Extraterrestrials or Spirit Beings?
Have you noticed the spike of interest in extraterrestrial beings lately? As scientific evidence for intelligent design continues to defrock the theory of evolution, leading atheists are lining up to concede that life on planet earth may have been seeded by designing aliens. The notion of a creator God is unconscionably irrational, we are told. Apparently the idea of paternalistic aliens should pose no problem for the enlightened.
Whatever contribution aliens may or may not have made in generating life on earth, we ought—so the thinking goes—at least introduce ourselves. Since 1960 scientists in organizations such as SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) have dutifully cupped their technological ears toward the heavens in hopes that aliens will contact us, or that we might at least intercept an errant radio transmission emitting from some extraterrestrial source. Hearing utterly nothing for four decades, NASA retooled in 2001 and began attempting to contact them.1
In theory NASA scientists are searching for planets sufficiently distanced from their respective suns to sustain life as we know it. Once planets are found with sufficient CO2, ozone levels, and isotopes of oxygen to sustain life (per our narcissistic stipulations), mission chief Bill Borucki proposes to create “a probe that can travel near the speed of light and gets there [to an alien inhabited planet], shows us pictures, listens to their radio stations and television stations” and reports back to planet earth (Newsweek, August 24 & 31, 2009, p 51). Curiously, Mr. Borucki assumes an organic link between intelligent life and the existence of television. That’s a connection I must confess difficulty in perceiving, but that’s another topic.
I draw this information, in part, from an article entitled, “What You Need to Know,” followed by 25 short paragraphs, each containing a snippet of essential knowledge for readers anxious to equip themselves for intelligent conversation in today’s enlightened world.
The very first paragraph, purportedly divulging must-have information, reads unblushingly: “Aliens Exist.”2 The article did not supply a single line of evidence for this bold assertion. “Aliens exist,” so the reasoning seems to have it, simply because we are looking for them! The robust self-assuredness of such a wholly unsubstantiated proposition is mind-numbing to say the least—an irrational epistemological leap we must leave untouched here.
In the process of this reading, I stumbled upon a remarkable irony. The same issue of Newsweek included another article suggesting societies that continue to believe in spirit beings (what one anthropologist refers to dismissively as “non-physically present agents”) are embarrassingly un-evolved and disproportionately prone to social dysfunction (p. 30). This author implies that America must eviscerate its archaic notion of the presence of demonic spirits. If we do not, we will continue to perpetuate social pathologies that embarrass us before the community of more enlightened nations.
I wish I could arrange a visit for those who embrace such notions with a few missionary friends of mine who serve in less spiritually inhibited parts of the world. An extended visit to these lands would cure the most committed secularist of any notion that demons are a fiction. They exist, and they are not silent. But staying with the matter at hand, these two articles in combination ask rational readers to concede two points: First, enlightened people flit about the universe seeking to tune in to alien radio stations. Second, only knuckleheads predisposed to social malfunction believe in spirit beings. It’s an awful lot to ask.
Setting tangible evidences aside—evidences that could well be marshaled to make a strong case for the existence of spirit beings—I will limit my reflections here to written revelation. The Bible says nothing about extraterrestrial beings. Granting for sake of argument the hypothetical possibility that alien creatures exist, they are of no consequence to us, as far as God is concerned. God’s word does, on the other hand, reveal the existence of spirit beings. In this unseen cosmic realm, angelic and demonic beings engage in intense spiritual warfare.
God’s word through the pen of the Apostle Paul exhorts us to recognize that “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). Ironically, this indicates that whether spending their lives trying to contact aliens, or simply ignoring God, atheists remain in the hideous grip of demonic powers who are active participants in a raging spiritual rebellion against God. The atheist’s rejection of a Creator God is not owing to lack of evidence (Psa. 19:1-3), but to demonically induced spiritual blindness (2 Cor. 4:4).
This is no cold-hearted attack against atheists. We are all born into a state of spiritual blindness (1 Cor. 2:14). The good news is that Jesus Christ possesses the invincible power and divine authority to liberate people from the bondage of sin by virtue of his sacrificial death in the place of sinners and his bodily resurrection in conquest of death—sin’s ultimate penalty (Romans 6:23). By paying sin’s penalty in behalf of those who trust him, and by defeating death, Jesus triumphed over the demonic powers of spiritual darkness (Col. 2:13-15). In light of this triumph, the risen Savior is the one we should be trying to contact, and he is there.
Notes
1 Stephen Hawking in a new documentary series on the Discovery Channel says he thinks there are aliens in outer space. He cautions we should not try to contact them because they most likely would seek to conquer us and exploit the resources of our planet before moving on (World, May 22, 2010, p 14).
2 Astronomer, Jesuit priest and director of the Vatican Observatory, Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, has labored of late to investigate, in his words, “whether life exists elsewhere in the universe.” His efforts blend with a call by the Vatican for “experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implications for the Catholic Church.” Professor Chris Impey who teaches astronomy at the University of Arizona thinks the discovery of extraterrestrial life may be proven in a few short years, warning us that the “the implications for our self-image will be profound.” Undoubtedly! (Star Tribune, Nov, 11, 2009, A9).
Dan Miller has served as the Senior Pastor of Eden Baptist Church since 1989. He graduated from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College with a B.S. degree in 1984 and his graduate degrees include a M.A. in History from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and the M.Div. and Th.M. from Central Baptist Theological Seminary. He is nearing completion of D.Min. studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Dan is married to Beth and the Lord has blessed them with four children: Ethan, Levi, Reed and Whitney.
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Good job!
"The Midrash Detective"
For those interested in the math, Wikipedia is somewhat helpful on the [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation] Drake Equation]. Put the Drake requires evolutionary assumptions. The gist is something like this:
- Life evolves wherever the conditions are optimal and there is enough time
- The universe must contain a vast number of planets with suitable conditions
- ergo, life must evolve in multiple other places
I’m not sure where Hawking gets his conviction that aliens would necessarily be hostile to us. But given how his mind works, he has not just tossed that in on a whim. But again, the whole process requires evolutionary assumptions.
For my part, I do not know why there could not be life elsewhere, even intelligent life, but the discovery of that life would raise some difficult theological questions. Many atheists imagine that if intelligent life were found elsewhere (or it came here) that would automatically be the end of Christian faith. But this is wishful thinking on their part.
Edit: some might also find it interesting to read about the Fermi Paradox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox) which has to do with why we don’t actually see the results the Drake suggests we should see.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
*I don’t care to argue about evolution with people, especially unbelievers. I don’t believe one has to believe creation in order to be a Christian. Nor do I see the need to prove creation right and evolution wrong. Though, I do like to discuss it and have my own opinion.
I agree with Daniel that the biggest thing arguing against their existence is the fact that mankind’s sin cursed ALL of creation. If they exist, perhaps their battle-fleet is already coming here to punish us for entropy and death. ;)
The deceptive benefit to Satanic plans in causing mankind to accept alien life is rather high. Several writers speak of such things as “techno-myths” — beliefs that godless societies adopt to replace belief in God.
There is a wealth of information suggesting that there is a “spiritual” component to UFO sightings. The comments of those who have had experiences with “aliens” can at times range from referring to the events as “spiritual” to describing processes that we would associate with the occult. So it would not surprise me if there is a demonic link.
Can we investigate such a demonic link?
Leaving aside the cases in which an ordinary event was mistaken for an extra-terrestrial craft, and leaving aside psychological phenomena (such as the fact that abduction lore tends to follow movie abduction patterns), and leaving aside the possibility of advanced craft being tested by our government, I would be interested to know about UFO experiences among Christians, as follows:
Has anyone here personally sighted a UFO or had contact with extraterrestrial beings? Please tell us about it, or message me if you want to remain anonymous. I would gladly provide your story in digest form without giving your name.
I would suggest you not post or message details if 1). the sighting could have a credible conventional explanation, 2). You were unsaved or seriously backslidden at the time, 3). You were under the influence of a medication or some other mind-altering effect at the time, or 4). You also see Leprechauns, gnomes, faries, etc.
I guess what I would like to know is whether or not you considered it a spiritual experience, perceived any evil, attempted to “exorcise” the UFO or alien, etc.
In all my years, I have never meet a person who claimed to have seen a UFO or alien who was not either lost or seriously wandering from God at the time. I’d be curious to know if such a person exists.
On UFO’s, we had a speaker at our annual state men’s retreat a number of years ago who had worked with NASA. He said many UFO sightings are actually experimental aircraft that the military is not going to admit exist. There is no question also that our adversary is a fine imitator, and may bring phenomena that imitate the Ezekiel visions. Once again, our conclusions must be based upon the Word, not upon our experiences.
Dick Dayton
First, he makes the point that life on earth is special. Life on earth is based on carbon, oxygen and hydrogen because of the way these elements bond with each other. Any idea that there can be silicon-based life forms, etc. makes little sense. Therefore any life that “evolved” on other planets would also have to be carbon/oxygen/hydrogen based. Since our planet is the only one we know of with the proper conditions for this type of life (temperature, distance from sun, size of planet, etc.) the likelihood that there are millions of alien races in the universe is infinitesimally small.
Second, because of the nature of the speed of light and relativity, even if there were alien races it would take them millions of years to reach the earth - and this is more time than even his old-earth beliefs would allow.
Third, according to his studies, the likelihood of someone having a “close encounter” with an alien or UFO is directly proportional to the amount of time they dabble in the occult. There didn’t seem to be any correlation with the amount of time someone spent looking at the stars: in the book he gives examples of astronomers who literally spent thousands of hours staring through telescopes without seeing any UFOs and contrasts them to others who were involved in occult activities who seemed to see things even if they spent very little time stargazing.
Fourth, I believe he also makes the point that UFOs always take the shape of what people expect them to be. At first they were “cigar-shaped” (during the time of the dirigibles till about the 50’s), moved on to “saucer-shaped” in the 60’s and now people report UFOs that look like a experimental aircraft or something from a science fiction show.
I agree with Ross and Dan Miller that UFOs and “close encounters” with aliens (the ones that cannot be explained) are probably demonic manifestations of some kind. These events usually serve to turn people away from God to follow “fables” and perhaps are a preparation for the day of the Rapture. What better explanation could the unsaved of the world have than “aliens took them”?
MS -------------------------------- Luke 17:10
[MShep2] Fourth, I believe he also makes the point that UFOs always take the shape of what people expect them to be. At first they were “cigar-shaped” (during the time of the dirigibles till about the 50’s), moved on to “saucer-shaped” in the 60’s and now people report UFOs that look like a experimental aircraft or something from a science fiction show.There are extensiv reports of sightings from the Middle Ages into the 1700’s of flying ships with odd occupants. This matches Ross’s theory.
A saucer-type swooped down and skimmed over my aunt’s car in our church parking lot when I was a child, leaving the whole congregation of post-service carside fellowshippers standing gaping at the sky. Not exactly the occult crowd. ;) We were in the car at the time and didn’t get a good look at it, just the bright light and loud hum as it went past the windshield. Interesting, now that I think of it, that the flight path was exactly lined up with the direction the car faced.
Then in February of ‘88 a whole fleet in perfect formation flew silently, slow & low overhead while my husband and I were driving home late at night. At first we thought we were approaching a carnival or something up ahead with colored lights, then realized they were too high and moving towards us. When we realized we had no idea what we were seeing, he pulled over to hop out and get a better look. (while I cowered in the car) At first it looked like one huge… thing… but then as it passed over we saw starlight between the individual craft and realized it was a group. Each craft bore four intense, different colored lights in a diamond pattern and flew in a tight diamond formation with three others. These small groups were part of a larger formation. They seemed to be at the height and speed you would expect of a Cessna or traffic helicopter, but made absolutely no sound. If we hadn’t been so stunned, we might have had the sense to count them.
So, yeah. It’s not something to just shrug off.
Aud
(I also have Street Light Interference, but that’s a whole ‘nother story)
But I would expect there to be more reports of this sort (though not in highly populated areas) as the quantity and sophistication of experimental aircraft increases. UAVs and stuff are not SciFi anymore and they are getting smaller and smaller as well.
Daniel… interesting questions, and they are a sample of the kinds of theological problems that would arise from a discovery of intelligent alien life. I personally believe it’s necessary to view even fungus on a distant planet as created life. But we do not have really big ideas to wrestle with unless we find something smart enough to “do language.” Then all the questions CS Lewis raised—and many others—would become important.
Until something like that happens, though, there isn’t a whole lot to be gained from speculating about whether these beings would be Fallen or not and if so, would they be atoned for or not, and how, etc. But speculating can be fun if you’ve got a few minutes to kill. :)
For those of us who believe that the redeemed are chosen before the foundation of the world, it would not be theologically impossible to hold that other beings exist, none of which are chosen and for whom no redemption is provided. Though it’s very hard to imagine, they might not even be “fallen.” But five minutes with us and they’ll be sinners, too I’ll bet! (So they really should stay out of the solar system, just to be safe)
There is so little we really know about the angels, for example, and how their “choice mechanism” works. So we quickly get into “imagination run wild” land in trying to sort out scenarios like these.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
On the scholarly side, it would be Michael Heiser.
From the religious cultural angle, the LDS interpretation dominates.
[Todd Wood]Can you elaborate on that? What’s their interp?
From the religious cultural angle, the LDS interpretation dominates.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Even more recent from the Mormon Women (downplaying extraterrestials): http://mormonwoman.org/2010/03/08/ask-a-mormon-woman-do-mormons-believe…
The heart of the LDS interp is this: Humans, angels, gods, goddesses, and God are all of the same species (contra to Michael Heiser) in the Grand Council of the Gods under the Most High. There is no clear demarcation between the seen and the unseen, between the creature and the Creator. Man can eventually be what the unseen are in the heavenly Grand Council.
"I pray to God this day to make me an extraordinary Christian." --Whitefield http://strengthfortoday.wordpress.com
And not many believe that they will be a god of their own planet. Too individualistic, or too much speculation, or too exalted for some.
But here is a piece of pop culture trivia. Has everybody heard of Battlestar Galactica? The creator of this sci-fi intertwined some of his own Mormon thinking.
terrestrial, telestial, and celestial glories
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