Humans Have Long Searched The Heavens For Signs Of Other Life Is There Life Out There Is There A Way To Know For Sure
Humanity is fascinated with the concept of extraterrestrial life. Many wonder if intelligent life residing somewhere else in the universe is busy watching us develop. We want to know who we are and if there is anything else out there that resembles us.
Interest in contact with aliens is not just the grist of science fiction but a real-life passion for many devoted to the search for other life forms. When a job transfer put me near Roswell, New Mexico, I soon learned of July 4, 1947, the date of an alleged crash landing of an alien ship a few miles northwest of the city. The next day’s newspaper reported that the commander of the nearby U.S. Army base confirmed that a “flying saucer” had indeed crashed into the desert the previous evening.
Rumors circulated that on board the craft had been aliens who had died in the crash. On the second day, however, the commander said the crash was simply a downed weather balloon.
Another report, released in June 1997, just days before the 50th-anniversary extravaganza staged by local residents, said that what some thought had been dead aliens were only test dummies.
Does The Bible Teach That There Are Other Alien Life Forms
Psalm 115:16“The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORDS: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”Isaiah 45:18“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens God himself that formed the earth and made it he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD and there is none else.”Psalm 8:3-4“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”The Bible and Astronomy
What Exactly Are Aliens According To The Bible What Does The Bible Say About Aliens And Ufos
The Bible doesnt definitively say whether or not aliens whose homes are on other planets exist. Nor does the Bible answer the question of whether or not aliens from other planets if they do exist have ever visited Earth. The Bible leaves all of that a mystery, but it does leave the door open for such possibilities. Jesus declares that with God, all things are possible and many biblical passages speak about the vastness of the universe God has made.
However, the Bible does clearly describe a different type of aliens intelligent extraterrestrial life forms who travel between different dimensions. Those aliens are angels!
In Genesis 28:12, Jacob dreams of angels moving between heaven and earth: He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. What Jacobs dream shows is essentially interstellar travel. Jesus describes angels traveling in a similar way when he says in John 1:51: you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
The Bible says that both holy and fallen angels are at work on our planet. UFO sightings and alien encounters could sometimes be non-angelic visitors from other planets and they could sometimes represent the work of either holy angels or fallen angels, depending on the context.
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Visions Of Godnot Ufos
Rather than relating to mysterious outer-space UFOs, these visions were breathtaking glimpses of the glory of Almighty God. Indeed, verses one and twenty-eight stand like guardian sentinels at the beginning and end of the chapter to prevent fanatical speculation as to the meaning of the narrative.
In the first verse, the prophet says:
I saw visions of God.
In the final verse he concludes:
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah.
What Does The Bible Say About Aliens And Extraterrestrial Beings
There is a lot of unknowns in the universe out there. Space is vast and we cannot explore all that is out there. There have been movies made about astronauts, sci-fi themes, and aliens. As believers, it is important to have a viewpoint on what we believe about extraterrestrial beings. Today we will be exploring, what does the Bible say about aliens.
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The Parting Of The Red Sea
Before Moses could lead the Exodus that we looked at earlier in the list, he, of course, had to break free from his Egyptian enslavers, and part of that story is the parting of the Red Sea, which allowed the Israelites to cross to safety before the waters came crashing down on the Egyptian soldiers in pursuit.
Many ancient astronaut theorists have no doubt that the Exodus itself was guided by alien intelligence, so it is perhaps no surprise that they interpret a similar involvement in the parting of the Red Sea in order to allow Moses and the Israelites safe passage. Given that verse 16 speaks of Moses stretching out his hand, which caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind, it is easy to see why some perceive this to be the use of alien or advanced technology.
Incidentally, various media platforms have recently ran stories offering various suggestions about how this might have been achieved, mainly based on the idea of a freak weather incident. Also, Ron Wyatt made claims as far back as the 1970s that his study of the area turned up what he believed to be the remains of chariots as well as fossilized human remains.
Space Exploration Leads Directly To Religious And Philosophical Questions Carl Sagan
With few exceptions, most of the discussions about Seti tend to stay in the domain of the hard sciences. But the implications of Seti extend well beyond biology and physics, reaching to the humanities and philosophy and even theology. As Carl Sagan has pointed out in The Cosmic Question, space exploration leads directly to religious and philosophical questions. We would need to consider whether our faiths could accommodate these new beings or if it should shake our beliefs to the core.
Working out these questions might be called exotheology or astro-theology, terms defined by Ted Peters, Professor Emeritus in Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, to refer to speculation on the theological significance of extraterrestrial life. As he notes, Peters isnt the first or only one to use the term, which dates back at least 300 years, to a 1714 publication titled Astro-theology, or a Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God From a Survey of the Heavens.
How unique are we?
So what issues might the discovery of intelligent aliens raise? Lets start with the question of our uniqueness an issue that has troubled both theologians and scientists. Guiding Seti are three principles, as Paul Davies explains in the book Are We Alone? First, theres the principle of natures uniformity, which claims that the physical processes seen on Earth can be found throughout the Universe. This means that the same processes that produce life here produce life everywhere.
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Probably The Most Famous Ufo Of All The Star Of Bethlehem
Matthew 2:2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Matthew 2:7Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
Matthew 2:9When they had heard the king, they departed and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
Matthew 2:10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
Bible Accounts That Could Be Interpreted As Ufos Or Aliens
Many will argue that the Bible, if it is to be taken in any way seriously, is all about interpretation. With that in mind, many who subscribe to the ancient astronaut theory in particular believe the Bible to be awash with UFO encounters and laced with interaction between human beings and extraterrestrials. Indeed, for them, it forms a lot of the basis for their theory.
While there is, of course, no proof to be offered to back up these claims, the interpretations and how they are pieced together are fascinating in their own right and certainly worth exploring, if only to ask the question: What if our ancestors really were describing encounters with intelligent beings not of this world?
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Christian Theologians Prepare For Extraterrestrial Life
Little green men may shock public, but Catholic church would welcome them.
That’s what Vatican chief astronomer and papal science adviser Gabriel Funes explained in a recent article in L’Osservatore Romano, the newsletter of the Vatican Observatory . His conclusion might surprise nonbelievers. After all, isn’t this the same church that imprisoned Galileo for saying that the Earth revolves around the sun? Doesn’t the Bible say that God created man — not little green men — in his image?
Indeed, many observers assert that aliens would be bad for believers. Jill Tarter, director of the Center for SETI Research, once wrote that finding intelligent other-worldly life “will be inconsistent with the existence of God or at least organized religions.” But such predictions tend to come from outside Christianity. From within, theologians have debated the implications of alien contact for centuries. And if one already believes in angels, no great leap of faith is required to accept the possibility of other extraterrestrial intelligences.
Since God created the universe, theologians say, he would have created aliens, too. And far from being weakened by contact, Christianity would adapt. Its doctrines would be interpreted anew, the aliens greeted with open — and not necessarily Bible-bearing — arms.
“Just as Jesus is human like you and I, you would find an alien-specific Jesus,” said Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary professor Ted Peters.
What Does Bible Say About Illegal Aliens
Ask a Question!NewsletterQuestion:
Answer: Illegal aliens are people who enter into and live in a country who are not considered citizens. These people are called aliens because they were born in a country different from the one they are trying to enter or which they currently reside in. They are considered illegal because the government of the country they are entering or residing in has not officially granted them permission to enter or stay in their territory.
In order to find out how illegal aliens should and should not be treated, we need to understand how God instructed ancient Israel to treat the “strangers” living with them.
It is not true that Israel was a closed society composed only of the descendants of Jacob. Not only did God allow aliens, whether they are “illegal” or not, to live among his chosen people, he specifically commanded how they were to be treated.
Those born in Israel were forbidden, by God, to oppress or otherwise mistreat strangers . This was because the Israelites, at one time, were also strangers in the strange land of Egypt . They were commanded to apply the same laws used for citizens to aliens as well, “There shall be one law to the one born at home and to the stranger that dwells among you” .
For example, strangers were required to keep God’s weekly Sabbath day , his annual Feast days and offer the appropriate sacrifices .
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Nevada Man Who Survived Ufo Abduction Says Aliens Asked Him About Jesus Christ
HENDERSON, Nv. A Nevada man who claims he was abducted by aliens from outer space last month says his extraterrestrial kidnappers attempted to convert him to Christianity while he was aboard their spacecraft.
Nigel Harshaw of Suffolk, England, who is in the United States on a temporary work visa, told Channel 13 Action News that on the evening of January 28, he was in his backyard assembling a grill when the incident occurred. I just remember I was standing there with an Allen wrench in my hand and then in what felt like an instant, I was someplace else, he recalled.
That someplace else, according to Nigel, was the inside of an unidentified flying object. The thirty-seven year-old IT consultant, who claims he spent nine hours aboard the spacecraft, says he was able to communicate with his alien captors. Their language and speech patterns were unlike anything Ive ever heard, he said, adding, Yet, somehow I was able to understand and interact with them.
According to Harshaws account, the human-like beings did not appear hostile. They asked me if Id heard the good news. I told them, I dont know that I have. They said, God loves you and He wants you to know and love Him. He offers you peace and joy and a fulfilled life. Nigel, who is an atheist, said he was too frightened to say so at the time and instead did his best to appear open to their message.
Ufos Exist But What Are They
Are UFOs realand if so, what are they? Does the Bible speak of UFOs? Was God an ancient astronaut? Are we being visited by non-earthlings, and if so, who are they and what do they want? Who will ultimately rule space? You can know! And the answers will astound you!
Part One
UFOs Exist
In this supposed age of reason, public officials and scientists find themselves facing a new wave of interest in unexplained phenomena. UFO sightings, testimony about alien abductions, and government agencies dabbling in telepathy have produced a steady stream of headlines.
A 1996 Gallup Poll revealed that nearly 75 percent of Americans believe in UFOs and/or extraterrestrial life, and that 3 percent even believe theyve been abductedthats over 8,000,000 people!
The mysteries of parapsychology, life after death, crossing over, astrology, UFOs, and the occult are in these days, while traditional Christianity is considered out, old fashioned or even downright fraudulent. One reporter said nearly every person he met at UFO conferences and cults claim they used to belong to a Christian church. Generally, they left and began seeking other answers when a Christian parent or leader could notor would nottake their experiences and inquiry seriously enough to respond with sound biblical answers. You will be given strong biblical answers in this booklet.
The facts are in. Yes, UFOs are real! They exist! But what arethey? The answer may astound you!
Documented Cases
The Roswell Incident
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Does Jesus Refer To Aliens In John : 16
Jesus said:
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.John 10:16
Who are these other sheep? Is this a prediction that eventually we will take the Gospel to other planets? Or is that missing Jesus’ point altogether?
- 4I haven’t gone completely insane. I’m asking example questions so that I can link to them from our draft FAQ.Nov 29 ’11 at 23:02
- Haha. I’ll bite :p
Does Jesus refer to aliens here? Is this a prediction that eventually we will take the Gospel to other planets?
It is unlikely that extraterrestrials as we generally imagine them are specifically referred to here. Indeed, in at least one other place when God defines who his sheep are, he specifically states they are men :
And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.
The Bible tells us little of other inhabited worlds. We can infer that any other inhabited planets would be unfallen: Satan and his angels were expelled from the heavens to Earth and the host of the heavens is still said to worship God and declare his glory . If this is the case, taking the Gospel to them would quite literally be preaching to the choir.
Who are these other sheep?
Theories vary a well-known one is the idea espoused by some Mormons such as James E. Talmadge :
A quote for C. S. Lewis explains this nicely:
My source article is a fascinating read on the subject.
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Astronomers are discovering thousands of planets in orbit around other stars. They now estimate that there are billions of Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Could intelligent life be living on some of those planets? This is the subject of much scientific speculation and entertaining science fiction. While we havent yet detected signs of alien life, what would such a discovery mean for Christians?
Some atheists claim the discovery of aliens would destroy organized religion or invalidate the Bible. However, a survey of religious people found that most are comfortable with the idea of intelligent aliens and do not see it threatening their beliefs. Astronauts such as John Glenn actually found their trip to space to bring them closer to God and to a deeper faith. The Bible is still relevant in the space age it makes claims far beyond the people and places of Earth, describing God as the Creator of all life and the entire cosmos. Yet many questions remain.
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Does Scripture Refer To Life In Outer Space
- “Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you.”
- “And the multitudes of heaven worship you”
- “In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above”
- “And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens”
- “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also”
- “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man”
- “He who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited”