Extraterrestrial Life

Discussion about scientific issues as they relate to God and Christianity including archaeology, origins of life, the universe, intelligent design, evolution, etc.
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Different_Name
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Extraterrestrial Life

Post by Different_Name »

It has come to my attention that quite a lot of people believe that in the hundreds of billions of galaxies out there, there exists some form of alien life, even though they might doubt that we'd ever communicate with them in the near future. And that kind of makes sense, considering how astronomically large the universe is.

However, I have viewed that, aside from the angels, there is no other life in the universe. And that life is a very rare special thing that is unique to earth.

From a Christian viewpoint, do you think there is any other life in the universe (even bacterial life), aside from the angels? What about intelligent life?
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jlay
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by jlay »

I'm not 100% sure there is intelligent life on earth.
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Ngakunui
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by Ngakunui »

Different_Name wrote:From a Christian viewpoint, do you think there is any other life in the universe (even bacterial life), aside from the angels? What about intelligent life?
There are probably different types of amoebae on other planets, possibly small plant life. I can't say for certain if there are other sapient lifeforms, but I wouldn't bet on it. I think, however, intelligent life wouldn't be too much like humans, unless they're descended from astronauts from ancient times- that's they'd be from assuming from some of the surviving ancient human technology I've heard of that they had space travel. Seems likely, as it's more durable and usable than this micro-transistor junk.

But I'm going off on a tangent. Honestly, though, other than there being space-moss on comets and frozen planets, there are three other extremes:

1) The universe is completely lifeless except for our planet and whatever microbes brought along with space-men to other places outside its atmosphere.

2) The universe outside of Earth, Mars, Luna(our moon, in layman's terms), and Venus; the four been explored thoroughly enough so far, is full of life. Essentially, the unknown outside our tiny blue marble of a planet and orbiting ball of mozzarella cheese is full of other planets, moons and civilizations that pray to God (or whatever else they may believe in) that we never go outside the near solar system, lest we bring them our perpetual ignorance and foolishness.

3) Said world outside our world is full of lifeforms that dwell in space, likely in a manner that can't be compared to easily. Then again, maybe space is like underwater- just like that Starfox level(save for maybe space-stingrays, gigantic floating space-amoebae and space-whales that make powerups come out of hopefully nowhere.)
Jlay wrote:
I'm not 100% sure there is intelligent life on earth.
I've seen pictures from Nasa probes, cameras, and hundreds of CCTV monitors, and I am "100%" convinced Earth has no sapient life, which makes the chances of intelligent life very slim. In fact, I live there, so I know these things.(If you live on another planet, don't come here; It's full of creepy inbred people.) If there is any, it's doing a good job at hiding.
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by zoegirl »

Meh, it's a non-issue for me. Perhaps God created a different type of life on another planet or perhaps not. It does not negate the redemption plan for our life.

Maybe that's just the sci-fi nut, it just mysterious enough and interesting enough to prompt thought but not cause distress.
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by narnia4 »

I don't think it's an impossibility and I don't think there's any theological problems with life on other planets. With that said, if I were betting on it I'd say there's not.
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by ElShamah »

there are many reasons, that lead to believe, we are alone in the universe :

http://elshamah.heavenforum.com/astrono ... y-t232.htm
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B. W.
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by B. W. »

jlay wrote:I'm not 100% sure there is intelligent life on earth.
:lol: :pound:

I watched two Congressman men argue today...

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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by Kristoffer »

jlay wrote:I'm not 100% sure there is intelligent life on earth.
Is that your own opinion or are you just quoting atheists(one of the people who first said this was) who are having a laugh?

There are reasons, that lead ME to believe that the universe is not made for us. But you wouldn't listen if I tried? Its kind of fortunate that the bible doesn't make the existance of extra terrestrials impossible...ACTUALLY IT SAYS THERE ARE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL BEINGS. LIKE ANGLES and GODS! :lol:
lest we bring them our perpetual ignorance and foolishness.
Is this your attitude towards humans in general, or towards human science? Our ignorance is not perpetual and even if it is it would be something we can overcome. Being human is about breaking limits not about yielding to them.
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Ngakunui
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by Ngakunui »

Kristoffer wrote:
lest we bring them our perpetual ignorance and foolishness.
Is this your attitude towards humans in general, or towards human science? Our ignorance is not perpetual and even if it is it would be something we can overcome. Being human is about breaking limits not about yielding to them.
Albert Einstein once said, "There are two things that are infinite: the Universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe."- and I'm not sure about the universe either. Don't take anything I say as supposed to be an insult, but there are so many things that humans don't know, that when we think we do know, and then start treating it as utterly undeniable and fact, that goes a little too far, and stops people from questioning and thus seeking out answers. Many people, both on the sides of Christian apologetics(the subject, not the group), and Evolutionary science are often quite guilty of this sort of thing. Both assert their beliefs, often far too zealously, going so far as to make the large majority of people who read their works(not the Bible, and The Origin of Species; I mean things aside from those), which are more propaganda than education, unquestioning, and thus unwilling to test the merit of either. It is this sort of obnoxious self-assured, and hollow kind of faith that makes both mainstream types of Christianity and Evolutionary science warring factions that are more akin to political ideologies than what either is meant to be.

To state both of those ideas in quick summary, Christianity is a Jewish sect, or continuation if you will that states the Son of God came, died(as a sacrifice), came back to life, and left so Humans wouldn't have to kill animals to atone for wrong doing- Evolution is a science, arguably more or less(take your pick), that states that more fit animals become more fit because others aren't. Both of these beliefs are so radically different that they shouldn't so much as touch each other- but making them into mainstream ideologies has turned them into such arch rivals in much of the World, with all their reiterations that have so little relations to their base ideas, that they're actually quite similar, and thus, are opposed as they say entirely opposite things on the same subjects they both dwell on, even if it's utterly illogical or unfitting.

In summary, these "creation/ evolution" debates shouldn't be happening- at the very least, not so commonly as seen on this website, and that's why I mentioned the "perpetual" ignorance of our species, as we like to pretend all too often that we know more than we really do, and even when we do learn more about something, we like to present our ideas of what moral implications something we don't fully grasp might have, or what else it may have to it. That doesn't make either view necessarily wrong, but that people shouldn't be so quick to jump to saying either is utterly incorrect. Most people I've met associate themselves with either "fundamental", if you will, Christianity or Evolutionary Theory- not because they honestly believe the case of one of them over the other, but because they'd belong to something that does the reasoning they're too afraid to do for them.


...


That wall of text being out of the way, now onto something more relevant. First of all, God, and angels don't really count when people are talking about aliens unless specifically mentioned ahead of time as they're not even from this universe in the first place. If they actually were counted as aliens, the vast majority of Creationists and Evolutionists might actually agree on something for once. Have mercy if that happens, though, because then two subjects that should be logically unopposed would go their own merry ways, and science might actually be going along a little faster instead of being selectively used for arguments.

If someone wants to search for(mortal, I assume) alien life, I'm fine with that. I don't think it's so far fetched as some may say, and I really would not be ashamed to be proven wrong as I don't strongly assert there is no life in the universe other than Earth's. But while I doubt the universe is here for us, that doesn't rule out the possibility of the ecosystems on this planet and humans being all there really is that's native life in this universe. In comparison, let's say someone made a machine because mechanics are a hobby of his, then he adds... I guess an ant farm. Just because the ants are the only living creatures within that machine, and they can observe/explore it however they wish doesn't mean it's there for them, or they're the only life there is. That means they're the only life native to the machine. Conversely, and speaking hypothetically, if Earth is the only planet with "intelligent" life there is in this universe, that doesn't rule out there being other life in other universes, multiverses, etc.. If you take God and so on into equation, there's at least God's place of dwelling(heaven?), and wherever any other such "supernatural" beings live. I'm certain that universe is a primitive way of describing heaven, however.

Thing about that is, though, you supposedly need to be dead in order to have a clear picture of that, and corpses don't do very good jobs at writing accounts of things. Not very many live people have given detailed accounts of such places, either, and even then they have to resort to metaphor most of the time. Not that you can't trust them ever, but that makes it very hard to give a scientific account, especially when you consider how small everything we do is in comparison with the big picture, which is hardly even the size of a pixel on the big picture that's on, which is immeasurably small with any words we have on the big picture that's on. So yes, I think when it comes to the entirety of every single mortal thing that has ever exhibited intelligence, I doubt we're alone. It'll probably take millions of years for humans, or what's left of humans to ever make contact with them, however.

But when it comes to "little green men", If they do exist in this universe, I would like to ask them, openly, to stop probing us and performing these ghastly experiments on hobos and rednecks. You just wait until humans invent flying saucers that don't crash when they turn any more than five degrees and build death rays that do more than burning through cardboard. That'll show you.
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Re: Extraterrestrial Life

Post by Canuckster1127 »

There's no reason there couldn't be intelligent life anywhere else. The scripture is silent on that to my knowlege.
Dogmatism is the comfortable intellectual framework of self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is more decadent than the worst sexual sin. ~ Dan Allender
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