I was trying to decide if I should go through this blog in some sort of order, with each post leading into the next, but I know eventually it would have to become more random - so I'm just going to go straight to that and write about whatever aspect of my beliefs happen to be on my mind.
Today, it is my answer to the question "are there such things as aliens?" Another way to put that is "are we alone in the universe" - and I think the answer there is clearly "no". God created us, I believe, and so at the very least He is here too. There are some pretty strange phenomenon, though, which likely aren't being done by Him: crop circles, abduction stories, UFOs, etc. Some of those are surely made up or caused by humans, but I am very open to the idea that not all of them are... so yes - I do believe this planet has been 'visited' by beings not native to it. However, I don't necessarily thing they are from another planet, either.
You see, I believe that both angels and demons, or fallen / sinful angels, are quite active in this world. They clearly appear many times in Biblical accounts, and I've heard stories from people even these days that sure sound like angels - protecting missionaries, keeping people from harm, etc. I doubt that God's angelic messengers are responsible for any 'alien activity' as it is portrayed in science fiction, but I believe their fallen counterparts - demons - are.
What is the effect that stories about abductions, UFO sightings, and other such paranormal activities (even things like ghosts) have on people? Then tend to cause some folks to obsess over them, focusing time and energy on research, investigation, etc - time and energy that then isn't spent on learning about God. Isn't that the very thing that demons would want to do: distract humans from the truth about God?
I guess perhaps I should have done a blog on my beliefs regarding angels and demons, but you can probably surmise at least some of it here. I find it so interesting that others don't seem to have picked up on this possibility: most people I know tend to either believe in some form of traditional ET-style aliens or just dismiss everything as fictitious ramblings... but realizing that demons are active in this world makes a lot more sense to me. I don't think that their activity is limited to tricking paranoid people, either - I bet do a lot more in terms of influencing and sometimes directly controlling people too, but that is another topic.
With all of that said, I do also leave open the door for other life on other planets in the universe. I don't see anything clearly in the Bible that indicates an answer either way on that, and I have a hard time imagining that the whole of the cosmos as we can see it through telescopes and such exists only to encompass us humans - but then I'm not God, so I can't claim to understand what reasoning He might have. I don't think that any other beings from such worlds have visited ours, though, unless angels and demons themselves have that origin.
Matthew 17
12 years ago
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You know, one C.S. Lewis might have a hard time with some of your conclusions. That is, if the people on Venus' mysteriously oceanic surface are who he says they are. I happen to agree with you, including the parts concerning demons posing as aliens. One way I heard it put was that at the fall, the entire universe became corrupted. This means that any other sentient beings in the physical universe would have been corrupted as well. Therefore, in order to save them, Jesus would have had to have been born of the Virgin Klingon, the Virgin Cardassian, etc., in order to be fully X-Alien species and fully God. Since Christ died once for our sins, this precludes any other sentient beings who are sinful.
ReplyDeleteDo you consider as possible life that is either non-sinful (i.e. the beings in Lewis' Mars), or else non-sentient?
~Jason
I don't think any life outside of Earth was affected by our fall, for the curse God gave when it happened doesn't seem to extend beyond humanity, the animal kingdom, and 'the ground' (Earth, I presume). I *do* think it would be possible for other lifeforms, if they exist, to have their own fall of sorts - akin to Lucifer's pride and his attempt to overthrow God. I suspect, even, that God could handle that sin and any possibility for redemption differently: for example, it does not appear that Lucifer was given any chance for forgiveness (as far as we are told). On our planet we know that forgiveness for sins comes only with the shedding of blood, which is why Christ's sacrifice was necessary, but who says it has to be that way on another world? Or, as C.S. Lewis pondered, perhaps there are worlds that simply never fell.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting tact to take is the idea of other dimensions of existence, in place of or in addition to other planets; something like the various worlds in The Magician's Nephew. God is certainly capable of any of the things humans have imagined along those lines, and infinitely more!