Something that continues to bother me when reading about new Planet discoveries and the recent Mars hype is that everyone is convinced that Aliens exist somewhere out there… And the only evidence they need to be convinced of this is a simple probability equation.
I do not deny the possibility, I just do not believe Alien life exists anywhere else in the Universe.
But what really irks me is that another probability equation exists which is far and away more impressive than any regarding aliens, and no one pays it any mind or accepts it. And that is the probability that we exist without any God having directed our needs and forms. That we came about by mere chance.
I am sure you have all read the numbers concerning the possibility of the myriad of precise parameters essential for us to exist coming about by mere chance?
They are quite convincing.
Yet mainstream society denies them or simply ignores them. I suppose God just isn’t as cool as the possibility of alien life? This sort of picking and choosing, not to mention ignorance really bothers me. If only it were so easy for me to pick and choose what I wanted to accept based on nothing but personal preference… My brain would sure hurt a lot less.
I know Rev. Billy Graham quite well, and he is a conservative Southern Baptist who attended Wheaton College. My wife is distantly related to him through her grandmother, Grace Graham Webb of Charlotte, North Carolina. Rev. Graham says that God may have created life on some other planets. His statement was: Why did God create other planets if there is no life on them? He said that it is possible that He created more life somewhere. The question is this: Is Jesus the Savior of those worlds too? Billy and other theologians including me say yes. Below is a scripture that may help.
2 Peter 3:11-13 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens, i.e., cosmos by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven, i.e., cosmos and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Romans 8:22-25 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Do not have faith in aliens. Just accept that God may have created more life than just planet earth. Christ as can be seen from 2 Peter is the Savior of the entire cosmos. Whether there is life on other plants must be determined by science. We are to have faith in God, the Creator of us all and not aliens. Do aliens exist? Science must determine that.
I find the topic interesting; however, I am not concerned. We shall see one day. Also, my brain does not hurt over issues. I thank God that I have the ability to think and consider things. Just enjoy the fact that you can think. Would you rather be someone that cannot think? There is no fun in that.
Thank you for your response but you seem to have entirely missed my point.
I was not posting about alien life being a threat to faith at all. I was sharing my frustration that people can pick and choose what they believe by using personal preference alone. Then when questioned they claim evidence as the reason they believe what they do, evidence that for them is acceptable for one thing but not another.
I totally agree with your post. In fact, the statistical equation used to guess that there must be life elsewhere is seriously flawed if we are speaking of intelligent large animal life, like us. This is based on scientific, not theological considerations, as detailed in this blog post I think most of us here would agree with you and Henry that finding intelligent aliens would not be at all detrimental to faith. But the question you raise about the selective use of assumptions in the absence of evidence is right on target. In fact the assumption that the universe was created by design is a pretty good one. The only viable alternative at this point is the multiverse theory, which is no better than equal to the design hypothesis in terms of evidence. I’m afraid that this is only one of many such skewed views that are now emanation from the atheistic academic community.
I find the design hypothesis completely convincing. The numbers can be seen, the evidence is all around. With Multi-verse theory, all we have is an idea, there is no way to tell if there is anything outside our Universe, and then if there is another Universe and another, and another… When did the first begin? It’s a blind faith cop-out for Atheists. Just like their old ‘seeded World’ theory.
I agree, and I find this very puzzling. Maybe my memory is not so good anymore, but I dont recall being so irrational, and dogmatic back when I was an atheist. I thought the whole point of being a “free” thinker was to question everything (not just religion) and be skeptical
. Not any more. The only people really discussing and questioning things these days seem to be theists.
How is it any different to tell if there is anything outside our Universe with the design hypotheses? Is it because the numbers can be seen and the evidence is all around, and therefore, we are projecting from outside the Universe?
The sequential/cyclical Universe Multi-verse theory would solve the problem of the first one—would it not? Is this what is meant by the design hypothesis? That the Universe has this eternal cyclical sequential characteristic to it? This would establish the design and the designing energy as coextensive and co-existing—Matter/Energy.
What I am saying is that the evidence for the probability equation arguing for design is all around us, this evidence demands a designer, and any designer able to create a Universe would have to be outside that Universe and not limited by it.
I don’t see any evidence to suggest there are Universes outside this one. And any Universe outside this one would also have to have had a beginning, and so on and so forth until something caused the first singularity to suddenly appear and expand.
I do not see why the multiverse theory would hurt or disprove the Holy Bible and belief in God. To me it proves that God is great enough to make more than one reality. It does not harm my faith at all. In any case, I see the greatness in all things that our Creator has made. Think of it this way. Isn’t heaven another reality, and if you are truly Christian, does that harm your belief system? You should “no.” It does not bother me. The Bible is a progressive revelation; therefore, we are not told everything at one time. Perhaps we will learn these things on the new earth. That is the time when heaven and earth will be one. Also, God is not limited to our existence or time line. Therefore, anything may be possible. Have a nice day.
As is so often the case, the question of extraterrestrials (as a dispute, that is) is usually based on assumptions that are often more religious than anything.
The Carl Sagan/Drake’s equation mindset often follows the form: There is no god → the universe is humungous and the world isn’t special-> ergo put a few figures in Drake’s equation and there must be life everywhere.
The danger for the religious is reacting to that with “There is a God!” and following the same logic to conclude “there is only life here.”
As Sy says, so far the science itself doesn’t look good for alien life, but who knows? Christianity would cope equally well in either case. Theologically though, the Christian climate back in the late 17th century, when it was realised that the stars were probably distant suns like ours, was such that many immediately said, “Of course - God wouldn’t create empty worlds, so there must be life everywhere!”
Even the Puritan preacher, Richard Baxter, wrote:
I know it is a thing uncertain and unrevealed to us, whether all these globes be inhabited or not. But he that considereth, that there is scarce any uninhabitable place on earth, or in the water, or air; but men, or beasts, or birds, or fishes, or flies, or worms, and moles, do take up almost all; will think it a probability so near a certainty as not to be much doubted of, that the vaster and more glorious parts of the creation are not uninhabited; but that they have inhabitants answerable to their magnitude and glory.
FWIW, my own opinion is that the only thing I’d expect with some confidence to be restricted to the earth is sin.
I was told bluntly in the 1990’s, by a good friend and Christian man who was versed in science, that no planet would ever be found around any other sun. I laughed and recalled that I was told in the 1980’s, by a computer geek, that computers would never get any faster or hold any more information. Some questions are dreams until they are realized. But if you don’t look, you generally don’t find.
Indeed not, Henry. My point was that in the context of 17th century thought, it did at least make that the most likely thing - the most conservative Christians being amongst its champions.
They inherited the principle of plenitude - that God would create every species it was possible to create. Many expected to find speces to fill the gaps in lands afar. That was one of the biggest incentives for naturalists like Linnaeus to classify everything - it showed what species were left to find.
The Copernican revolution opened up new possibilities for filling those gaps in “space” - especially the big gulf considered to exist between man and the angels. So one would “normally” expect to find alien races to be greater, not lesser, than humanity.
My personal theory is that the echoes of this explain why in most early space Sci-Fi one encounters advanced races on other planets, not primitive ones. “War of the Worlds”, and all that.
@Jo_Helen_Cox
Your anecdote reminds me of my father being told, back in the 1960s, “You can take it from me, they’ll never put a man on the Moon.” My father wondered why he should take such a pronouncement from a filing clerk!
Yep, heard that one too. Such pronouncements only show a lack of imagination, lack of education, or a wealth of religious confinement. Too many people sit in a guided cage and are happy not knowing freedom of thought.
