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Is the Existence of Aliens Contrary to the Bible?

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Brandon9000
 
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 05:35 am
Would the people who are inclined to believe that the Bible should be interpreted literally also believe that there is no extraterrestrial life? The Bible seems to state that the universe was made for man's benefit, or am I misinterpreting it?

Additionally, if you believe in creation, not evolution, and you do think that aliens might exist, I suppose you would have to believe that they were created also, and that some version of Jesus Christ once walked among them. When we die, will we see the aliens in some sense in Heaven? Presumably they would have souls too.

Is this what very religious people believe or am I misrepresenting what the Bible says?
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Intrepid
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 06:33 am
Quote:
Is this what very religious people believe or am I misrepresenting what the Bible says?


No and Yes
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Brandon9000
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 06:40 am
Intrepid wrote:
Quote:
Is this what very religious people believe or am I misrepresenting what the Bible says?


No and Yes

Is it a secret? Razz
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Acquiunk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 08:33 am
Re: Is the Existence of Aliens Contrary to the Bible?
Brandon9000 wrote:
The Bible seems to state that the universe was made for man's benefit,


I can see two possible interpretations for the literalist's. Either they are not human because only humans are on earth and the bible mentions on other place and we therefore have dominion over them. Or they are human because the universe was made for man's benefit and they are of the universe.

This is not as silly a question as some might think it is. In the late 15th century European Christians (and they all were) faced a similar issue with the discovery of the New World. None of the people found there were mentioned in the bible either. A debate was held with the Pope as moderator and the question was decided in favor of "granting" Native American the status of human. Interestingly enough the same question was present on the other side but the solution was achieved in a much more pragmatic manner. For example an Aztec general held a Spanish prisoners head in a bucket of water. Personal tragedy, the guy drowned, but it answered the question, he was not a god but human.
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neologist
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 10:52 pm
If we confine our arguments to the bible, we should consider two things (at least): 1] We are told of angels, that they are spirits, but we really can't comprehend their exact nature. So, the bible allows for other creatures in the universe.

2] My second point may not be so obvious: The circumstance of Satan's tempting Eve raises the question of God's right to set standards for his creatures. Had this issue already been settled anyplace in the universe, God would have immediately zapped the Edenic rebels. That he has allowed (what to us must seem an interminable) time for the consequences of rebellion to work themselves out is an indication of its originality. That being said, I think it unlikely that beings from other planets (should they exist) would be allowed unrestricted access to earth.
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Intrepid
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 10:58 pm
Brandon9000 wrote:
Intrepid wrote:
Quote:
Is this what very religious people believe or am I misrepresenting what the Bible says?


No and Yes

Is it a secret? Razz


Is what a secret? I answered no to the first part and yes to the 2nd. Did you not comprehend this? Did you think it was a maybe answer; a no or yes answer? What are you saying here?
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Brandon9000
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 11:36 pm
Intrepid wrote:
Brandon9000 wrote:
Intrepid wrote:
Quote:
Is this what very religious people believe or am I misrepresenting what the Bible says?


No and Yes

Is it a secret? Razz


Is what a secret? I answered no to the first part and yes to the 2nd. Did you not comprehend this? Did you think it was a maybe answer; a no or yes answer? What are you saying here?

I was hoping you might be a little less succinct.
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Mr Stillwater
 
  1  
Reply Fri 13 May, 2005 11:40 pm
The Bible? No. Common sense? Yes.


The bible is full of references to supernatural creatures that don't actually exist. The only reason it doesn't specifically refer to ETs is that it was not recognised by any of the authors that there WAS a bigger 'cosmos' than the one they knew. These are people who for another 1,000 years or so truely believed that there were men with only one leg or two heads or that lambs could be 'grown' on plants.
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Eorl
 
  1  
Reply Sun 15 May, 2005 10:51 pm
I'm not totally against the whole von Daniken notion of the christian god actually being an alien(s).
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Brandon9000
 
  1  
Reply Fri 20 May, 2005 05:32 pm
The universe was here for a long time before the solar system was created, The sun is a second generation star made up of matter from other stars that lived, grew old, died, and exploded. This means that the cosmos was here for a long, long time before humans came by. What if we meet aliens who are vastly superior to us both in intelligence and technology? What would the religious implications be? What would the cultural implications be?
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Mr Stillwater
 
  1  
Reply Fri 20 May, 2005 10:31 pm
Brandon9000 wrote:
The universe was here for a long time before the solar system was created, The sun is a second generation star made up of matter from other stars that lived, grew old, died, and exploded. This means that the cosmos was here for a long, long time before humans came by. What if we meet aliens who are vastly superior to us both in intelligence and technology? What would the religious implications be? What would the cultural implications be?



Religious implications!? What if they have a taste for human flesh? Or are in need of slaves in the salt mines on Beta Centuri? I am not even going to start on the possibility of new diseases and whether their going to pay for anything they decide to take off-planet. The history of humans is chock-full of examples of what happens when 'superior' and 'naive' populations meet and it is always bad news.........
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Brandon9000
 
  1  
Reply Fri 20 May, 2005 11:01 pm
Mr Stillwater wrote:
Brandon9000 wrote:
The universe was here for a long time before the solar system was created, The sun is a second generation star made up of matter from other stars that lived, grew old, died, and exploded. This means that the cosmos was here for a long, long time before humans came by. What if we meet aliens who are vastly superior to us both in intelligence and technology? What would the religious implications be? What would the cultural implications be?



Religious implications!? What if they have a taste for human flesh?

I would guess that they have a customary food source, and don't need to cross interstellar distances to eat aliens from a completely different line of evolution.

Mr Stillwater wrote:
Or are in need of slaves in the salt mines on Beta Centuri?

If they can build interstellar capable drives, they can do better with machines than by using us as slave labor. A more likely danger would be that by their standards we don't even count as intelligent life forms.

Mr Stillwater wrote:
I am not even going to start on the possibility of new diseases and whether their going to pay for anything they decide to take off-planet. The history of humans is chock-full of examples of what happens when 'superior' and 'naive' populations meet and it is always bad news.........

I agree.
0 Replies
 
Algis Kemezys
 
  1  
Reply Fri 20 May, 2005 11:19 pm
Yes according to the greeks they do.See my new documentary
"Mimetoliths"That will get doing research.
0 Replies
 
AngeliqueEast
 
  1  
Reply Tue 24 May, 2005 07:37 am
Enoch
I was told that there is a part of The Book of Enoch that speaks about other planets, and aliens. The problem is finding it. There seems to be more than one part, and they have different dates.

The Book of Enoch is not part of the Bible today, but many believe it was or should have been.

I wonder if the library in the Vatican has ancient books, scrolls that could answer some of the many questions humanity has been asking. I would like to camp out in the library for a couple of months or maybe a year.
0 Replies
 
 

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