Space travel and exploration intrigue me. I’m fascinated by NOVA episodes on the Kepler space telescope or probes sent to the edges of our solar system and beyond. One of the things that has clearly animated several space missions in recent decades is the desire to find evidence of extra-terrestrial life in some form. NASA devotes a whole page to how that might be done here. Our culture’s fascination with alien life in science fiction, together with recent Congressional hearings on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), is bringing the possibility of alien life to the forefront of many people’s minds again. Some have come to believe that we simply can’t be alone in this mind-blowingly vast universe.
How do we approach this question as Christians? For those who worship Jesus Christ as Lord of all creation, our faith is not unrelated to the question of whether or not there is life “out there.” We should approach this question carefully and from a proper Scriptural standpoint. What are the implications of alien life to the Christian faith?
It is important to state at the beginning that not only is there no evidence in the Scriptures for any sort of extra-terrestrial life (beyond angels and demons), there is also an overwhelming amount of evidence against it. Genesis 1 and 2 teach that God made Adam and Eve to be the crown of His creation, giving them dominion over all living things that He had created. It is made clear that all of this life was located on earth where Adam and Eve could exercise their divinely given dominion. The existence of life where they could not exercise such dominion is inconsistent with the creation narrative.
This also would seem to debunk any notion that there are higher or more intelligent forms of life. For when God made man His highest creation, He made him to be in His own image. The idea that there is other life with greater capacities than humans, who alone are in the image of God Himself, seems rather foolish.
The argument against other intelligent life in the universe is also strengthened when one considers what happened when mankind fell into sin. The Scriptures say in Romans 8 that all of creation, the whole universe, was put into the bondage of man’s sin and its decaying effects. Since man was given dominion over creation, all creation fell with him into sin. If there really were extra-terrestrial creatures equal to or higher than us but not under our dominion elsewhere in the universe, God would certainly not be so unjust as to put them under the curse of our sin. The fact that all creation has been “subjected to futility” as St. Paul says, indicates that there are no other forms of life in the universe like ourselves or greater than us.
But for me, the key thing to ponder regarding this question pertains to who Jesus is. In order that we might be saved, the Son of God, the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, became a true human being, fully and permanently taking on our human nature. Christ Jesus is Himself the very image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). His divine and human natures are joined together in such a way that Jesus is eternally both God and man. Jesus rose bodily from the grave and ascended bodily into heaven where He will forever be true God and true man. Our humanity is redeemed because the Son of God has purified it. He became like us so that we might become like Him. The point is this: If there was other intelligent life like us “out there,” how would they be saved from the curse of sin that all the universe is under? For Christ is forever incarnate as our brother. He could not be truly and literally human and also be incarnate as some other created being. The reason Christ’s death on the cross saves us is because He died as one of us. All creation is redeemed because He now has dominion as a true man; all things have been placed under His feet (Psalm 8:6; 1 Corinthians 15:25ff.; Ephesians 1:22; Romans 8:21). In this way, even the very Gospel of Christ itself seems to exclude alien life on some other planet.
There is another fundamental error that drives the belief in extra-terrestrial life: the theory of evolution. Most who believe that life could exist elsewhere in the universe base those thoughts on the anti-Scriptural philosophy which says that life can come into being on its own and evolve into higher and higher forms of life under the right conditions without any God or Creator. The account of creation in Genesis simply doesn’t allow that possibility—nor does science itself, which has yet to explain how non-living things can become living things apart from a Creator. Indeed, there is now a good body of scientific evidence seriously undermining the theory of evolution.
Why then is the universe so huge? Carl Sagan liked to say that if it’s just us here on earth, it would be an awful waste of space. But, of course, that’s not for us to say. Rather, Scripture says this, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). And Romans 1 states that, “[God’s] invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” It’s just as logical from a Christian perspective to think that the massiveness of the universe is a declaration of the majesty and power of God, a thing of beauty for us to enjoy and marvel at.
What then about all the various UFO/UAP sightings that have been reported? While several have proved to be fabrications or misperceptions by those who witnessed them, others are certainly worthy of further investigation as to their source. However, we should not exclude the possibility of the powers of darkness, demons, being at work here. Scripture clearly speaks of “signs and wonders” being produced by those powers arrayed against Christ to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect (Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9). Demons could certainly make use of this kind of deception to distract and draw people away from the true Christian faith.
Clearly then, I think the focus on and the desire for there to be extra-terrestrial life is a diversion from Christ and the truth of His Word. This is certainly not a neutral topic. It directly involves such doctrines as creation, sin, and the Gospel itself.
Our culture’s interest in life on other planets betrays a real spiritual hunger for something higher and greater than ourselves. It's an indication to us of how much our neighbors need to hear the truth about that One who truly is higher and greater than us, the only true God, who in love for us sent His Son to come down to where we’re at in order to raise us to Himself.
We do believe in “extra-terrestrial beings.” They’re called angels, sent by God to protect His people. We do believe in an “alien” invasion, the coming of our Lord in the flesh to rescue us from our eternal enemies—sin, death, and the devil. And we do believe in life in another world, or better said, in a renewed world (Romans 8:21ff), the new creation to be revealed in all its glory when Christ comes again.
So enjoy those science fiction movies. Just don’t forget that they are indeed fiction. And let people’s interest in life “out there” be a reminder to you to share with them the real life “down here” to be had in Christ and in the blessing of forgiveness and life that He gives in divine service.
-Pastor Koch
