Alien Ideas: Christianity and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

CRISIS magazine via CERC ^ | BENJAMIN D. WIKER

[RightWhale]

life expresses easily

Good post. Easy to follow, and what is more important, I agree with most of it. :)

"Life expresses easily" is an excellent statement, compact, concise, and contemporary.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Some folks think the collision that created the moon also created the early atmosphere and conditions that made the start of life possible -- a rare if not unique event.

The "collision" still remains a theory, although widely held, but still a theory.

[RightWhale]

Life is anything with DNA

How about RNA?

[mdmathis6]

What I find so funny about the scientist "created" bit arguement, is that should a scientist end up creating a life form, this is going to be touted as proof that there is no God and evolution is true. All it will show is that an intelligence was necessary in putting that lab produced life-form together, ie. the scientist. It doesn't actually negate the argument that an intelligence was necessary to put creation together, including our ambitious, God's beard tweaking, scientist!(ie. our God himself)

[mdmathis6]

Amen!

[MHGinTN]

I take it you've heard the joke regarding the scientists coming before God to tell Him that they had succeeded in figuring out how to create life from clay so God is no longer necessary; God nods to them, then asks them to do the experiment and show the efficacy of their theory; the scientists bend down to scoop up a couple of handfuls of clay, but God clears His throat "AHEM!" and tells them to get their own clay.

[mdmathis6]

Built in adaptibilities to changing conditions to me is another proof of intelligent design, especially in the time spans that you are refering too.

I am an RN and I see that bacteria who used to succomb to certain antibiotics have now adapted to metabolize them for lunch, or at least inactivate them by their enzymatic secretions. This adaptability, to my mind has been designed in to these simple life-forms, making them much more complex in design than our biases allow them credit for.

[mdmathis6]

Very funny....I love it.

What's more poignant this season is that God found a way to wrap himself up into some of his clay...and pay us a visit, experiencing the frailties and even the death of this clay based flesh, to give us a chance to experience His life beyond the limitations of our own clay based flesh...he put his finger into matter to pull us out beyond all matter....

[PatrickHenry]

Placemarker.

[Technogeeb]

"Cursed be Meroz, and cursed be its inhabitants," says the OT

Meroz is a plain in northern Palestine (near Wadi Julud). The reason the inhabitants were cursed was because they didn't come to the aid of Barak (an important point in scripture because it shows that God considers that failing to do something that needs to be done can be just as bad, if not worse, a sin as committing some action that shouldn't be done).

[PaulKersey]

even my seminary profs couldn't explain it. It certainly leaves the door open, doesn't it?

Yours is the best answer --- it leaves the door open.

[Pahuanui]

I will say again - if you can't come up with a logical argument of some kind, take a hike.

Thus giving support to the notion that it's a certain kind of fool that likes to hear the sound of his own name.

All further posts from you will be ignored. You are a 40-knot-wind-at-the-knees coward. Go flip some people off on the highway.

Your emotional response to having the flaws in your 'logic' pointed out to you indeed indicate someone who would not have lasted through a tour of duty in the Corps. I'm pleased they saw fit to throw you out and protect its honor.

[A.J.Armitage]

Tell that to the fundementalists who claim there is no other life in the universe because God created it ONLY on earth.

At most, the problem is with people reading into Scripture what isn't there, which is a fundamentalist no-no. So what you said would kill fundamentalist Christianity will actually do nothing more than reconfirm one of it's main principles against imperfections introduced by some followers.

Looks like I win.

I don't care about it because I think all "Religions" are wrong.

Really? I'm stunned.

Too many different beliefs between good honest people who are absolutely, positively convinced that theirs is the one true faith.

The New Testament says in several places that most people are going to Hell. So a non-Christian majority is exactly what you'd expect if Christianity is true.

Besides, atheism and agnosticism are beliefs about religious matters too, so your argument collapses in on itself.

[Pahuanui]

hahaha. What does a coward like you know about Marines? Nothing.

Quite a bit, actually, and enough to know you most likely never were one, except maybe at nap time, after juice and cookies.

[Johnny Shear]

Looks like I win.

Only if you think I'm lying about what the Christian I am speaking of said to me...In which case, you don't matter and are just looking for some kind of argument.

[exmarine]

That's where your wrong. USMC active duty 1977-1986. Served: Camp Butler (Pendleton), El Toro 3rd MAW, MCAS Tustin, CA - two six month pumps with HMM-268 to Okinawa 1982 and 1984; finished up working for MWHS-3, 3rd MAW. Total service: 9 years, 2 months, 9 days. Honorable discharge, final rank E-5 Sergeant. Decorations: NAM, GCM, MUC. Know what the abbreviations mean yellow belly?

[exmarine]

Your emotional response to having the flaws in your 'logic' pointed out to you indeed indicate someone who would not have lasted through a tour of duty in the Corps. I'm pleased they saw fit to throw you out and protect its honor.

What flaws did you point out? I didn't notice any arguments from you only insults. Please point me to where you pointed out faulty logic. Now you are a LIAR.

[exmarine]

The axioms are not faulty. They come from a book called the "Anthropic Principle" written by a bunch of scientists. It is further reinforced by Dr. Hugh Ross, Ph.D. of astrophysics. Visit www.reasons.org for more info.

[Mark17]

One thing that many UFOlogists haven't considered (at least most of them haven't considered) is that the various sitings of UFO may be spiritual in origin -- manifestations of spirit beings. The "experiences" of being abducted may be an elaborate psychic hoax perpetrated by spiritual beings on gullible humans dedicated to keeping people from the truth of the gospel of Christ. This I'm willing to believe.

Bingo. I believe you've got it. I think it is all related to Genesis 6, where the sons of God came unto the daughters of men.

[exmarine]

Tell you what wimpy knees, why don't we compare notes to see who knows more about the USMC, shall we? You can start with telling me what the abbreviations stand for in my last post.