[Polycarp]

A final, related point: Christians should not be cowed by the materialist’s logic of probability, which had its birth in Epicurus and Lucretius. The logic runs thus: Our sun is a star; since the number of stars is so vast, sheer probability demands that there must be other inhabited planets beyond our solar system. But probability does not demand any such thing, unless we think (with Epicurus) that the universe is governed by chance, and that, of course, would be a reason to give up our Christianity, not to rerig its cosmology.

I can already hear the parting objection: "But what would you do if extraterrestrials actually show up? It is possible, after all. And the Church hasn’t pronounced one way or the other."

I am as prepared for the arrival of extraterrestrials as I am for that of elves, and for the same reason: All evidence points to their nonexistence, and yet it remains a very, very remote possibility — so remote that to change our central doctrines to accommodate either possibility would be folly.

(Impatiently awaiting the Lord of the Rings The Two Towers arrival of the elves )

ping... ;-)

[Desdemona]

I am as prepared for the arrival of extraterrestrials as I am for that of elves,

I don't know about you, but I'm prepared for the Oompa-Loompas.

[My2Cents]

There's probably a greater likelihood that elves are real than the likelihood that extraterrestrials are real.

[sitetest]

Dear Polycarp,

"(Impatiently awaiting the Lord of the Rings The Two Towers arrival of the elves )"

Indeed. I took tomorrow off for the grand event.


sitetest

[yendu bwam]

Hey Polycarp,

I too am waiting impatiently for The Two Towers! But on extraterrestrial life, I don't know. It's certainly possible that part of God's purpose is to draw forth living beings in different parts of the universe, and to help them achieve enough goodness to unite with Him. Jesus says the he will prepare a room for us in his father's house, and that his father's house has many rooms. We were created in God's image. But others may also have been, no?

[ninenot]

Straw man. Christian doctrine does not have to "change" if there are other populations in the universe. There's no doctrinal statement either way, logically.

All we NEED to know for salvation is taught by the Church.

And that's all we NEED to know.

[ColdSteelTalon]

Just remember folks, the Bible says that the Earth is round not flat.