Genesis 1:1; Could God Have Made Humans On Other Planets?

AuthorRobSigmon said:

Does the Hebrew translation of Genesis 1:1 leave the door open that God created life on other planets?

[FONT=&quot]From my Hebrew classes I always wondered about the plural designation of ”Na Shamayim” the word for Heavens. God created the Heavens and the Earth. This could have just as easily been written in the singular form – “Heaven” but the “im” at the end of the Hebrew word makes it plural.[/FONT]

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There are three heavens mentioned in scripture, 1. the immediate atmosphere where the clouds and birds are, 2. The cosmos, where the sun, moon, stars and planets are, 3. The domain of God.

Disclosure came to us from Ephesians 3.

8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

AuthorRobSigmon said:

Yes, that is a great point. I am most interested in the second option referring to other planets. The Hebrew word is certainly plural but the Greek translation of the New Testament verses cited are singular. If there are other planets with life, I would think God would also make those beings "male and female in His image" like humans are on Earth.

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An interesting fragment from Egypt explains quite a bit about the prehistory of the early universe. You can hear echoes of biblical stories from this, including many details that should not have been known at the time. Another interesting source for such things is 2nd Esdras, the book of Enoch and the book of Jasher. Enoch and Jasher are each referenced from within the Bible. The Egyptian source is not, but has value. It's an amazing read for such an old work.

Kore Kosmou

Have always wondered what could keep an IMMORTAL God 'busy'. You know, like BEFORE 'we' were created. What was 'God' doing? Surely He is not static. And when we consider the age of this Earth, what was God DOING while the Earth was being prepared for our arrival?

And then we are forced to consider: Each time scientist believe they have discovered the edge of the Universe, when they create stronger means of looking further, they aren't even CLOSE. It seems to go on into eternity. That leaves a LOT of room for a LOT of 'Earthtype' creations. And one's that we could NEVER be able to locate ourselves. For that's JUST HOW BIG the Universe is. So big that there would potentially be MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of other planets JUST LIKE EARTH. And in our brief time as a part of the Universe, we could all be here at the same time and never run into each other.

While we are given no specific information that God has created other 'life' in the Universe, that in no way indicates He hasn't.

Blessings,

MEC

Imagican said:

While we are given no specific information that God has created other 'life' in the Universe, that in no way indicates He hasn't.

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About 20 years ago I was listening to James Dobson's show on the radio. He had an astronomer on with him and they were discussing a meteorite that crashed in Antarctica which was assumed to be from Mars and had amino acid remnants.

They both agreed that it was vital that the source of the amino acid residue be determined to be of earthly origin rather than Martian. The alternative (if it WAS Martian) meant that "Carl Sagan is right, there is no God, ..."

DaveW-Ohev said:

About 20 years ago I was listening to James Dobson's show on the radio. He had an astronomer on with him and they were discussing a meteorite that crashed in Antarctica which was assumed to be from Mars and had amino acid remnants.

They both agreed that it was vital that the source of the amino acid residue be determined to be of earthly origin rather than Martian. The alternative (if it WAS Martian) meant that "Carl Sagan is right, there is no God, ..."

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How would finding evidence of life on Mars mean that there is no God?

Even if there were other planets with possibly other forms of life created by God, certainly we are special and we are the elected ones because Christ our God chose to incarnate here in our planet and He chose to run His plan of salvation and redemption here, guys Though I can't imagine how finding life on other planets be evidence that our faith in Christ is false, if we find life on other planets we can just ask Christ about it and if He wants, He will answer

the holy history of g-d layed out in the bible, which was written for the present dispensation, only pertains to life, nations, cultures, people groups, families and individuals on this earth. in no way does it negate other life on other planets which must exist, since g-d is a g-d of multiplication (abraham) which is a natural thing for him to do. in his wisdom he has limited our knowledge, but if you compare the galaxies stars and planets to villages on a map, you know there are people in your village, for you have talked to them and seen them. now a few miles further theres another thing that looks similar, yet a bit different to your village, but you havent been there, only seen it on a map. does that mean there are no people living in that village ? think about it. never put g-d in a box. cause that box is gonna break.

Wryetui said:

Even if there were other planets with possibly other forms of life created by God, certainly we are special and we are the elected ones because Christ our God chose to incarnate here in our planet and He chose to run His plan of salvation and redemption here, guys

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I accept this with the tongue in cheek with which you seem to saying it

Though I can't imagine how finding life on other planets be evidence that our faith in Christ is false, if we find life on other planets we can just ask Christ about it and if He wants, He will answer

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That seems to remain in the Father. But my guess is another earth like God says He will make will have men created in His image like this one, who like us, struggle to understand Him, and always seem to think they know everything God has to reveal....

Eastern Orthodoxy is the one true path to Christ

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And here I've thought it was the scriptures and the Holy Spirit all my life...

P.S. Considering the surprising number of "yes" votes, it seems that other worlds God would create would have to have Saviors. "And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s."

1:2 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Another Hebrew plural.

No, we are the only humans. However, Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 dictate two different timelines on the Earth. The millions of years ago that God created the Earth with all the dinosaurs and the millions of years that passed between the ice age and creation of humanity.

drstevej said:

1:2 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Another Hebrew plural.

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That word does not exist in the singular.

I cannot see how anyone could answer no to the question. I see no reason for God to be incapable of doing anything he pleased to do. What would make him unable to? Now the questions "Did God do this" or "Do you think God might have done this" are very different ones but to ask "Could God do it" seems like a no brainer to me .

I find it amusing that most seem to believe that if God had created life on other worlds that IT would have chosen the same path as life on this planet.

What IF? What IF Eve had not been deceived by the serpent and convinced Adam to disobey as well?

In other words, what IF, what if God had created life on a planet without the presence of the serpent? Life that OBEYED from the BEGINNING and NEEDED no 'savior'?

How about this: What IF there was a 'planet' created JUST LIKE Earth WITH the exact same 'rebellion' as took place here on this earth, but THAT earth was created five thousand years BEFORE this one. And what IF the 'great battle' that is going to take place on this Earth had already taken place on THAT earth and God has already REPLACED that earth with a NEW earth and the 'Satan' of that earth is already LOCKED UP for a thousand years. Already separated from the life on that earth?

You see, we just DON'T know. Yes, OUR Bible, the words we have been given by God are pertaining to THIS 'creation'. But we have NO idea if there are not OTHER Bibles on OTHER worlds pertaining strictly to THEIR existence.

It's all mere speculation. But it's an awful BIG universe. I was just watching the news this morning. they stated that the Hubble is capable to looking over three and a half BILLION light years distance. Imagine that. The distance it takes light to travel in 3.5 BILLION years. Certainly makes one WONDER. Is the light we are seeing from a star a MILLION light years away TRULY a MILLION years OLD? Well that would mean that the star would have to be over a MILLION years OLD for us to see it's light a million years LATER.

No one HAS to believe what science offers. I don't agree with all of it. But it's pretty apparent to me that we HAVE learned to measure the 'speed of light' and it travels at 186,000 miles per second. PER SECOND. So the light we are seeing from the Sun is INDEED close to ten minutes old by the time we SEE it. We can also measure ACCURATELY the speed of sound as well. Not ROCKET science, just things we HAVE LEARNED over TIME.

So, it is ridiculous to reason that it's POSSIBLE that God has created planets and placed life upon them ALL OVER the universe. What vanity it is to even THINK that God is SOLELY interested in THIS tiny planet and the 'myriad' life He has placed upon it. He may be busy with MILLIONS of planets JUST like this one. Or even DIFFERENT than this one. Who knows. Eternity is a LONG TIME to stay busy.............

Blessings,

MEC

TheBarrd said:

How would finding evidence of life on Mars mean that there is no God?

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It would not. It would only mean that the extra-biblical conclusions they had reached would be proven incorrect.

grasping the after wind said:

I cannot see how anyone could answer no to the question. I see no reason for God to be incapable of doing anything he pleased to do. What would make him unable to? Now the questions "Did God do this" or "Do you think God might have done this" are very different ones but to ask "Could God do it" seems like a no brainer to me .

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Yes, this.

"Could God have made humans on other planets?"

In terms of capability, certainly, yes God could do that.

And what does "human" mean to God? The word "human" itself does not appear in scripture, nor is there a clear representation in scripture of what "humans" mean by "human."

In Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (the basis of the movie "Blade Runner"), Dick's replicants actually join a human religious movement, blurring the line between "natural-born human" and "artificially created human" even further than the movie did.

If a replicant--or a talking dolphin from a world of water--proclaims Jesus as his Lord, what is there in scripture that actually asserts otherwise? What does "in our image" actually mean to God?

The whole bible is about a war in heaven, some entities do reside on other planets, but they dont look like us, they dont have bodies of flesh, and therefore are not confined to the laws of physics as we are. So, they can travel about, even within the time line. Hence the 1/3 stars being drawn in the dragons tail.

Think of all the wild creatures depicted in heaven, there are more than just men. There are beasts, not just men. There are millions of planets out there, it is very possible God has made other life, other than just us. Yet they would all serve the same God, in the same ways. But all of this is just speculation.