Christian Only: View on extraterrestrials (Moses, Earth, salvation, beliefs)

[sandy whitelinger]

Originally Posted by Hope

The only "extraterrestials" that I believe in are angels and demons.

Don't leave out God as extra terrestrial intellegent life. Cherubim count as well do they not?

[athanasius]

Personally my view on extratesticles is this. I was born with a few extra ones myself so that can't always be bad.

[spiritually inclined]

Technically, I've not been initiated into the Christian religion yet, and due to past experiences, I'm not sure if I can make the final step. Still, I read the Bible and think of the main themes of Christianity in metaphorical terms, so I guess that qualifies me to participate in this thread.

I don't believe the Bible is correct in every aspect. Nor do I think all of the stories about Jesus were intended to be taken literally; they evolved over time. Compare the resurrection accounts -- they become more complex, and contradictory.

That being said, the existence of ETs would not be harmful to my "faith". I think that they probably exist. To me, religion is about metaphor and inner experience. It's about subjective human experience. Science, on the other hand, is concerned with the natural world and universe, why things happen, how things came to be. Because I realize that religion and science address two different human needs, it doesn't destroy my faith, either, when scientific evidence points to the earth as being a sort of globe, even though the Bible often mentions the "four corners of the earth".

James

[Diogenes]

Personally, I don't feel my faith would be damaged by any new or sudden revelation about life on other planets. We are still finding out about new life on this earth-its very abundance despite our destructive tendancies do hint at many different Universal possibilities. As for our current 'UFO mythos'- I believe that it is a kind of sign of the times. Aliens fit better into our purely scientific-materialist world view than the gnomes, trolls and faeries of ages past. These 'visitors' have always been with us, and apparently like to wear a large variety of masks.

[spiritually inclined]

I've known people who claim to have seen UFOs. I really don't know what to think of the phenomenon. The human mind is an amazing thing and does not provide an objective view of reality. Perhaps there is a different explanation for this than space travelers, though it might be just as fascinating, at least to me. Some people explain at least some of these events by sleep paralysis. Susan Blackmore advocates this at least in some cases.

It's hard to believe that ETs would be able to travel the vast distances required to travel to this planet from some other life-supporting galaxy or planet.

James