So, I had a discussion recently with someone who believed that aliens probably exist on other planets. After talking to them for a while longer, I understood that they were a Christian, so I tried to use biblical arguments to shoot this down, since I don't believe aliens exist. I realized that although there were a lot of small oppositions I could raise, there was nothing I could do to destroy the argument. It seemed to me that it's insanely unlikely, and I don't know why God ever would create aliens on another planet, but totally plausible. I wanted to hear other opinions on this, though, so I was not skilled enough to fully defend myself.
Some of the points raised were as follows:
If we're created in the image of God, and Jesus appeared as a human to save us, then wouldn't these aliens have to human like us?
They probably would have to be human, but this doesn't prove anything.
Would these aliens have their own paradise like we did in the Garden, and did they have their own fall, and did Jesus appear to them as well to save them from their sins?
This would have to be true if there were aliens, but this still doesn't prove anything.
When the souls of those who die on the other planet go to the same heaven that we do when we die? And since heaven is only temporary, what happens when heaven comes down to earth to restore the paradise that was lost in the fall?
They would likely go to the same heaven, but when our paradise is restored, so will the other planet's paradise.
(I don't think this argument was fully answered, and I'm not sure it can be answered, but nevertheless, it doesn't single handedly destroy the theory.)
Italics are questions I raised, the bold is what the other person responded with.
Everything is paraphrased, but the full idea is there.
Romans 6:10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all;
(not just all humans here on earth)
Now I feel like there probably is some sort of contradiction to be found in the bible, but Romans 6:10 is the only I can find, and even then, it's not exactly clear, since Paul was not trying to assure his readers that aliens don't exist. Although I think there is something in Revelation that puts a high importance on earth, from what I remember, doesn't allow aliens into the story, but I don't remember it well enough to use it as an argument. I think it was in the last few chapters of Revelation.
Let me know what you think.
Here are a couple points I'd raise:
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If we're created in the image of God, and Jesus appeared as a human to save us, then wouldn't these aliens have to human like us?"
Jesus was of a particular family, of a particular tribe, of a particular nation, with a particular ethno-religious identity, etc; but none of that changes the universality of Christ and His work.
Which is to say, Jesus was Jewish, but the Gospel isn't to the Jews only, but also the Gentile; a great deal of the New Testament deals with this very fact. Jesus was also male, but "there is neither male nor female".
At some level we are simply dealing merely with scope and scale. Six hundred years ago it was inconceivable that there were people living on two continents across the Atlantic, everyone expected that if you sailed West you'd bump into India or China, not an entirely new world. That discovery shook Europe deep, they even asked themselves if the indigenous peoples of the Americas had souls. The very idea of questioning that other humans had souls or not simply because the lived on another continent sounds ridiculous to us today, but understand my point as this: The idea of people living on unknown lands across the sea was as radical of an idea for people hundreds of years ago as the idea of sentient life living on a planet orbiting another star out there in the universe.
If Jesus, a Galilean Jew from two thousand years ago, suffering and dying on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem, is the salvation of all creation; and that He is Savior, even of people on far-away lands where the Gospel had never even conceivably penetrated previously--then would this be any less true of people (regardless of what shape or form they appear as) from elsewhere in the universe? My argument would be no. Jesus isn't savior only of human beings, Scripture teaches that in and by Christ God is and will bring renewal and healing to
all of creation.
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Would these aliens have their own paradise like we did in the Garden, and did they have their own fall, and did Jesus appear to them as well to save them from their sins?"
The difficulty in answering this is that the presumption is a literal reading of Genesis 2-3. I don't subscribe to a literal reading of the Eden story. As such I understand the Fall a bit differently, it's not about two human beings eating a fruit and bringing downfall to the world, it's about recognizing that there is a fundamental problem observable in the world: Sin, suffering, and death. This innate problem we observe here in God's good creation really exists, even if the story about it isn't a literal-historical account. Talking snakes or no, sin, suffering, and death really does exist, and it really is a problem, and Jesus Christ really has overcome sin, death, hell, and the devil and by Him God really is reconciling, saving, healing, and renewing all things.
With that said, there's maybe two possible ways to look at this.
One way is to take the C.S. Lewis approach in the Space Trilogy. In the Space Trilogy Lewis addresses ideas about the Fall; in the series the sentient races of Mars never fell, and therefore are free from pain, suffering, and death; also noteworthy is that in the series both Mars and Venus are protected from the "Silent Planet" (Earth) because Earth fell to the sway of the "Bent Oyarsa" (i.e. the devil) and so the planet is more-or-less under a kind of quarantine so that Earth can't contaminate the rest of the solar system. Which is to say the Fall is a uniquely terrestrial reality, and therefore God's redemptive work centers squarely right here on our "Silent Planet".
Another way is to see the Fall in a much larger, universal scope. That the innate brokenness we see isn't limited just here; because we actually behold a universe that suffers and labors under death--entropy. Systems decay, stars run through their course and die, sometimes with a boom and sometimes with a fizzle, entire galaxies have risen and fallen over the long course of the universe. And so all things in creation suffer and labor under this fallen reality.
And then there's always possible for some other third option. Until we actually meet intelligent life from "out there" it's all anyone's guess.
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When the souls of those who die on the other planet go to the same heaven that we do when we die? And since heaven is only temporary, what happens when heaven comes down to earth to restore the paradise that was lost in the fall?"
The renewal of creation is a whole lot more than a restoration of Eden. In Colossians St. Paul says of Jesus, "...all things were made by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things are held together" (Colossians 1:16-17). So I think simply seeing the resurrection and the restoration of all things as a kind of return to Eden misses the point greatly. What we look forward to is the glorious purpose for which all things were made in the first place, having their purpose and end in Jesus Christ.
But with that said, at the renewal of all things at Christ's Parousia and the resurrection of the dead we know that we look forward to a life everlasting here, on this good green Earth. But that God is renewing, healing, and restoring all creation, not just one small part of it. The Prophet Isaiah, and St. John of Patmos echoes him, that there is a new heavens and a new earth. To speak of "the heavens" is the closest thing any ancient people could possibly conceive of as the universe beyond earth, since even in the time of the Apostles the prevailing model was the Ptolemaic one involving the earth as the center of the cosmos with the sun, stars, and other celestial bodies orbiting the earth; and the entire cosmos as a series of concentric spheres. The Copernican Revolution and all we've learned since then has changed drastically how we conceive of "the heavens"; but the point being that when the biblical writers speak of the renewal of the heavens and the earth they mean everything. From right here where we are down here, to everything up above that we see in the sky--and beyond.
Beyond saying that, I'm not sure how comfortable I am speculating too much. I could since we will live on our world, they would live on theirs; or maybe in the Age to Come we will all share things together and there will be a perfect enjoyment among all God's creatures and all creation. Or both. But I bring those ideas up somewhat uncomfortably, since it seems unwise to speculate on those matters.
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Fundamentally my point isn't really to say "Yes, there are intelligent aliens" Because I don't know, though sheer probability would suggest that there probably is
somewhere. But really only to suggest that the existence--or hypothetical existence--of intelligent extraterrestrial life isn't problematic.
I would rather that we are willing to at least entertain the possibility, and recognize that possibility within the framework of historic Christian teaching, so that should that day ever come that we do meet another intelligent species the result isn't some kind of theological or religious hysteria. But that we keep our mental and theological sobriety in check, and still confess the same Jesus we always have confessed, trusting the same Gospel we have always trusted, and maintaining the teachings we have always maintained.
-CryptoLutheran