Barry H. Downing was pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church, Endwell, New York. He writes:
"The central event in the Old Testament is the Exodus; the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt, so the Bible reports, and God sent an "angel" to Moses and called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. After various plagues came upon the Egyptians, the Israelites escaped, and for the next 40 years "the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night" (Exodus 13:21). This strange aerial object looked cloudlike during the day and glowed in the dark, a description often associated with modern flying saucers (UFOs). Eventually this strange "cloud" seemed to defeat the Egyptians in battle; it gave guidance and instructions to Moses, and this "angel" from God even provided Moses with the Ten Commandments....
The New Testament focuses on the person of a man named Jesus, who is recorded to have said, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world" (John 8:23). Jesus often claimed to have come from another world; he is reported to have had contact with beings from another world, such as during his Resurrection from the dead. He accepted the teachings of Moses, and claimed to be part of a whole plan which included the Old Testament religion.
After Jesus had finished his ministry on Earth, the Bible reports that he was taken off into space in something which might be a space vehicle. The disciples were gathered with Jesus on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem, and when he finished speaking "as they [the disciples] were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9).
But how could Jesus have been taken off into space in a cloud?.....He did not come from our world; he came from another world, and eventually he returned to that world in a "cloud." Once Jesus asked, "Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?" (John 6:62). Ordinary white, fluffy cumulus clouds do not carry people off into space. In the space age I believe that we are compelled to ask: "Was this an ordinary cloud, or was this the way the Bible described some sort of space vehicle? This ascension "cloud" is one example of many "Unidentified Flying Objects" (UFOs) which are described in the Bible. There is no reason to expect Biblical people to call a flying saucer a flying saucer even if they saw one. But if they should have contact with a flying saucer, what would they call it? A "cloud"? I do not think that the Biblical people believed that ordinary clouds carry people about in space....Just as UFO is a "short" form for Unidentified Flying Object, so a "cloud" is the Bible's "short" form for some sort of space vehicle which seems to look and operate very much like modern flying saucers."
(from the book "The Bible and Flying Saucers" by Barry H. Downing)
"The central event in the Old Testament is the Exodus; the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt, so the Bible reports, and God sent an "angel" to Moses and called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. After various plagues came upon the Egyptians, the Israelites escaped, and for the next 40 years "the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night" (Exodus 13:21). This strange aerial object looked cloudlike during the day and glowed in the dark, a description often associated with modern flying saucers (UFOs). Eventually this strange "cloud" seemed to defeat the Egyptians in battle; it gave guidance and instructions to Moses, and this "angel" from God even provided Moses with the Ten Commandments....
The New Testament focuses on the person of a man named Jesus, who is recorded to have said, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world" (John 8:23). Jesus often claimed to have come from another world; he is reported to have had contact with beings from another world, such as during his Resurrection from the dead. He accepted the teachings of Moses, and claimed to be part of a whole plan which included the Old Testament religion.
After Jesus had finished his ministry on Earth, the Bible reports that he was taken off into space in something which might be a space vehicle. The disciples were gathered with Jesus on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem, and when he finished speaking "as they [the disciples] were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9).
But how could Jesus have been taken off into space in a cloud?.....He did not come from our world; he came from another world, and eventually he returned to that world in a "cloud." Once Jesus asked, "Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?" (John 6:62). Ordinary white, fluffy cumulus clouds do not carry people off into space. In the space age I believe that we are compelled to ask: "Was this an ordinary cloud, or was this the way the Bible described some sort of space vehicle? This ascension "cloud" is one example of many "Unidentified Flying Objects" (UFOs) which are described in the Bible. There is no reason to expect Biblical people to call a flying saucer a flying saucer even if they saw one. But if they should have contact with a flying saucer, what would they call it? A "cloud"? I do not think that the Biblical people believed that ordinary clouds carry people about in space....Just as UFO is a "short" form for Unidentified Flying Object, so a "cloud" is the Bible's "short" form for some sort of space vehicle which seems to look and operate very much like modern flying saucers."
(from the book "The Bible and Flying Saucers" by Barry H. Downing)
