Can aliens exist...

Can aliens exist in Christian fiction?

  • Yes

    Votes: 36 81.8%
  • No

    Votes: 6 13.6%
  • Unsure

    Votes: 2 4.5%

  • Total voters
    44
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mdin

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Absolutely. There are several books out there about aliens and the bible. Some believe the giants spoken of were aliens.
 

My-Immortal

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Not trying to be rude....and I hope this isn't taken the wrong way at all....but technically speaking, isn't God an alien Himself? I mean, if you think about it, He created the world...He's not "from" this world. I wouldn't consider Him an "Earthling"...

Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack the thread or anything - I just wanted to toss that out (again, with no intention of offending anyone).

Take care all -
 

Puddle Jumper

My-Immortal said:
Not trying to be rude....and I hope this isn't taken the wrong way at all....but technically speaking, isn't God an alien Himself? I mean, if you think about it, He created the world...He's not "from" this world. I wouldn't consider Him an "Earthling"...

Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack the thread or anything - I just wanted to toss that out (again, with no intention of offending anyone).

Take care all -
I'm actually referring to aliens being lifeforms from other planets in our mortal realm universe. God is in the spiritual realm beyond mortality so I really am not looking to classify the spiritual realm in that way for this discussion, though if you want to say that you can.
 

September skies

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Puddle Jumper said:
Can aliens exist in Christian fiction?

I take it you don't mean illegal aliens from Canada or Mexico?
smile.gif


Yes, I believe aliens can exist. Latter Day Saints definitely believe in them (or at least on life on other far-away planets) and so do some Christians.

I don't think this book falls under Christian fiction - but in the book 01-01-00 (RJ Piniero) there is an interesting story combining aliens and religion.
 

MadScientistMatt

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I don't see any reason why not. There isn't anything I can think of in the Bible that says that God only created life on Earth.

BTW, C.S. Lewis had some interesting essays on the possible spiritual states of aliens, should they exist. He even had some SF novels exploring different possibilities, including one where an Earthling encounters an alien Garden of Eden and finds himself having to persuade an alien Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit.
 

Ralyks

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Well, they DO exist in Christian fiction (ever read C.S. Lewis's space trilogy, for instance?) so of course they CAN exist in Christian fiction! Now, if you were to ask SHOULD they, I would be hard pressed to come up with a theological reason why they should NOT. There is certainly nothing in the Bible that rules out other lifeforms on other planets, and Hebrews twice talks about the worlds framed/made by God. Why we should presume ours is the only world or we the only sentient beings I do not know. God is infinitely wise and infinitely powerful...frankly, it is a little difficult for me to consider that He would be satisfied with creating just one world, just one race of free-willed, sentient beings.

Of course, the angels are really aliens; inhabitting not a different planet, but a different realm--but I know what you mean, distinct physical beings inhabitting another physical world. I think such other beings probably exist somewhere in the vast universe--but either way, it doesn't much matter or have much relevance to my faith. If such beings do exist, God's plan for them may be entirely different from his plan for the human race. They may not even have required a Reedemer. They may never have fallen (as C.S. Lewis writes it in Perelandra.)
 
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Lyra Jean

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I believe aliens exist and I believe that aliens can be used in christian fiction.

Read Ender's Game series. They have aliens in the later books.

There is a short story where a man wanted proof that Jesus was real. He travelled through space and found another planet inhabited by aliens and on this planet their Jesus figure was just crucified and the "apostles" were starting to write everything down. Was the story about aliens, no, but the story used aliens to illustrate the man's disbelief in Jesus very well because he continued searching.
 

Puddle Jumper

MadScientistMatt said:
I don't see any reason why not. There isn't anything I can think of in the Bible that says that God only created life on Earth.
I don't believe in aliens, yet I like various movies and tv shows that have aliens in them. But my reason for not believing in them is the Genesis account that says God first created the earth and after He created the earth He created the sun, moon, and stars to give light to the earth, meaning then that the earth is older than the rest of the universe, and then goes through the account of creating life on earth.

That isn't to say He didn't create life somewhere else but I think that would be a bit confusing, because it was the result of human sin that cursed this entire universe. And if all is cursed because of humans, I would think that would be highly unfair to any other sensient (sp?) lifeform in this universe.

I like more C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia where it presents the idea that God may have created other sensient life but have seperate universe's, etc...

I'm not opposed to the idea of aliens but would need proof to believe they exist. It does make sense though to me that we would not be God's only creation. I would think if I had the creative abilities of God, I would create many universe's with many kinds of beings and all that just for the enjoyment of doing so. Like why I dream up stories, I'm creating characters and worlds just for the enjoyment of doing so.

I like what someone I once knew said. If God did create alien life, He didn't find it important enough to mention to us. :p

MadScientistMatt said:
BTW, C.S. Lewis had some interesting essays on the possible spiritual states of aliens, should they exist. He even had some SF novels exploring different possibilities, including one where an Earthling encounters an alien Garden of Eden and finds himself having to persuade an alien Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit.
Never heard of them. Where might I find them?

skylarburris said:
Well, they DO exist in Christian fiction (ever read C.S. Lewis's space trilogy, for instance?) so of course they CAN exist in Christian fiction!
Doesn't ring a bell. What's it called? I'm currently reading some C.S. Lewis stuff. Reading through Chronicles of Narnia at the moment, I plan on reading Screwtape Letters later on.
 

My-Immortal

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Puddle Jumper said:
I like what someone I once knew said. If God did create alien life, He didn't find it important enough to mention to us. :p

Or perhaps we're not important enough to be informed about the alien life...
 

Puddle Jumper

My-Immortal said:
Or perhaps we're not important enough to be informed about the alien life...
I like that better. Or to say we're not yet ready?

Though I still don't think alien life exists in our universe.

However, a thought I've had about eternity has me wondering if we'll have more of a role than just hanging out in heaven for all eternity in peace and love and no challenges whatsoever. What if God creates other worlds and universe's and somehow we'rer a part, maybe taking a part in their worlds like the angels take part in ours? Maybe?

Or maybe the idea is too far fetched. But considering we know practically nothing about what eternity will be like with God. . . It's the stuff dreams are made of, right?
 

Betty W01

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I think there's so much we don't know for sure that a lot of things may be possible that are even beyond our imagination. Aliens may be one of those things. I hesitate to be dogmatic on anything God has not made a foundational truth.

And Orson Scott Card is a Mormon, so his theology says aliens (beings off other planets) do really exist. Christians just don't know, since it isn't implicitly stated in the Bible Christian beliefs are taken from.

I think if you use Christian principles (like "giving your life for a friend", "monogamy in marriage", "extending help to those in need", "lying is wrong" and so on), you can invent all sorts of worlds and still keep your integrity.
 

SeanDSchaffer

I voted 'yes,' and my reason for it was that God, being an infinite being that can do almost anything (He cannot lie, according to Scripture, hence the 'almost anything' comment) could have easily made sentient life on other worlds.

Just because the Bible does not say "There is life on other worlds," does not automatically mean there is not life on other worlds.

For this reason, I believe that it is possible to have aliens in Christian fiction. The Bible never says, 'thou shalt not believe in life on other worlds,' so there's no reason in this reader's opinion, to keep aliens out of Christian fiction.
 

kdnxdr

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I have a little different angle

I thought I would share what I believe, maybe you can use some idea from it:

The scriptures say that God created man a little lower than the angels, so He did create other beings. And, those angels are able to interact with our physical world and according to scripture, do so. But their place of residence is considered the heavens. The scriptures also reference a war in the heavens that is going on, even as we speak. That spiritual warfare involves physical man as well as spiritual beings. According to scripture, when Lucifer was kicked out of heaven and given dominion over the earth and the power of the air, temporarily (which is still in affect), one third of the angels followed him, leaving their heavenly abode in rebellion to God. So, the scenario at this point, according to scripture is that there is humanity, angels, demons and satan as created beings.

Here's my take on the whole thing: According to scripture, man/woman is created in the image of God, nobody else. And, God being the creator has bestowed on man/woman the gift of being able to procreate which is a God act (to create). No other beings are able to do this. I have read many reports of how aliens supposedly kidnapped human beings and then performed experimentation/examinations on them that seemed to focus on the reproductive system. There have also been reports from abductees that they saw what looked to be human children on board some of these spacecraft. Also, there have been reports that women that were abducted while they were pregnant, unexplicably returned home no longer pregnant with no explanation as to what happened. I think the movie "Communion" with Billy Crystal is a very good example of what I'm talking about. That movie was supposedly a true account.

I said all that to say, I believe that the reason aliens would possibly be focused on humanity's ability to procreate is because the aliens can not and desire to be able to reproduce themselves. If they are beings and can cross between dimensions of existence, and they are fallen angels, created by but in rebellion to God, and there is only a finite number of them, I think they are trying to increase their numbers by trying to devise a way to reporduce themselves. I also they are jealous of our ability to procreate. Since, satan's bent is to mock God, it follows that his minions would have the same drive. Also, since satan is under the self-perpetrated delusion that he is going to usurp God's authority, I would think satan et al would be deranged enough to believe that sheer numbers will overwhelm God and so become obsessed with trying to propogate themselves.

I don't know if you can use any of that but thought I would share.

kdnxdr

ps: I think it's important to not that there are different concepts as to what "the heavens" are. This is not just a reference to somewhere "out in space", it has in interesting dimentionality to it.
 
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Carrie Ann Eggert

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kdnxdr said:
Here's my take on the whole thing: According to scripture, man/woman is Also, there have been reports that women that were abducted while they were pregnant, unexplicably returned home no longer pregnant with no explanation as to what happened. I think the movie "Communion" with Billy Crystal is a very good example of what I'm talking about. That movie was supposedly a true account.

Ummm...I think you mean Christopher Walken...not Billy Crystal...though it would have interesting to see Billy play such a dramatic part. :)

As for the whole alien/God/Christian theology discussion going on here I have to say that I think that God is an alien and that without realizing it...we are too. Intelligence arrived way too fast for humans without any sort of intervention.
Maybe somebody wasn't too happy with the intervention and wants to find a way to stop it. Maybe a cousin from another world who didn't get a "fair" cut of God's "living will".
Just something to think about.

Carrie:)
 
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kdnxdr

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Thank you for the correction regarding the actor in "Communion".

On the God is and alien thing.........The scriptures say that we(humanity) are created in God's image.

Alien means an "other than" image.

The scriptures do not say that aliens are created in God's image, only that God created them.

Actually, we are to cohabitate with God and He refers to us as His children when we take on Christlikeness.

so far what I've read is that Lucifer was a beautiful angel that was created by God that rebelled and was removed from cohabitating with God and will never have that relationship again. Angels who choose to reject God were also removed with Lucifer (who is now satan). Fallen angels are demons, not angels.

satan and demons are committed to doing what they can to entice humans from having a relationship with God.

I, personally, believe that this demonic/satanic activity perpetrated on humanity is part of what we call aliens/alien activity.

"Aliens" are not something like another humanity. There is only one created humanity (albeit that humanity can act pretty alien). And, there are other created beings.
 

Mac H.

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>..ever read C.S. Lewis's space trilogy, for instance ?

Never heard of them. Where might I find them?
Sheesh. You want everyone to do your thinking for you?

Try: Google [CS Lewis Space Trilogy]

Available second hand from Amazon for $11 USD.

Mac
(PS: If you read the Bible carefully, you'll see that God doesn't bother mentioning the existence of Australia, Quantum Physics, Electricity and Penguins. Since I'm fairly sure penguins exist, there seems no reason to use that logic to disbelieve the existence of aliens)

(PPS: Another poster mentioned the fact that humans are the only beings who can procreate. I suspect that's not true. Penguins procreate as well.)
 
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kdnxdr

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In context, human beings procreate, spiritual beings do not. Animals are animals and not the same as human beings. I know evolution teaches differently. Procreation is a God given gift (though humans have a tendancy to use procreation irresponsibly) and animals have been given the ability to procreate as well. According to the physical needs of our humanity, we need them, not just for a food supply, but for their contribution to the ecosystem, for entertainment, beauty and physical service.

Each every person has their own belief system. That's what's so cool about free will which I believe is one of the most under rated characteristics of being human versus an animal.

Angels have free wills. What makes them an angel versus a demon is that they, motivated by love, freely choose to love God. Demons, by free will while they were angels, chose to reject the love relationship with God and as a result lost their place in heaven, becoming demons of rebellion. I don't believe satan encourages free will and he spends his time attempting to undermine free will where ever he can.

Everything that was ever created is, in fact, mentioned in the bible, even all people who ever were born or who will ever be born. Penguins come under the heading of "birds".

kdnxdr
 

Kevin Yarbrough

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kdnxdr said:
Everything that was ever created is, in fact, mentioned in the bible,

Not everything is mentioned in the bible. Dinosaurs aren't mentioned in the bible but they are a lot older than we are.

But let's talk about procreation for a moment. It's a god given gift for us humans, right? What about early humans? Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon? What were they? They procreated, they were human, but they weren't us. Where do they fall into God's plan?

Don't get me wrong, I believe in a Higher Power but I don't buy the creation theory. My take, and this is only my take, is that we evolved and then a Higher Power helped us by pushes in Evolution. A nudge here and an Austrolpetheciene(?) becomes a Neanderthal, another nudge and the Neanderthal becomes Cro-Magnon, yet another nudge and Cro-Magnon becomes Homo Sapien.

Maybe God is like a landlord with many buildings in different cities. He takes care of one building and then goes on to the next city. Maybe one day he will come back, see how we screwed things up and nudge us along in evolution again.

But then again I could be wrong and and could be getting a one way ticket to Hell. I might need to by some Sun Block.
 

kdnxdr

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my take is take is that, from the first man, and there was a first, humanity has been in a process of de-evolving. And rather than nudges, it's mercy/patience/forgiveness that has kept us from poofing into nonexistence before now.

However, it seems like we're pressing the envelope at this time.

kdnxdr
 
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