How would creationist deal with alien life?

[Matthewj1985]

Since Genesis does not talk about little green men I have always wondered how many biblical literalist would deal with the inevitable (IMHO) discovery of alien life. Chances are pretty high that we won't find anyone anywhere near our level of intelligence but what if we did? What if we found a planet much like ours with a race at least as smart as chimps? We are talking about self aware beings who have culture, language, art and possibly even their own religion/mythology. How would creationism deal with this?

 

[AV1611VET]

Since Genesis does not talk about little green men I have always wondered how many biblical literalist would deal with the inevitable (IMHO) discovery of alien life.

We'd take the Gospel to them --- the Fall corrupted the entire universe.

Chances are pretty high that we won't find anyone anywhere near our level of intelligence but what if we did?

In evolutionary philosophy, if one finds life on another planet, depending on which way one looked --- toward the CMB or away from it --- alien life would either be less advanced (toward) or more advanced (away) --- unless the planet in question had resources conducive to, or retardant to, evolution. Again though, there are many variables that would hinder the intellectual development of another planet.

What if we found a planet much like ours with a race at least as smart as chimps? We are talking about self aware beings who have culture, language, art and possibly even their own religion/mythology.

It would be bedlam. Professional news crews and interviewers would jam the waiting rooms of NASA and SETI trying to get an interview with one of them. Disk arrays and gantrys would come crumbling down as people would be climbing them to get to the top. Roofs of buildings would collapse under the weight of stampeders carrying their cameras, and other recording equipment, trying to get on the next space shuttle to the planet. Pandemonium would break out, and the governors of Florida and Colorado (?) would declare NASA and SETI states of emergency. Local observatories would be jammed with newsmen trampling one another to death, and stampedes of newsmen, reporters, and lawyers across major interstates skirting these edifices would result in traffic fatalities and major traffic jams. Planes would be hijacked by people demanding to be taken to "the inhabited planet", and songs like FLY ME TO THE MOON and MAJOR TOM would come back in vogue as people would be playing them over and over non-stop. [/end my opinion]

How would creationism deal with this?

Creationism wouldn't do a thing --- creationists would just wait to see it on the 6:00 news.

 

[70x7]

Here are my thoughts on the matter: (sorry, Just copied it over cause its some typing)

I think that the idea of these "aliens or UFOS" being spiritualistic carries a more logical premise than life on other planets and here is why I think that.....

IF there were life on other planets that would be known to contact this planet (earth), I would think that would be something worth mentioning. To say that God didnt think that was important...not sure. I won't speak on behalf of Him as I am far from worthy!
Remember, God sent His ONLY Son to be born in our likeness to die for our sins. Jesus is said to have only died once. With this being the case, that would say that either these other life forms were perfect and did not need a redeemer, or these life forms (as we are comparing them to humans) did not exist.

IF they do not need a redeemer, than that would say 2 things also.
1. They choose not to sin but are able (like angels say)
2. They are incapable of sin (like God).
I think that its easy to scratch #2 off the list right away as there are none like God.

Lets play on the first and explore that they are angelic beings.
Since angels can be both working for God and for satan, then that means 2 types.
If they are Holy angels, then why and what are they doing here?
Although I would like to think that there are better ways to appear to man than hovering over Roswell, I guess it could be a possiblity.
If they work for satan, then why and what are they doing here?
So far the only things to come of UFOs are confusion of the people and the questioning of the existance of God. To me, this seems more of a likely scenario.

 

[70x7]

...double post

 

[laptoppop]

For an interesting read, I recommend C.S. Lewis' space trilogy. It deals with the concept of intelligent life on other planets.

Since Scripture is basically silent about life on other planets, it wouldn't bug me either way.

 

[RobertByers]

As posters said here the fall affected the whole universe.
So this would mean alien life was affected by the actions of a few on earth. Seems impossible that this would be so. It would mean some intelligent life lived for eons without death etc and suddenly they live in death. Likewise humans on earth could be as obediant to god as one would want and yet have death thrown on us from the actions on another planet. NAW.

The answer could only be that only on earth is there life.
Indeed the bible says Gods shadow brought life and not the planet itself. Gods shadow never was at work on other planets.
There's enough of us here and too many bad ones to look elsewhere. The thinking bible believing Christian can only conclude we are alone.

 

[Assyrian]

We'd take the Gospel to them --- the Fall corrupted the entire universe.

It did?

In evolutionary philosophy, if one finds life on another planet, depending on which way one looked --- toward the CMB or away from it --- alien life would either be less advanced (toward) or more advanced (away) --- unless the planet in question had resources conducive to, or retardant to, evolution. Again though, there are many variables that would hinder the intellectual development of another planet.

Interesting point about towards CMB though. Any alien life we observe further than 6,000 light years away, would have to be prefall.

RobertByers does have a point, the concept leads to some pretty absurd conclusions. I disagree that the only answer is the the earth is alone. The real problem lies in a doctrine of the fall that goes way beyond anything the bible says. That is where the absurdities come from.

I would go with Laptoppop and CSLewis on this one, though Lewis really should have checked out the science in his science fiction. Was it Lewis who suggested you would float higher in the water if you swim on Mars because gravity is less?

 

[shernren]

I was almost about to answer that you would indeed float higher. D'oh! Just goes to show how deeply counterintuitive even basic physics can be.

Anyhow. I sure hope we don't discover other life forms in the universe, not at least for another millenium or two. Without space travel, and the other planets we know of being so far away, any kind of life form that is loud enough to be discovered by our primitive devices is sure to be very far ahead of us in technology. And what're the odds that they'll be friendly? Reminds me of the old cheesy sci-fi joke:

Q: What do you call an alien with a death ray?
A: "Sir yes sir!"

 

[busterdog]

Since Genesis does not talk about little green men I have always wondered how many biblical literalist would deal with the inevitable (IMHO) discovery of alien life. Chances are pretty high that we won't find anyone anywhere near our level of intelligence but what if we did? What if we found a planet much like ours with a race at least as smart as chimps? We are talking about self aware beings who have culture, language, art and possibly even their own religion/mythology. How would creationism deal with this?

With photon torpedoes, obviously.

You wont catch me with my phasers on stun!

 

[shernren]

On a more serious level, do we know that chimps are "self-aware beings who have culture, language, art, and possibly even their own religion/mythology"?

And would we be wise to place the referents for these phenomena in "intelligence"? I.e. should we expect culture, language, art and religion to be developments of sheer brainpower alone? Or does it require something else?

After all, it seems that even human infants up to 18 months old can fail the "mirror test" (recognizing that the image in the mirror is actually you, instead of just another picture in your field of vision). They aren't as intelligent as adult humans (by most measures ). Are they self-aware? The mirror test seems to suggest not. Does this mean that they somehow have less of a soul (for theists) or are somehow less human (for atheists)? I suspect the answer would be no - so our humanness or our soulishness would not rest in our intellect or even something as basic (something so monkey) as self-awareness.

Humanness is conferred, not earned.

 

[shernren]

Since Genesis does not talk about little green men ...

Maybe not, but:

This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. The second beast was allowed to breathe life into the image of the first beast, so that the image could talk and put to death all those who would not worship it.
[Rev 13:13-15 GNB]
​

Orbital cannons, and a giant talking death-ray-wielding robot! And you thought H.G. Wells was ahead of his time.

 

[busterdog]

I don't think alien intelligence fits the worldview if you accept scriptural inerrancy. You can say the Word is silent, but I prefer the view that it is comprehensive. But, it is not as if alien life is really in anyone's worldview anyway -- which was part of the point of the movie "Contact". It is so far beyond your reality that speculation is not all that relevant.

You wouldnt despise Admiral Khan if he appeared. That is not biblical.

Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Would you love the alien like a brother? I think you would be looking for God to speak to know what the heck is going on.

Simplistic answers here are the best.

 

[juvenissun]

I don't like to speculate on if there were alien intelligent life or not. I am more interested in reasoning if there were life out there at all. To find organic molecules, no matter how large is it, is not equivalent to find life. The issue has been discussed many times: what is the thing that can be called life?

Any discussable speculation need to be based on something, otherwise, it would be meaningless. I would say there are organic and functional systems out in the space. But I would not called them life or lives, much less on the intelligent side. This is based on the Genesis 1. Life form is only created on Day 5, which happened only on the earth. The Scripture does not mention life on any place other than the earth. The means life only exists on the earth. It is a standard view of Creationist.

Before SETI received signals from any intelligent source, the Genesis 1 should be the best source for any speculation on this issue.

------

Edit: Couldn't resist to say this: TE people should have no doubt that there ARE many many intelligent lives out there. Some situations like that described in the Star Trek.

 

[busterdog]

I don't like to speculate on if there were alien intelligent life or not. I am more interested in reasoning if there were life out there at all. To find organic molecules, no matter how large is it, is not equivalent to find life. The issue has been discussed many times: what is the thing that can be called life?

Any discussable speculation need to be based on something, otherwise, it would be meaningless. I would say there are organic and functional systems out in the space. But I would not called them life or lives, much less on the intelligent side. This is based on the Genesis 1. Life form is only created on Day 5, which happened only on the earth. The Scripture does not mention life on any place other than the earth. The means life only exists on the earth. It is a standard view of Creationist.

Before SETI received signals from any intelligent source, the Genesis 1 should be the best source for any speculation on this issue.
.

Interesting point of information science: what is the best source of information on the issue. The quality of information is certainly one of two things: 1. way too spot; or 2. way over our heads. Either way, we are not terribly qualified to deal with the issue.

The case to be made under Genesis is largely inferential. That doesnt mean we understand it. I think it means we have information that is either too sparse or too sophisticated for us (obviously a view informed by inerrancy).

But, you are right, what better information is there? There is evidence of UFOs (whether its good or bad, its evidence), but this really rises no higher or with any greater clarity that what we already have regarding angels and fallen angels. Except for the anal probe thing -- TMI obviously.

The inferential case on the basis of Genesis is not just based upon silence (not a comfortable position), but also based upon structure. Everything is structured upon YOM, the day. Six day week and a Sabbath. That is a human scale for creation.

However, everything we know is based upon a very particular redemptive plan. Think about it. All these other beings -- angels, demons, devils, spirits -- would appear to be completely outside of the scope of our redemptive program (except those who join in worship). Whatever their particular deal is, we get a hint of it only because of the way it fits into our redemption. We know nothing about whether redemption is possible for them or whether they all want or need it. That is again, a human scale for everything that we know. But, it also suggests a filter on the information we receive. There is a real shortage of information on anything that does not bear upon our redemption. So, what do we know?

 

[shernren]

So, what do we know?

Like I said, orbital cannon installations and death ray robots.

I don't know how creationists plan to deal with alien life but it seems the Antichrist has got it sorted. If hostile aliens come a-knocking I reckon fire from heaven would be a pretty effective deterrent.

Especially if they really are little green men.

Happy New Year everyone.

 

[AV1611VET]

Like I said, orbital cannon installations and death ray robots.

I don't know how creationists plan to deal with alien life but it seems the Antichrist has got it sorted. If hostile aliens come a-knocking I reckon fire from heaven would be a pretty effective deterrent.

Especially if they really are little green men.

Happy New Year everyone.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you too, Shernren!

Is that the Martian Manhunter? (I think his alter ego is Jon Jonzz?)

If so, fire is his weakness - (if I remember right).

 

[billwald]

>We'd take the Gospel to them --- the Fall corrupted the entire universe.

Where in the Genesis story does anyone get that idea? God is very specific in Genesis: snakes, death, childbirth, and weeds.

 

[daveleau]

Since Genesis does not talk about little green men I have always wondered how many biblical literalist would deal with the inevitable (IMHO) discovery of alien life. Chances are pretty high that we won't find anyone anywhere near our level of intelligence but what if we did? What if we found a planet much like ours with a race at least as smart as chimps? We are talking about self aware beings who have culture, language, art and possibly even their own religion/mythology. How would creationism deal with this?

How would anyone deal with the issue of alien life? It is not just a biblical literalist. There are plenty of events not covered in Scripture. Quite simply, aliens would have no bearing on our salvation or relationship with God, and are therefore not mentioned. This fact does not make a statement to the positive or negative regarding the issue of life elsewhere in the universe. The answer would be that God created them, just as He created us.

How does a non-creationist deal with life on earth or elsewhere? I have never seen a viable reaction to the origins of life by any non-creationist, as science proved the prebiotic soup could not have created life 120 years ago. (This is a statement of fact by several scientists.) The great Richard Dawkins has stated this. Dawkins pushes off the question of life on earth by saying an extraterrestrial rock brought life to earth, yet he has no answer to the genesis of life.

History will continue to repeat itself, and scientists will continue to strive for the peaks of knowledge only to find that theologians have been on those peaks for thousands of years.

In Him,
Dave

 

[busterdog]

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you too, Shernren!

Is that the Martian Manhunter? (I think his alter ego is Jon Jonzz?)

If so, fire is his weakness - (if I remember right).

QED

Looks like one of them wierd bodies revealed things.

 

[shernren]

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you too, Shernren!

Is that the Martian Manhunter? (I think his alter ego is Jon Jonzz?)

If so, fire is his weakness - (if I remember right).

Bang on.