David Opderbeck writes this post…
Christian Theology and Life on Other Planets
How would your theology change if scientists discover life on other planets?
Astronomers have made remarkable progress in recent years in identifying exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Now, it seems that scientists have identified an exoplanet that might be capable of supporting carbon and water based life. This conclusion is based on the planet’s mass and its distance from its star. In short, the planet appears to be “just right” for carbon and water based life, much like Earth.
This discovery, of course, does not mean there actually is life on this particular planet, much less intelligent life. However, as one of the scientists involved in the discovery stated, “The fact that we found one so close and so early on in the search suggests there’s a lot of these things.” It seems reasonable to suggest that if there are many potentially habitable exoplanets, and if the chemical basis of life is as dynamic as scientists believe, life has arisen on at least some other planets. Given that most galaxies contain hundreds of billions of stars, and that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe, it seems inevitable that there is life elsewhere in the universe.
In fact, I’ll go out on a limb:
I predict that, in my lifetime (within the next 30 or so years if the actuarial tables are right), simple extraterrestrial life will be discovered. I won’t offer a prediction about the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial life, but given the numbers of stars and planets in the universe, speculation about its existence seems reasonable.
Such discoveries have the potential to upset Christian theology. We assume that the Biblical picture places humanity at the pinnacle of creation. Psalm 8, for example, affirms the exalted place of human beings in the order of creation. Notice, however, that even in Psalm 8, there are “heavenly beings” that occupy an order higher than humanity.
These, of course, are angelic beings, and not extraterrestrial life (no, I am NOT suggesting Psalm 8 speaks about aliens!) [but see footnote below]. Have you ever stopped to wonder about this realm of heavenly beings? What is their story? In what way are they morally accountable? Why – apparently – did the Logos not take on the ontology of an angelic being in order to redeem that order of creation?
Scripture tells us almost nothing about the “heavenly beings,” which perhaps should inform whatever theology we might eventually develop concerning extraterrestrial life. It seems that there is much, much more to the story of the creation and to the teleology of the entire universe than presently has been revealed to us as human beings, either through scripture or general revelation. I think this should lead us towards a greater sense of wonder and humility before the God of the universe. Whatever is out there, it belongs to God.
[Footnote – It’s likely that the “heavenly beings” in Psalm 8 refer not to what we might think of as “angels” but to the ancient near eastern idea of a “heavenly court.” Regardless, scripture as a whole seems clearly to contemplate a spiritual realm of created personal beings that are morally accountable and capable of rebellion against God.]
30 years may have been a bad figure to choose, given that Gliese 581g is 20 light-years away, so any mission there would take a minimum of 40 years to send any information back.
While we will undoubtedly discover countless potentially-habitable exoplanets in the next few decades, all we will know about them is what we can measure from 20 light-years away. So while we may discover a planet that contains life, we’ll have no way of knowing.
Comment by Colleen — October 4, 2010 @ 12:47 am
Finding that the earth was round upset some Christian theology, if I’m correct, as did finding that the earth orbited the sun, and that the location of the earth and sun is on the edge of an obscure galaxy …
As a science fiction writer I relish a topic like this. I’m sure C.S.Lewis would have found no problem fitting it into his theology, and he even made up worlds where other intelligent creatures coexist with humanity.
I believe that true faith is a confidence that God is True, and that any scientific discovery (once we understand it correctly) will ultimately point in the direction of Truth, even if some of our pre-conceived notions about Him who is Truth go flitting out the window.
Comment by Robby Charters — October 4, 2010 @ 3:27 am
The Catholic church is surprisingly prepared for alien contact theologically and even ready to baptize our first vistors
Comment by Stuart — October 4, 2010 @ 3:37 am
Sci-Fi is really a sub-domain of theology.
Comment by nitika — October 4, 2010 @ 4:41 am
Robby (2)
Actually, CS Lewis wrote a short essay on this question. From memory, he suggests that the discovery of life on other plantes would only be a problem for Christian theology if we discovered that these other life-forms (i) were rational and morally responsible, (ii) had fallen, (iii) had not been provided with some way of salvation.
I’m with Scot in thinking we should have the humility to acknowledge that existence is stranger than we imagine.
Comment by John-Mark Mullan — October 4, 2010 @ 5:33 am
Colleen (#1) — but I think we’ll find evidence of extraterrestrial (i.e., not on Earth) life in our own solar system.
Nitika (#4) — cute. Actually, Sci-Fi is a subdomain of science, which is one reason I enjoy sci-fi so much.
Comment by dopderbeck — October 4, 2010 @ 6:36 am
Clarification of #5 — extraterrestrial life in the form of simple bacteria and so on.
Comment by dopderbeck — October 4, 2010 @ 7:32 am
God creates, God may have taken a rest on the 7th day but he has been quite busy since then. I think some Christians would have trouble with encountering extra-terrestrial life (especially if it is older than 7,000 years) because of an ego-centric interpretation of God’s creation. He didn’t create the universe for “me” he created it for “us” and us could be a very broad stroke.
Also, from way in left field… Perhaps we are a quarantined planet due to our disposition to sin. Perhaps we are on the inter-stellar no-travel list.
Comment by David Brush — October 4, 2010 @ 7:42 am
“Perhaps we are a quarantined planet due to our disposition to sin. Perhaps we are on the inter-stellar no-travel list.”
So, a “silent planet”, if you will.
Comment by Jonathan — October 4, 2010 @ 9:14 am
Well, if according to Revelation, God is going to make his dwelling place with men (& women) with the advent of the celestial city, our theology may just require a little tweaking to allow for intelligent beings on other planets. By intelligent I guess I mean with intelligence comparable to humans, and ones that we could communicate with. The biblical picture does seem at least to present us as being unique in creation. I imagine a discussion of imago Dei might be relevant here too.
Comment by Andy D — October 4, 2010 @ 10:12 am
David, interesting post; great question. I remember being a 6th grader or so, when an intinerant preacher came through town and, among other things, emphatically stated the impossibility of the existence of life on other planets. As I recall, the whole of the Bible and it’s story would fall; the Bible and ET were incompatible. We were unique, Jesus was unique and we were specially saved, and so there could be nothing else. To believe anything else was dangerous. I hadn’t thought about this for years but it all sounds eerily familiar with with regards to certain current topics of Biblical interpretation.
As to your question, no, my theology wouldn’t change. IDIC.
Comment by Terry — October 4, 2010 @ 10:15 am
I have said it before and continue to believe that we need some sort of principle in our theology that takes man out of the central role. As long as we continue to think we are special it will mean that others are not as special which has disastrous results for the other. We have seen it over and over with the fact that we are not in a privileged position in the cosmos.
If we take man out of the central role and it turns out that we are in some sort of special role then we will have saved up treasures in heaven. I think it is totally inappropriate for us to promote ourselves over the other life on the planet. If it is the people in Afghanistan that would be one thing. But to buy my 4th car or 5th TV, that is wrong.
I also agree with Hawking in that we should hope that we do not have aliens come and visit us. If they did, it would mean that they were much much more advanced than us and would be able to obliterate us in a heartbeat. Our fear would certainly cause us to strike out as much as we can, assuring our demise.
Comment by DRT — October 4, 2010 @ 10:29 am
This was a hot topic on the Internet Monk last week. See: http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/is-there-life-on-other-planets/comment-page-1#comment-556650
Comment by Rick Presley — October 4, 2010 @ 10:59 am
DRT (#12) — I think we’re clearly special — Psalm 8 certainly makes that plain! And although I agree that some Christian theologies of our specialness have improperly dismissed care for creation, it also is clear that human life is in some sense more “valuable” than other animal life. If the choice is between killing a human being and killing a fly, for example, that choice is clear.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean we must be “alone” in having some sort of morally accountable role in God’s vast universe. Again, the “heavenly beings” in Psalm 8 and elsewhere seem to have some such role.
The more immediate question, though, will be what happens when evidence of exobacteria are discovered on someplace such as Mars or Titan.
Comment by dopderbeck — October 4, 2010 @ 11:04 am
Science fiction has already explored what would happen if aliens came to eat us in “To Serve Man” and all its movie variants. It has explored what would happen if they came to help man in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and its derivations.
What it has not done well is to conceive of pure morally good creatures interacting with fallen humans. Most aliens are flawed, at least partially. Even with “Avatar,” the most recent extended treatment of an alien ecology, it was nothing more than the projection of The Noble Savage ideal that was so thoroughly treated in literature that it is little more than a stereotypical trope, barely worthy of any real exploration.
What would happen if a morally pure, upright, and good group of aliens visited this earth? What would the interaction be like? Would we crucify them like we did the last morally pure visitor to our planet?
Comment by Rick Presley — October 4, 2010 @ 11:08 am
Entertaining the idea of life forms on other planets shows an openness to our creative Creator. It does not ‘need’ to cause fear. When is ‘fear’ ever a good idea? If God IS love, if God is our source, if God is God, whom shall we fear?
Comment by Amy — October 4, 2010 @ 11:13 am
For those inclined to believe in evolution… If we were to find evidence of bacterial (or some such) life on a planet with ideal living conditions, wouldn’t that almost certainly argue for the existence of sentient beings on other planets?
To wit, we have managed to explore, what, 1/100,000th of one percent of the universe? If we discover life on one such planet, knowing what we do about evolutionary processes, odds would be that millions of planets are engaged in similar processes, and that many are further along.
Comment by kevin s. — October 4, 2010 @ 11:15 am
Finding Life on another planet from what I hear is very unlikely, so I’m not sure if this article is correct or if the information I heard prior is correct. Regardless finding bacteria or single celled organism on another planet is one thing, but finding creatures like us who are “aware” of themselves and can ask questions like “how did I get here?” or “why am I here?” is another thing. I think it would be unlikely to find a creature with this consciousness that we have and if we did I don’t think it would be a problem to christian theology . If they had a consciousness like us then they would be in the same state as us and Christian theology or True theology would apply to them as well.
Comment by Josh G — October 4, 2010 @ 11:40 am
The folks at Wired have a pretty loose definition of “habitable,” but even if aliens show up on our doorstep, I don’t see how that changes anything.
@David Brush, the idea that we’re quarantined was part of the premise of CS Lewis’ Space Trilogy.
Comment by ChrisB — October 4, 2010 @ 12:10 pm
one thing that you must consider is that after reading the above comments, i would guess that you writers have above average intelligence and the wherewithal to ponder such things. so i am sure that each of you will be able to come to grips with a discovery like that posed in the article.
i wonder what will happen to the common man. one who does not ponder all of the above, and can conceivably jot is theology down on the back of a postage stamp?
my guess is that it would be akin to coming home one day, and finding out that your dad has had another family all along that you never knew about. and that he takes them on vacation and goes to all of their school functions. it would be completely upsetting at the very least..
then consider that the commoners’ theology is by far the majority.
i think i would like to see that chaos.
Comment by sergio_101 — October 4, 2010 @ 12:30 pm
@DRT,
I understand your concern, but as dopderbeck said to take us out of the central role, or at least secondary role to the triune God, is to ignore the narrative and teachings of Scripture. I don’t think the either/or dichotomy you set up is true to our possibilities—one can live responsibly with respect for creation while understanding ourselves to be unique. To contest this would be to deny the very privilege we use all the time (I’m thinking of the living organisms we consume every day). We are in fact made in the image of God, and at least to our knowledge, this is not said of anything else in creation.
Comment by Andy D — October 4, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
It does not seem to me that Psalm 8 necessarily is saying anything about a knowledge that god indeed made man to be worth more than other things. Only that it is apparent to the man that he is able to eat and have dominion over everything else and therefore god must have ordained it to be that way since god is in charge of everything. I think he is observing his place and then thanking god for making it that way.
If we were to find life more advanced than ours on a planet several hundred light years away Psalm 8 would still be true. God did care about and notice man, but clearly noticed another species too. What would throw a wrench into the works would be finding another species on earth more powerful.
I cannot figure out verse 2, any help?
verse 5 sounds like Genesis, and in that case god made man to rule “over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move 52 on the earth”. It seems that the author of Psalm 8 may even be purposefully saying that it is only earth and the creatures on earth.
If 5 is an echo of Genesis 1, then being made “a little lower than the heavenly beings” references the plural in Genesis 1 “Let us make 47 humankind 48 in our image, after our likeness”.
I still think this Psalm is a symptom of the OT way of the world that Jesus overthrew. Who was blessed in the OT? The powerful. Who was most chosen? Those that can win in battle. Who would inherit the earth? The mighty. But that is the old way of the world, the new way is for the meek, the etc.
So, under the new world order of Jesus, what is man’s place among the other? The only thing I recall is when Jesus said not to worry, because god takes care of everything else so why would he not take care of us too. What else?
Comment by DRT — October 4, 2010 @ 1:20 pm
While puzzling over Psalm 8, we ought also to keep in mind 1 Corinthians 6:13: “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” What’s it mean for the extra-terrestrial life question? Beats me, but it sure seems to up the ante a bit!
A cornerstone of my own theology is to try avoid leaping to conclusions. I can’t see how Ps 8 or 1 Cor 6 can possibly be called science, or tied to any possible outcome of the SETI search, so I have no settled “theological” position to disrupt there. When we do or don’t find E.T. life, then we will or won’t know a bit more about the universe. Prognosticating bravely: I predict that we’ll still have more mysteries to puzzle us than we can handle!
Comment by Jack Repenning — October 4, 2010 @ 1:20 pm
While I’m not as optimistic as dopderbeck about finding exobacteria on Mars, etc., I think the theological effect of that would be pretty minor. Why shouldn’t there be more of the wonders of God’s creation in other places in God’s vast and diverse universe? It would undercut some apologetic arguments that assert the impossibility of “natural” processes producing life, but that’s no great loss.
On the other hand, contact with sentient, morally responsible life would be mindblowing in many ways, even though I think most Christian theology could deal with it.
Am I the only one middle-aged enough to remember the Larry Norman song “UFO”:
And if there’s life on other planets
I’m sure that he must know
And he’s been there once already
And he’s died to save their souls.
Of course Norman’s scenario is not the only possibility. Maybe they are unfallen, maybe God chooses a different way to deal with a sin problem, etc. I think all we could really say from a Christian perspective is that God would deal with these creatures in a just and loving way consistent with God’s character, which need not be identical to the way God has dealt with us.
I forget who it was that asked a fundamental question about such a “Contact” scenario:
Do we send them missionaries?
Comment by AHH — October 4, 2010 @ 1:31 pm
AHH:
“I forget who it was that asked a fundamental question about such a “Contact” scenario:
Do we send them missionaries?”
No, the Vulcans will come here (Star Trek: First Contact).
Comment by Rick — October 4, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
I don’t think there is any kind of intelligent being in the universe except what we find on earth. Man is the pinnacle of creation, but we were meant to bring creation to its fullness as its wise stewards. I believe that this is another aspect of God’s life-creating power and generosity, akin to the fabulous amounts of seed a plant produces, all the reproductive cells in animals and man far beyond what is needed for mere survival, the abundance of stars and planets etc. I think it’s all a gift to us humans on this Earth.
We created in his image after the Antitype of the Second Person of the Trinity. I think we are it, there are no other sentient beings out there, and that God’s demonstrations of generosity and love and care should make us fall on our face in love and gratitude and humility- and also gratitude to be able to “create” stories, including science fiction, and to do science and explore. However, I think most of our energies should be directed to working on becoming less of a danger to the beings on our own planet, humans first and all the rest, too.
Dana
Comment by Dana Ames — October 4, 2010 @ 1:54 pm
Dana (#26) — there certainly is other intelligent life in the universe, if the angels and the Devil are part of “the universe” (an interesting question in itself, I guess).
But aside from that — maybe you’re right — but what if not? Could your theology adjust?
Comment by dopderbeck — October 4, 2010 @ 3:22 pm
I assume that alien intelligent life exists for the following reasons: First, the math suggests so. So many galaxies, so many stars, so many planets – and, of those, a few with the conditions conducive to life forming. Given enough time and a relatively stable environment, intelligent life should be a given.
I also believe this is so because I believe creativity is inherent to God’s nature. Therefore it would be awfully strange for Him to be so prolific here – but nowhere else.
Comment by Darren King — October 4, 2010 @ 5:09 pm
Now, that being said – an interesting question arises as pertaining to fallenness. We’ve been discussing – in some of the science threads – the questions around “fallenness”, the garden, sin, death, etc.
What does this look like for alien life? Is fallenness inevitable for intelligent creatures? And, if so, is the path to redemption always the same? Lewis imagined a talking lion as a savior metaphor for Narnians. So what about for the residents of Planet Beta?
Comment by Darren King — October 4, 2010 @ 5:14 pm
In his beautiful and brilliant “Lamb Among the Stars” trilogy, Chris Walley (www.chriswalley.net) portrays a universe where humanity has spread to thousands of worlds over twelve millennia of peace. The most complex life we’ve encountered is slime molds, although it is not too far into book 1 before that becomes an open question…
Dana’s comment (#26) really reminds me of these novels.
Comment by Daniel — October 4, 2010 @ 5:21 pm
Too bad most of the universe has a slight glitch on the molecular level that won’t allow life to develop. We live in a very unique corner of the universe.
Comment by Brent~the roseman — October 4, 2010 @ 6:01 pm
No matter what scientists find out in the galaxy how could it have an effect on a Christians theology? I am reading posts with people actually quoting stephen hawking and his warning that if E.T. life came to our planet we better “worry” because they will be superior in technology than we are and easily destroy us. LOL! Does anyone read the bible? Christ has preeminence above ALL things and over ALL things. His name is above every name and He has authority and dominion over ALL things. Can we know for certain there is not bacterial life or any other life on some other planet somewhere else…No we cannot. But We can know for sure, that if there is, it is under the authority of Christ and we would have nothing to fear..in our belief in Christ or in any other way.
Comment by Joshua — October 4, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
I don’t think most people would say so. By “the universe,” we generally mean “the physical universe,” so non-physical beings don’t count.
I’m not optimistic about life within our solar system, but I concur with the probability argument when you consider the whole universe, although in most places, the universe will probably end before we discover if there’s life there or not.
But likelihood is not the point. The point is that, as long as there’s a nonzero chance of something happening (from a physical, scientific perspective), then you shouldn’t base your theology around it not happening.
In other words, don’t build your house on the sand.
Comment by Colleen — October 4, 2010 @ 7:23 pm
Colleen (#33) — good point about the non-zero chance thing.
This may be semantic, but I would argue that “the universe” should be synonymous with “creation,” in which case angels and such would be included, since they are part of the created order. Though, as I’m thinking about it, this wouldn’t make sense if any sort of multiverse theory is true. Maybe the language of “universe,” “multiverse” and so on simply is inadequate because what we really inhabit is in toto “the creation.”
Comment by dopderbeck — October 4, 2010 @ 8:32 pm
dopderbeck,
I have found no Orthodox statement on extraterrestrial life.
I assume the presence of angels, loyal and disloyal, in “the universe”. I suppose my theology could adjust, but I haven’t heard it from my church yet
In my limited and possibly errant imagination, I see everything that is as somehow being “inside” God. Rather than thinking about “God in the universe”, I think about “the universe in God”.
Twelve millennia of peace sounds really good, Daniel.
Dana
Comment by Dana Ames — October 4, 2010 @ 8:36 pm
In response to Nitika (3) and Dopderdeck (6) above (believing that Nitika was writing with her tongue slightly in her cheek), I think, as C.S. Lewis has demonstrated, we science fiction writers are quite capable of making SF a sub-domain of both Science and Theology.
My take (as a writer), is to show the human species as a late comer, and less sophisticated than the other intelligent species in the cosmos, the others having much greater brain capacity. However, humanity, created in God’s image, has a unique potential that has yet to be realised. What the other species can detect through their natural senses, including sub-atomic activity, etc. humanity only gets occasional glimpses through our subjective “sixth sense”, putting it in the realm of “religion”.
Comment by Robby Charters — October 5, 2010 @ 4:04 am
Robby (#36) — interesting background you mention on your blog! I’ve tried writing sci-fi — it’s an old ambition of mine to publish some sci-fi stories — but truth be told, I completely stink at writing fiction. I’m a highly trained and I think reasonably skilled analytical writer — but I cannot write fiction to save my life. Sigh.
Comment by dopderbeck — October 5, 2010 @ 10:43 am
Colleen –
If we got lucky and discovered a potentially-habitable exoplanet that transited its star (i.e. came between Earth and its star) we could at least get some information about the chemistry of its atmosphere via spectrometry. Finding a lot of free oxygen would be strong evidence (though not proof) of life on that planet.
We weren’t that lucky with this recent discovery, though.
Comment by Ray Ingles — October 5, 2010 @ 10:49 am
Perhaps the bigger question is how many Christians would continue to deny that extraterrestrial life existed even if it were found.
Comment by Deets — October 6, 2010 @ 10:51 am