suggest". I don't see anything definitive (implication) of Exodus 20 that the creation days are short, nor anything definitive in Hebrews 4 that the creation days are long. Only causes for us to lean one way or the other, not enough to draw a line in the sand and know for sure (about the length of time for God's creation).

Would any of the ancient prominent names we read in the Bible before the flood of Noah’s day, Enoch and Noah, for instance; or after the flood, Abraham, Isaak, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Moses, David, etc.; or in New Testament times, the 12 disciples, the apostle Paul, know the science that we all know today? They didn’t have the James Webb telescope to see past our galaxy, or modern telescopes used in labs today.

If it was critical for Moses who wrote Genesis, to know the science we know today, why didn’t God who inspired Moses tell him?

The answer is, of course, the Bible is not a book of modern science, it is a book of theology and eschatology (prophecy).

Not even Jesus the Son of God, who was God manifest in the flesh - surely he would know all science - taught the science we know today. No, he taught the things that have to do with our eternal destination, theology and eschatology. He taught salvation.

How is it Jesus let the peoples of his day, continue to believe “in six days God created the heavens and the earth, and rested the seventh day,” Adam and Eve and the great flood? these things being presupposed in everything he said?

He knew the end from the beginning, yet he kept the focus on salvation, man’s eternal destiny, he was, and is, after all, the savior of the world. He knew more about science than all of us put together, but he kept the focus where it should be. It really does come down to faith, faith in the one God who created all things, and provided salvation for us all through Christ the Son of God.

where are the facts for that?

we do have facts of when some things happened or were made from some thousands of years ago, but no actual facts of things made more than 10,000 years ago.

lots of guessing by view or machines says things are older, but no written or actual way to substantiate it beyond 10,000 years.

I once knew a geologist. He was so bought into his system of dating things. He didnt want to consider various very recent flood results (in US even) that totally negated his beliefs that Grand Canyon took really long to be created.

His religious belief of science would not let him consider factoring in true happenings in his own life time !

His wife had wacky thinking too. She assumed her driving a gas guzzling SUV’s carbon emissions were cancelled out by her husband driving a Prius !

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