Posted on 01/24/2011 8:55:57 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[snip]
Aliens vs. religion?
One impact that extraterrestrials might have on society is in the sector of religion, said theologian Ted Peters at the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif. For instance, aliens might lead religions to question whether a second genesis of life elsewhere belongs within the biblical understanding of creation. Might Jesus Christ have appeared more than once in the universe? [10 Alien Encounters Debunked]
"It's been argued for a couple of centuries now whether one incarnation of God as Jesus Christ for the entirety of creation is sufficient, with some thinking that God would do so multiple times as appropriate for the capacity of any individual species to comprehend," Peters told SPACE.com.
To see what effects the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence might have on religion, Peters and his colleagues surveyed more than 1,300 individuals worldwide from multiple religious traditions, -- including Roman Catholics, evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Mormons, Jews, Buddhists and non-religious groups.
They found the vast majority of religious believers — regardless of religion — were overwhelmingly confident that they wouldn’t suffer a collapse in faith in the face of evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. In addition, roughly one-third of religious people thought that the faith of other religions would be threatened, while two-thirds of nonreligious people thought that aliens would sway the faith of the religious as a whole.
Can space change religious beliefs?
There are many open questions as to how people on Earth might view beliefs from space. Could advances that alien civilizations could bring be perceived much like a secular form of salvation? Might advanced civilizations and their perhaps equally advanced philosophies make our religions feel primitive?.......
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Not quite...
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
If so-called ET's do arrive here with great pomp and ceremony in full view of all,I wouldn't mind betting they will have plenty to say about God and religion.
"It is also obvious that there is some spiritual aspect to the phenomenon. That is troublesome"
That could turn out to be one of the understatements of the century.
This seems to be an important point to touch. Discussing this is good for both of us. You are a pleasure in conversation, and NEVER get snotty like many who post on this site.
I could be very wrong concerning the topic of ETs; but, I have read quite a lot of material and I am keeping an open mind. I have integrated the very real possibility of ET contact into my Faith, and that Faith is still very much alive. Specifically, that we are saved by Faith in Christ through Grace alone. There is "high weirdness" related to some ET/UFO sightings; and, that should give pause to the ET believer.
Oh, I wouldn’t say I never get snotty...
I’m still a sinner, after all.
Sometimes I can make myself truly ashamed, especially here on FR. Ummm, want to see who can pull the biggest booger?
You should hop over to the “Uranus” thread yesterday... :)
Paydirt! Thanks for the ping! ;-D
A man was walking his dog and his dog dropped some heavy timber, as the man was bent down scooping up the dog poop he saw an alien ship land. The aliens, seeing the man scooping up the poop walked up to the dog and said “Take us to your leader ...”
Pretty funny.
Just saw this spin-off of this here:
“Yesterday Harvard Astronomer Howard Smith announced that “we could effectively be alone in the universe.” While we may be alone in the universe, Smith is not alone in his views. The late Michael Crichton, in a lecture entitled “Aliens Cause Global Warming” said:
The belief that there are other life forms in the universe is a matter of faith. There is not a single shred of evidence for any other life forms, and in forty years of searching, none has been discovered. There is absolutely no evidentiary reason to maintain this belief.
Yet no less an esteemed theoretician than Stephen Hawking has as recently as last year declared his view that aliens almost certainly exist. SETI - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - continues, nonplussed by the naysayers. In a straw poll conducted of people working at NASA here in Houston by a friend of mine, a surprising number admitted to belief in the existence of extraterrestrials. It seemed to my friend that faith in God, at least at NASA, was inversely proportional to faith in the existence of ET.
I remember as a young college student running into a member of the Raelian movement. I was at a train station in suburban Toronto, trying to help a fellow student get money for the bus. A kind woman at a nearby restaurant refused my offer to purchase something by credit card, instead giving the person (whom I’d just met myself) a transit token. Being a little biased, I wondered if maybe the woman was a Christian. As we left her restaurant she ran after us with a pamphlet. “I really feel you need to have this” she said. It was a brochure on Raelianism.
Ever after, it’s always surprised me how people will accept belief in extraterrestrial life as “scientifically plausible,” but not belief in a “supreme designer.” The “external evidence” for both, after all, is fairly similar.
Both use, for example, information theory and design detectability in the arguments supporting their beliefs. SETI, combing the skies for a signal that is not merely noise; intelligent design proponents, combing our genetic makeup for signs of non-random information content.
Or the fact that both rely on the plausibility argument to mount a defense for their respective beliefs. Theists point to things like the anthropic principle to support the plausibility of a cosmic designer; Realians and SETI suggest the plausibility of other intelligent life given the shear size of the cosmos.
In the end, both a belief in the existence of aliens and the belief in the existence of God seem to me to rest on similar footing; not simply a “flight of fancy” or pure wishful thinking, but not purely scientifically defensible either. So the question remains: why is belief in aliens respectable to so many, but not belief in a supreme creator?”
Where are they? —Enrico Fermi
That was a wonderful post!
I would add:
“So Christ was *once* offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:28
But just for this planet. The Bible was not written for the entire Cosmos. It was written for people here. In my opinion, you are binding God to you imagination, not His. This ties into the sin of pride. You are proud that you know everything God knows, just by reading one book.
But just for this planet. The Bible was not written for the entire Cosmos. In my opinion, you are binding God to you imagination, not His. This ties into the sin of pride. You are proud that you know everything God knows, just by reading one book.
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Romans 1:21
"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." 1 John 5:20
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36
I'm guessing that you haven't availed yourself of the opportunity for salvation that you think has been made available to "earthlings."
I'm guessing that you haven't read the rest of my post in this thread.
What's the point? Scripture is very clear. Revelation describes the single return of Jesus and judgement. He also warns against adding to his revelation and anyone who does so will have his name blotted out of the book of life.
There is no other name by which we must be saved. There are not many Gods (Mormonism), but one and only one Savior, almighty God, everlasting Father. He was manifest in the flesh (once) and died (once) and no other payment anywhere in the universe is required. Jesus did it all-one time. To suggest otherwise is the add to scripture and preach a false gospel.
The point is that folks are making assumptions about my Faith in Christ; however, I made that declaration pretty clearly early on. Reading my posts might stem the tide of assumptions to the contrary.
Basically, you don't know what you are talking about or how your comments can't gain any traction if you haven't read my posts. You certainly aren't adding anything new to the conversation. You merely force the whole thing into what we software guys call "an endless loop".
The Bible describes your relationship with God, and how you come to Salvation through Christ. It is not an operator's guide to the universe. It does not describe any details regarding the physical nature of the universe; for, it deals strictly with Spiritual matters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.