If it wasn’t clear enough in my intro post, I’m really really
into aliens. Always have been actually. I really like the idea of life on other
planets and I have a hard time believing that, out of all the planets and all
the far reaches of the Universe, we’re the only life-sustaining planet ever. At
the risk of sounding like Buster from Arthur,
I wouldn’t be surprised in we found other life on other planets sometime
and I’d be really excited if it turns out to be so!
But with
the discussion of possible extraterrestrial neighbors, it seems some people are
pretty uncomfortable and even angered of that idea. Ken Ham, Creationist and
founder of the Creation Museum in Ohio, has been recorded saying:
“Jesus did not become the “GodKlingon” or the
“GodMartian”! Only descendants of Adam can be saved. God’s Son remains the
“Godman” as our Savior. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we see the
Father through the Son (and we see the Son through His Word). To suggest that
aliens could respond to the gospel is just totally wrong.”
And,
according to the Huffington Post, also said:
“[Ham] wrote "earth was specially
created," and the entire hunt for extraterrestrials is "really driven
by man’s rebellion against God in a desperate attempt to supposedly prove
evolution!"”
I’ll put aside my opinions on
Ken Ham for now and address what he’s saying now. Is the search for alien life
really an affront to God?
I understand what he means.
The creation story doesn’t include Martians or Irkens or the Boov or whatever,
so that means they either don’t exist or, if they do, can’t partake in God’s
love.
But, I think what some people
are missing is what if aliens formed after initial creation? What if life on
other planets is epochs younger than us? I would think that extraterrestrial life
would be stewing in their primordial soup or at least extremely primitive if they
existed.
While Ham and many like him
deny evolution in it’s entirety, I think some, if not most, parts of evolution
coexist with creationism. I hardly believe that our earth and everything on it
has never looked different and has never changed. Evolution is defined as
change over time, and that does happen.
I can’t make any claims on
whether other life would have access to the good news, but I don’t want to just
slam the idea of aliens all together based on that fact. I hope aliens can go
to Heaven. I mean, aliens in heaven? How neat does that sound?!
What I've been told is that intelligent life on other planets or worlds is unlikely because "Christ died for sins, ONCE for all . . ." (Rom 6:10), and therefore, He couldn't have gone later and died for sins again in Narnia. I personally think that's reading a lot more into the verse than it says. It could very well be intended to mean "all humans" because aliens were irrelevant to the discussion. But there is the question of whether or not sentient life on other planets would be affected by the sin curse on our world. I've seen at least two Christian fiction authors indirectly answer that question with a "No," depicting other worlds and races that show what an unbroken creation might be like.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how the existence of other creatures made in God's image would change my theology in any important way. It certainly raises questions no man could possibly answer, but so does the nature of God.