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Philosophy/religion

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If we discovered aliens tomorrow, would it challenge anything about your religious belief/lack of?

22 replies

GoldenOmber · 31/08/2022 21:10

(inspired by someone raising the issue on a different thread about other stuff, but I thought it was sn interesting question.)

For the sake of discussion this is intelligent alien life, at least as intelligent as we are. No stray Martian microbes.

For me: I’m Catholic and it wouldn’t be an issue at all for anything I believe, although I’d be really really interested to hear from the aliens about what they believed or didn’t. It’s a big universe, everything in it is God’s creation, why wouldn’t that include small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri?

I suppose if they believed exactly the same thing as one of our religions then I might want to think about that, though.

OP posts:
Vincitveritas · 01/09/2022 18:16

Hi 👋 just seen your thread. It's definitely something I'm interested in knowing too. For me, there's no conflict and the discovery of intelligent alien life wouldn't change anything about my Christian faith. God is the creator of the universe, not just earth, after all.

Somoslaluz · 01/09/2022 18:31

I agree with @Vincitveritas it wouldn't bother me at all. Agree God is the creator of all so we can't presume to know what or what is not out there.
Really interesting question btw

JustTheOneSwan · 01/09/2022 18:34

Nah I'm pretty sure there is life out there and believe in a creator.
Would like to hope they have definite proof though, stop all the squabbling.

Fink · 07/09/2022 12:35

It wouldn't change my beliefs or bother me, although it would be very interesting. The theological question I would be most interested in would be whether they had also experienced something similar to the Fall or were living in an unfallen state. But I won't find out in this lifetime anyway!

VictoriaConcordiaCrescit · 07/09/2022 12:56

There's trillions of planets out there, what are the odds that we're the only one with life?

I've always been on the fence. James Fox's The Phenomenon may open your eyes

Westall school 1966, Melbourne, Australia. They came, they landed and teacher's were threatened by the authorities

The Science teacher has recently spoken out, confirmed what the children saw and said he was told if you speak we will brand you a drunk and your teaching career will be over

If there was something out there it wouldn't change anything here as we're powerless to do anything about it/them

FourChimneys · 07/09/2022 12:59

Atheist/humanist here. It wouldn't change anything at all for me although I would find it fascinating.

With so many other planets out there it would be arrogant to think we were on the only populated one. We could hopefully learn a lot from them too.

PileofLogs · 07/09/2022 13:07

I'm a panentheist Christian. Discovering aliens is completely compatible with my beliefs- it seems very likely that there is life elsewhere in the universe.

Vincitveritas · 07/09/2022 18:14

A bit 'out there' but I share a theory with a few others I've found. They believe that UFO abduction might be used as a way to explain the Rapture and that aliens (real or demonic) will play a part in the signs and wonders/ great deception during the tribulation period. Anyone else?

Vincitveritas · 07/09/2022 18:34

Just in case anyone is unfamiliar with how the the End Times will play out:

If we discovered aliens tomorrow, would it challenge anything about your religious belief/lack of?
Opentooffers · 11/09/2022 02:20

Hmm, chance of aliens being available, near enough to meet and in the same spacetime zone, nil - about as likely as meeting God I would think so no change to thought processes are necessary.

Vincitveritas · 18/09/2022 11:25

Further explanation of what I posted about up thread from Got Questions:

'We know that the events surrounding the end times, as described in the Bible, will include a powerful deception (Matthew 24:24). Recently, interest has been rising in the theory that this deception will include alien beings from another planet. Odd as it may seem, this theory is entirely plausible from a Christian perspective. Although the Bible gives us no word about whether or not aliens exist—there is no inclusion of them in the creation account in Genesis, and no mention of them elsewhere—the Bible does tell us about visitors from another world—the spiritual world.

Since the beginning, instances of demons (fallen angels) visiting the earth have been witnessed and recorded. We know from Eve’s encounter with Satan that demons are interested in monitoring (and altering) the progress of humanity. They want to be involved, with the goal of drawing humanity away from the worship of God and turning mankind’s attention instead to them. Another notable instance of their interaction with us is found in Genesis 6:4 with the arrival of the "sons of God." The Genesis account states that these powerful beings had sexual intercourse with women and produced a super race of beings known as the Nephilim. This sounds like the stuff of science fiction, yet it is right there in the Bible. There are striking similarities between this account and the accounts of other ancient cultures. The writings of the ancient Sumerians, for example (who were the first to produce a written language) mention the presence of the “Anunnaki” who were deities that came from heaven to dwell on earth with men. It is also interesting to note that the Sumerians’ gods often came to them in the form of snakes.
These accounts, seen alongside the amazing things created by ancient man, make it possible to theorize that demons, in the form of beings from another world, came to earth, bringing spectacular wisdom and knowledge to men, and “intermarrying” with their daughters in an attempt to draw men away from God.

Could the end times include a similar alien deception? The Bible doesn’t directly address the issue, but it is certainly plausible, for a variety of reasons. First, the Bible tells us that the world will unite under the power of the Antichrist. In order to achieve an agreement between all the world’s religions, it would make sense for the “uniter” to come from an entirely new source—an extraterrestrial source. It is hard to imagine one religion becoming head of all the others, unless new, unearthly knowledge were the source of the appeal and power of the new “religion.” This would be in keeping with past deceptions and would be a very effective way to deceive a large number of people.

Second, this deception could provide an answer to the problem of earth’s origins. The scientific theory that the evolution of life on earth was spontaneously generated still has no answer for life’s beginnings. There is evidence for a “big bang,” but that still doesn’t explain what caused the big bang to occur. If alien beings arrived and gave us an extraterrestrial explanation for life on earth, the origins of the world religions, and even the origins of our planet, it would be very persuasive.
Anyone who presents a “substitute” Jesus, who represents Him as “a god but not the God” or who claims He was merely a good teacher, simply a human, or even a super-human or an alien creature, is a deceiver.'

Vincitveritas · 18/09/2022 12:33

Also, Hal Lindsey, an Evangelical Christian Author, has written books on the subject. He said:

"I believe UFOs are real and that their source is supernatural, but not from some distant galaxy as is usually presumed. The Bible speaks of fallen angels, or demons, that have great powers. It reveals that, apart from divine restraint, they can manifest themselves in a human form and materialise advanced vehicles. Prophecy predicts that God's restraint will be removed in the last days...The Bible records incidences of fallen angels assuming visible, physical bodies and interacting with mankind. This is especially true before the great flood, recorded in Genesis, chapter 6. Bible prophecy predicts a 'great deception' that God will send to those who are left behind after the rapture (when all Christians are removed from the earth). This deception will cause the vast majority of the inhabited earth to follow the Antichrist as their world leader and saviour. According to these prophecies, in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 and Revelation 13, this great deception will mould the world into an Antichrist worshipping, one world government overnight. That is of course, with the exception of those who are healed of their spiritual blindness and come to faith in Christ after the rapture."

He also points out that in films and TV series, aliens arrive on earth promising things such as the elimination of war, removal of poverty, the cure for dreaded diseases and techniques that would make it possible to feed billions of people, only to then turn on and destroy humans.

Vincitveritas · 18/09/2022 13:33

Sorry, just found some more! Evangelical Pastor Billy Crone has also written some books about aliens. Speaking on reports of UFO sightings in a recent video, he said:

"I believe there is a small percentage that is not explained away as a military thing, or something in the climate, or just somebody's hopeful wishes. They really are there, something's happening, there's just too many cases of it, it's on a global basis. So, my question is, what is it? and as a Christian, can we give an answer for what this is? Unfortunately I think a lot of Christians aren't equipped on this issue, because it's downplayed in the church. I'm convinced it has everything to do with the last days explanation of the rapture of the church and to further dupe people into following a global leader, creating what the Bible calls the Antichrist Kingdom. The statistics are that these things are now becoming the new gospel - a false gospel. As Christians, we're supposed to give a defense for the hope that lies within us - that there is only one gospel and that is to be saved only through Jesus Christ. More people today believe in the existence of aliens in the USA, than they do in God and more people believe that aliens have visited planet earth than that Jesus is the Son of God. There is a biblical explanation for these things and we need to lead people away from that lie."

Vincitveritas · 18/09/2022 14:09

@Hawkins001 Thought you might be interested in this, as we touched on the subject in another thread.

Catinabeanbag · 18/09/2022 19:55

I think a lot of the ufo / alien stuff has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Christians have been thinking the world was going to end and Christ return for the last 2000 years (Paul's writings, for instance), and pretty much every generation has thought that they were living in the end times - Marin Luther believed it because of the extent of corruption in the Catholic Church (the pope was the antichrist), for example. People have always seen 'signs' and interpreted them to as being 'end times', but as the bible says, no one can know the hour.... and no one's been right yet!

I don't think alien discovery would change my view of God though; I don't see why we should be the only living, sentient beings that God had created.

Vincitveritas · 18/09/2022 21:05

@Catinabeanbag I take it you don't share my point of view. I really believe the end is just around the corner. I have many reasons to think this, but it's too long-winded for here. What is your understanding of the end times? Do you believe the church will be raptured? Don't worry if you don't want to get into that.

Catinabeanbag · 18/09/2022 23:55

@Vincitveritas No... I don't think the church will be raptured, nor that there will be the tribulation. I was brought up in an evangelical church so was taught about the end times and so on. When I was a teenager I heard some sermons by the NZ preacher Barry Smith who taught a lot about the end times, the mark of the beast, microchipping people and so on. Freaked me out at the time. I think probably at that age I was used to thinking that people who were older and 'in authority' in church matters must be right, and therefore what he said was true.

I think then doing a theology degree helped get me out of that mindset as we had to look at things critically and 'academically' rather than accepting that what was said from the pulpit was true, purely because it was said from the pulpit. Doing church history also helped me realise that all through the generations, people thought the end times were happening.

These days we could say that predicted 'events' (pre second coming) as outlined in the bible are happening, and happening fast - time seems to be speeding up in some ways - but equally we know far more about what is going on in the world than we ever have, and have more information and news to interpret and put meaning on to. I also think a lot of the apocalyptic scriptures (daniel / revelation)
are complicated and probably shouldn't be taken literally. Revelation being a vision or dream...and most dreams and visions never play out in real life as we experience them initially.

Luredbyapomegranate · 19/09/2022 00:04

What have aliens got to do with believing in god? Unless you were a fundie I guess.

Vincitveritas · 19/09/2022 09:26

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I've done a lot of my own research too, not just listening to sermons. I believe the Bible is 'God breathed' and not to be taken with a pinch of salt, as it were.

Vincitveritas · 19/09/2022 09:26

(@Catinabeanbag )

Catinabeanbag · 19/09/2022 13:19

I don't think the bible is to be taken with a pinch of salt, not at all. But I also don't think it's to be taken absolutely literally.

pointythings · 23/09/2022 13:35

Atheist here. Given the size of the universe and the number of galaxies in it, it's highly unlikely that intelligent life hasn't involved elsewhere. What it looks like and whether it would want any sort of contact with the likes of us is another matter, as is whether it believed in a creator deity of any kind.

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