Well, most of that is left to the writer to figure out. God hasn't really given us any clues in that direction, or even any hints that there are aliens. Sentient or not.
However, if there are aliens, I doubt they'd look like E.T.
- Terra
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| Author: | K. C. Gaunt [ June 4th, 2014, 1:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
Well, most of that is left to the writer to figure out. God hasn't really given us any clues in that direction, or even any hints that there are aliens. Sentient or not. However, if there are aliens, I doubt they'd look like E.T. - Terra |
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| Author: | Calista Bethelle [ June 4th, 2014, 1:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
I think that the probability of there being any extra terrestrial races out there is almost zero - it is in my mind, but that's not to say I'm right - and if there were any, they would most likely be quite like what we see here -- reasonable, efficient, and most likely normal-looking. However, if there were races on other planets, the question rises: Did Jesus die a second time for them? If not, how are they saved? Personally, I've given my races a pretty Christian beginning, where they talked with God, and learned about Him, and eventually turned away from Him and forgot Him until people came from Earth and gave God's Word to them again. |
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| Author: | Rebecca LuElla [ June 4th, 2014, 1:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
Niki has some good points. Personally, from what I've seen and read, I don't believe aliens exist. (unless we are talking angels, whom I really want to meet.) However, if they did, I would think that Jesus' sacrifice covered it, once for all. Then again, I suppose it could maybe be possible that He came in their form, but I doubt it. I keep these beliefs (which I will not die upon ) consistent with my writing. As such, I don't have aliens-excepting a short story I wrote in which I borrowed a fellow writer's character that happened to be an elf and inserted her into my scifi world, explaining it as an alternate universe, and yes, I know the implications that makes, but it isn't the norm. However, I had a really cool plot idea based on the facts of life and archeological finds. What if OT times people escaped secretly into space and supposedly never came back? People get worse, not better, so their minds had to be phenomenal. In my book however, the people colonize in space and sneak back on Earth throughout history. In this way, they hear about Jesus and some believe and carry it back to their planet. So kinda aliens.  I am only planning one book like this though. The rest should be alien-free. 0.o
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| Author: | Neil of Erk [ June 4th, 2014, 1:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
If God did create another form of intelligent life, they would have to have been created under, or within, our dominion. We are told that the whole universe groans because of Adam's sin. Therefore, any other race in the universe is infected with sin because of our own sin, and therefore, they must be, somehow, under our dominion. That doesn't necessarily mean that they're animals, or inferior, or anything like that. They could be created as helpers to us. Perhaps even as teachers (if you realize that to teach must mean to serve). Or perhaps they are like children...a gift to us, for us to learn from? The possibilities in that area are endless. But we can be certain that if there is alien life, it would be a new argument against evolution, and such life would exist, like us, for God's glory. |
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| Author: | Neil of Erk [ June 4th, 2014, 1:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
The interesting thing about angels is that they are fully sentient beings with souls, yet they are created to serve God, and (taking some verses at face value) us. Question: Do angels have free agency (by which I mean the Christian concept, not the Mormon concept), and does this have anything to do with aliens? |
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| Author: | Cain [ June 4th, 2014, 1:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
Posting so I can remember to comment later. |
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| Author: | Neil of Erk [ June 4th, 2014, 1:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
Free Will means that my will is free from all constraints. That isn't the case, so I don't use the terminology. Free Agency means an ability to make decisions (and spiritual decisions). So, do angels control themselves, or do they have to be "motivated" by God, unable to make decisions or initiate for themselves? And what does that have to do with aliens? |
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| Author: | Rachel Newhouse [ June 4th, 2014, 1:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
Clearly, at one point angels had free agency or free will to some degree, because they chose to fall. However, you're right - we don't see any of that, as I've seen in my study, post-Rebellion. Intriguing. |
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| Author: | The Bard [ June 4th, 2014, 1:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
C.S. Lewis believed that if there were aliens on another planet and they had fallen as well, Jesus would have come to die for them in the same way he did for us. That being said, I believe there's both a good and bad side to the general idea of aliens. If we're talking E.T., Star Wars, etc. then spiritually I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Just as God created us, we imitate God the Creator by imagining our own types of life forms. It's also fun giving humanity a twist, allowing writers to explore interesting themes in a more straightforward way. On the dark side of aliens... Many Christians have linked tales of alien abductions to demonic encounters, such as the Betty and Barney Hill encounter back in 1960-something. Many descriptions of aliens sound extremely similar to physical manifestations of demons (eg, bulging pupil-less eyes, etc.). The history of Scientology is also deeply rooted in alien belief. I think Christians need to be aware that aliens are not all fun and games, and if necessary, point them out and counter them. - JD |
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| Author: | Neil of Erk [ June 4th, 2014, 1:57 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
The problem with saying there could be aliens out there that are just like us, in the way that Lewis portrays them, is this: We have full dominion of the Earth. Therefore, everything, including all intelligent species (which includes angels), with the exception of God, are under our dominion. Therefore, if we fell, all other intelligent species would fall, and if we remained perfect, so would those under our dominion. (Angels are an exception: their "fall" is separate from ours because God appears to have given angels their own, unique dispensation.) |
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| Author: | PeteKoziar [ June 4th, 2014, 1:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
I just did a post on my own blog, http://www.petekoziar.com/blog.html dealing with the concept of aliens. You might want to check it out, rather than me reposting it here. Anyway, when we craft alien races, we must step out of evolutionary thinking, and just come up with a scenario that is self-consistent. In my novel Dauntless Homecoming, I imagine that, in the far future, God invites perfected, resurrected believers to participate with him in the act of creating worlds. In one of those worlds, the intelligent race was to be griffin-like creatures who ate primarily the fruit of metallic plants that grew in soil that had too high a heavy metal concentration to support Earthly plants. Evolutionists need not apply. Remember, too, that when you are crafting worlds, you don't have to explain everything. A little bit of mystery adds spice, in that the readers can ponder over some little detail you've never explained. I hate it when everything fits too neatly together in a story, since real life isn't like that. Oh, and for goodness sake, remember that we're writing fiction. I doubt very much that God did create alien races in our universe, but fiction isn't about the way things are, but the way they might be. - Pete |
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| Author: | GeoQuester11 [ June 4th, 2014, 2:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
The idea that I'm using in my current story is that the aliens are human. They are different from us physically and psychologically, but they are made in the image of God and set up as caretakers of their planet and worshipers of God. Just like us. The species that my main character belongs to were given a choice between God and themselves, like us, and they failed, like us. I think of them as being gentiles, in a very far-removed sense. They have been living in a far-off country with false beliefs. Although these aliens are very similar to humans and have a similar history, I don't think God is limited in how He would save another race. In my story, an alien visits Earth and discovers all the different religions and cultures, and she becomes the first missionary on her world. The aliens were wiped out by war in a sort of self-inflicted Noah's ark scenario, but the people who survived were two little colonies of isolated scientists living at the poles of the planet. They spread out again across the wiped-out planet and tried to figure out what went wrong and what the lost meaning of the universe was over the next few centuries. Then they made contact with us and stuff happened. So yeah, um, that's how I'm doing it. Aliens equal to humans. What do you think? |
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| Author: | Turtleman [ June 4th, 2014, 2:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
I believe if aliens did exist they would still be humans as stated before. Their duty would be as ours to be stewards of nature. They would mot likely have arms and legs like our own as this seems to lend toward the idea of a caretaker. However they could look vary different depending on the planet they originate from. As far as salvation goes when Adam sinned all sinned. So to speak Adam is responsible for the fall of all. Jesus came and died once and then the other races where informed in one way or another. I believe it was Lewis or Tolkien who wrote a book about this. In the book Jesus himself literally ascended into heaven to go inform the other species of salvation. Christianity might be more or less common on some worlds depending on how advanced or tribal they are and the level or spirituality in their culture. Some might have rejected the "Ape Man Savior" altogether due to being "purely Logical". |
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| Author: | Turtleman [ June 4th, 2014, 2:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
An interesting idea to consider is that the power of the cross is not technically limited in the scope of its power or range but rather by species. We were saved by Christ's sacrifice because he shared our blood. So he God might redeem each species individually because of that. Or simply do it because it might be the only way to inform said species. |
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| Author: | GeoQuester11 [ June 4th, 2014, 2:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
Well, yeah. Even if they did look exactly like us, the culture of a race from a different planet could be completely different and interesting. I just like designing funny-looking creatures and giving them sentience.  There are so many different answers to this question. (I feel justified posting a full opinion again because the last time was a year ago and this is still so interesting.) The main question is, would God create any other race in His own image besides us? Secondly, would he put other races or other humans (either way) on any planet besides Earth? My personal opinion is that, given the size of the universe, answering with a flat no would be a trifle arrogant of us. I mean, it's possible that we are the only sentient race in a universe filled with billions of galaxies each containing hundreds of stars, but that seems unlikely. Maybe God created all that stuff for us. But maybe we're meant to share it with all manner of alien beings, who maybe look and think like us, or maybe don't. Or maybe He has other unfathomable purposes for the rest of creation that we'll never find out about (at least not in this lifetime). Tangentially related to this topic: my Dad has a theory that the rest of the universe may be filled with other living things, but we're cut off in a bubble of vacuum because we sinned. I like how, in sci-fi, we're free to explore all the maybes. X) I am actually planning different stories and universes exploring all of these questions; some with only humans, some with lots of aliens and they think like us, some with only a few aliens and they don't, some with nothing beyond Earth, some with Earth being relatively insignificant. It's so challenging looking for where the truth fits in each possible story; I mean, you ask God, "What's possible beyond my own tiny level of experience?" and He's like, "Oh, just about everything, kid." I'm curious: What kind and amount of aliens are the rest of you using in your stories (the question of whether it's actually possible aside)? |
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| Author: | Varon [ June 4th, 2014, 2:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
I use lots of aliens, because I write space opera, and space opera without aliens is kind of bland and not-fun for me. But for me, I don't even deal with the theological implications. It's not part of the story, and it isn't really important for any of the things I'm writing. |
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| Author: | PeteKoziar [ June 4th, 2014, 2:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Aliens for a Christian Worldview |
I guess two big questions: What does "made in His image" really mean? Is it talking about externals or internals? Why does it matter if we're writing fiction? My take is, let's not be blasphemous, but we can explore what the universe would be like if God had decided to create alien races, even if we believe that he really didn't. Writing Christian SF, however, we must be conscious of those races' relationship with God, whether they still exist in unfallen perfection, or whether they were also affected by Adam's sin. If fallen, we must address the nature of redemption for those races, whether they have had their own incarnations, or whether the incarnation of Jesus as a human being covers them, too. If Jesus is for them, then somehow word must get to them, which is the foundation of my novel, Seeking Adam. I don't think we have to insist that the blood of the aliens must be human blood in order for Jesus' death to cover them. I think scripture implies that all creation was, in some sense, redeemed by his saving work. Also, insisting on the "same kind of blood" takes us down a slippery slope - why stop at species? How about different blood types? Different races of men (horrors!)? For some other interesting takes on aliens' relationship to God, there are the works of Zenna Henderson, and some of Clifford D. Simak's works, primarily Way Station. |
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