Its effect on me was
not negligible and that night I removed my analog clock from my room (for you
Generation Yers, analog is the one with the pointy things sticking out
from the center) because the ticking of the hands became terrifying to me.
Not exactly anyone's
vision of a super fun movie night.
However, I walked
away from that evening's experience with something else, something
other than fear: a firm belief in extraterrestrial life.
In fact, in the
hey-day of my belief, I started the “Extraterrestrial Prayer
Ministry (EPM)” which was “committed to praying for our brother
and sisters in other galaxies” or something like that (hey, cut me
some slack; once I go all in, I go all in).
Now, before you
write me off as having gone off the deep end, I don't actually
believe there exists physical evidence for aliens.
All such proof,
including that presented in the documentary, is easier and better
explained by something other than intergalactic visitors who couldn't
find anything more interesting to do than mess with a few cows,
abduct a person here or there, or craft designs in an Iowa cornfield.
In fact, I don't
even stop by that section at the bookstore, conveniently located
between the Tarot cards and the ghost hunter biographies (I mean
how's that for instilling confidence?).
Upon maturer
reflection, I believe the case for alien life is most properly a
theological question, not a paranormal, scientific, or biblical one.
What do I mean by
that?
Well, the alien
question is not a paranormal question because alein existence doesn't
rise or fall on hypotheses related to unexplained phenomena that
supposedly lie beyond the capacities of nature.
It could. But it
doesn't.
More controversial,
I would say it's not practically a scientific question, only in the
sense that scientists have little reason to expect scientific
confirmation of intelligent life comparable to our own (sorry, SETI!)
and yet that still doesn't mean such life is nonexistent.
One such hurdle to
scientific confirmation of aliens is the standard “life evolved
from the perfect marriage of chemicals, proteins, warmth, moisture,
and energy” explanation of the genesis of carbon based life.
Te odds this happened
once is so infinitesimal as to almost be zero and is something
trained professionals in labs have been utterly unable to achieve
(and not for lack of trying).
That it
happened twice, even multiple times, is incredible.
Secondly, our
ability to broadcast and receive radio waves to and from our
hypothetical intergalactic neighbors is severely limited by the
vastness of the universe and the current inadequacy of even our best
technology to pierce the darkness.
So not only does it
seem highly unlikely that aliens could have evolved from a
protein-rich primordial soup (as some assume we did), if they managed
that feat, the likelihood we would be able to contact each other is
slim to none.
In fairness, these odds are technically
not insurmountable and do not truly place the aliens
outside of the realm of scientific inquiry, but as far as
validating or invalidating the alien question, the tools of the
scientific trade need quite a bit of updating.
Finally and maybe
most surprisingly, I don't think this is a biblical question.
The Bible is book,
divine in origin, given to human beings (as opposed to angels or
animals, ect.) for their total edification.
It is not a science
textbook or an exhaustive encyclopedia of all knowledge, so we should
not be surprised it does not even broach the question of aliens, the
conditions of life on other planets, or other related issues.
All attempts to read
aliens into every fantastic vision in the Bible or description of a
strange creature are unconvincing and find better explanations in the
literary, historical, and socio-cultural settings of the passages in
question.
If we're looking for
a “this saith the Lord” in regards to aliens, we are bound to
come up short.
However, I do think
the Bible is key here, rendering the alien question first a question
of theology.
Theology proper is
the study of God (Himself), but is used to describe the study of the
things of God, too.
Since I believe in
alien existence, not on explicit biblical grounds, but based on a broad
principle(s) taken from the Bible and applied to this question, this is
properly considered theological speculation.
What is this
principle?
The love of God.
That God chose to
create is a stunning and marvelous fact because God had nothing to gain from creation.
If you are God, your ultimate and complete
satisfaction comes not from outside Yourself, but from, well, being God.
This has led careful students of the Bible to conclude that the
“good” of creation was our good.
The Bible says God loves the world. (John 3:16)
That He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. (Ezekiel
33:11)
That He died for everyone. (1
John 2:2 )That He wants everyone to come to knowledge of the truth. (1 John 2:2)
This
love has no limit and manifested itself, not only in creation, but
in God's sharing of Himself, the greatest gift He
could give to us (The Bible says the end of all God's children is to
“be with the Lord forever”, 1
Thessalonians 4:17).
The argument is
simple: if God's love moved Him to create and if God's love is
limitless, God's creative impulses of the same kind that brought
about human beings about in the first place are also limitless,
meaning they did not terminate in us but continue to extend to other
creations of God yet unknown to us.
It follows from
this, we are not alone in the universe (or at least the created
order), but that God is involved in the most beautiful project of
endless self-giving love with all kinds of sentient creatures, not just humans.
This may be on an
intergalactic basis or in other created dimensions, but it's happening, it's
amazing, and it's exactly what we would suspect from a God who has already
purchased for Himself men from every tribe, tongue, and nation here on earth.
