So, the Bible doesn't really overtly touch on the topic of extraterrestrial life (other than spiritual beings), you say? Does that mean that Christians are free choose to believe or not to believe in aliens? I'll do my best to answer that question and more in the following paragraphs.
In order to adequately answer this question I'll need to provide you with a few pieces of information, because the answer really is primarily derived from a good understanding of biblical theology.
A) The current state of deterioration, matter and energy moving steadily and surely from order to disorder, the entire universe speeding headlong into utter chaos; better known as entropy (the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics), is not how God originally created the cosmos. Since we read, in Genesis chapter one, that everything He made was very good, and that death and decay didn't enter onto the scene until the first (of many) big human blunder, we can determine rather quickly that the universe was not experiencing this state of decay, which is directly associated with the Curse, prior to the Fall of man.
B) Because God is righteous and just His very nature would prevent Him from inflicting the punishment for man's original sin on some unsuspecting race of A.L.F.s on some other planet in some other solar system and some other galaxy, across the universe from Earth.
C) If the Bible teaches both A and B, which it does, the only viable (biblically speaking) options as to the existence of sentient life on other planets is either, 1. There isn't any, or 2. There may be, but if they do exist then they must live on a planet or in a solar system, galaxy, or some other spacial distinction within a bubble which shields them from the effects of the Curse (i.e., entropy) which is a universal constant. If there was no bubble then God would not be just because they would be suffering under the same curse as we do here on Earth. I understand that this scenario sounds ridiculous. That's because it is. The Bible, while not mentioning the topic, simply doesn't allow for the existence of sentient life forms outside of the human race.
The whole idea of Jesus Christ as a kinsman redeemer ties into this. In a follow-up blog I will quickly present an overview of the goel, the kinsman redeemer. I'll use the situation found in the Book of Ruth because it is the best and most beautiful description found anywhere.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone, lovingly known as Gus
2 comments:
Not that trying say you're wrong, but why do you think the 2nd law of thermodynamics came in after the fall. I agree about death coming in after the fall, I just wanted to see the reasoning. :)
Hey, I'm going to refer you to my reasoning in point A. With the 2nd Law comes decay, deterioration, disorder, and I'm sure a few more nasty d-words :P
Obviously, the Bible doesn't tell us specifically that entropy began at the Fall, but I believe that when we take a close look at entropy, at what exactly it is, we'll see that it doesn't jibe with the state of the universe on day 6 when God declared all things very good.
If He created matter and energy already deteriorating and disorganizing then it would have been less "good" by day 6 than on the respective days He created each item.
There's no way I can prove my belief here, but it seems more than consistent with the Bible. Not only that, the nature of entropy actually seems to be parallel to some of the promised effects of the Fall.
Thanks for commenting!
Post a Comment