If extra terrestrial life was discovered

Freiheit

What implications would it have for 'people of faith?'....

PlainP

They would still insist that it is all in gods plan. They would also find bits in the bible relating to some something that proves that they have been right all along and we are still going to burn in hell.....

pontia

if god was discovered how would that effect people with no faith

PlainP

pontia wrote: »

if god was discovered how would that effect people with no faith

We could always just go to confession say a few hail marys and be resolved of all our heathen ways, isn't that how it works??

Zaph

Well unless the aliens looked exactly like humans they may have to re-write that bit in the bible about us being created in god's own image.

krudler

Some simple reinterpretation and bam, sure aliens are in the bible all along.

mickoneill30

Freiheit wrote: »

What implications would it have for 'people of faith?'....

Probably the same implications that happened when people realised that the Earth isn't the centre of the universe, Earth wasn't created in 7 days, earth isn't flat, evolution is real etc. etc.

Just move the goalposts a little bit and say "sure that bit wasn't literal".

Canis Lupus

Zaph wrote: »

Well unless the aliens looked exactly like humans they may have to re-write that bit in the bible about us being created in god's own image.

Surely they'd just say that bit refers to earth only and for the other planets god used his imagination.....

Ellis Dee

pontia wrote: »

if god was discovered how would that effect people with no faith

I believe that question has been answered many times and comprehensively by prominent atheists like Professor-Emeritus Richard Dawkins, who does not claim absolutely that no god exists; instead, he had made it clear that he might change his mind if presented with testable evidence of the existence of a deity.

Personally, I won't be holding my breath for such evidence to be presented.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

As for the discovery of extraterrestrial life, it would depend on where it was discovered and what kind it was. The discovery of DNA-based life forms on Mars or even the moons of Jupiter could indicate that life originated in one place, but was later carried elsewhere by asteroids or comets.:)

Someone once said that if you could reason with religious people, there wouldn't be any religious people, so even if a big golden spaceship with 10,000 Hutts on board landed in St. Peter's Square, I suppose there would still be many Christians who just got on with what they do best - denial - and continued to claim that we were all created in God's image.

Sin City

seamus

They'd simply decide that "made in his own image" was a reference to our souls and consciousness rather than our physical forms and use that as affirmation that the text of bible continues to reveal mysteries to us even beyond the ability of the original authors to have understood it, because now the bible includes aliens, thousands of years before we even knew they existed. Huzzah!

I should really apply for that chief bull speech writing job in el Vaticano.

It's really not that difficult to make any piece of text retrospectively mean whatever you want it to mean. It's the very basis of the major religions.

ShooterSF

People follow religions mostly for 3 things; Karmic style justice that evens out the bad things that happen them, a simple reason for their existence and an existence after this one.

All aliens would do is maybe force the current religions to change things up a bit and it may allow new ones to pop up. Hell Scientology might get a huge boost if it positions itself right!

Myrddin

pontia wrote: »

if god was discovered how would that effect people with no faith

If which God was discovered? Last I checked there's quite a few that are worshiped by different groups worldwide.

pontia

yawn

Fritzl Funderland

we would all be screwed anyway. this idea that they will come in peace etc.. look at the human race, we kill each other etc..

endacl

Feck god. Wouldn't effect peter pan or the easter bunny either. How would it effect Miss Universe though? Miss Universe actually exists.

ShooterSF

pontia wrote: »

yawn

Did you mean "Yam"? I can't find a god called Yawn

Myrddin

pontia wrote: »

yawn

Lol, seriously? There are many Gods that are worshipped by different faiths today. And even more again by cultures & civilizations long gone. Some faiths even have multiple gods, others say only theirs is the real one. It's all a bit mad isn't it

endacl

pontia wrote: »

yawn

Are you a disciple of Bleh, the monosyllabic god of short posts? If so, tell us more. Is he as wacky as all the other ones? Can he do tricks?

Turtwig

Nodin

pontia wrote: »

yawn

Your quality contributions continue to flow, I see. You're a keeper you are.

endacl

Nodin wrote: »

You're a keeper you are.

Sure, they don't take up much space...

Myrddin

pontia wrote: »

yawn

[-0-]

They still can't explain dinosaurs.

Dades

pontia wrote: »

yawn

I assume your done with this thread if that's all you have left to contribute.

What would be really interesting if the aliens who arrived showed us how they seeded earth a few billion years ago. I'd like to see some believers wriggle their way out that with a few "context" changes.

Myrddin

Dades wrote: »

I'd like to see some believers wriggle their way out that with a few "context" changes.

They could burn the aliens at the stake for heresy...that always used to work?

endacl

EnterNow wrote: »

They could burn the aliens at the stake for heresy...that always used to work?

Aliens are made of asbestos. Only they don't call it asbestos. They call it '£$%%^tlteik**ycmxzrxn'.

Freiheit

Would there be 'missionaries' to mars?

Myrddin

endacl wrote: »

Aliens are made of asbestos. Only they don't call it asbestos. They call it '£$%%^tlteik**ycmxzrxn'.

True, if they die at the stake its only because the devil left them & we've saved their souls I suppose

maddragon

Zaph wrote: »

Well unless the aliens looked exactly like humans they may have to re-write that bit in the bible about us being created in god's own image.

Have you ever seen Jackie Healy Rae.

Geekness1234

Zaph wrote: »

Well unless the aliens looked exactly like humans they may have to re-write that bit in the bible about us being created in god's own image.

Nahh, just throw random out of context quotes around and their sorted.

Ninjamonkey

what a crock of ****e. There is no evidence for aliens.

Personally I dont think anyone would give a rats ass if aliens were discovered. Unless they can bring down the price of petrol, clear our bank debt, noone would care a **** if they existed or not, and why should they ?

The world is flat - you have been conned into believing otherwise.

Insect Overlord

Ninjamonkey wrote: »

what a crock of ****e. There is no evidence for aliens.

Personally I dont think anyone would give a rats ass if aliens were discovered. Unless they can bring down the price of petrol, clear our bank debt, noone would care a **** if they existed or not, and why should they ?

The world is flat - you have been conned into believing otherwise.

Epic. Rock on, brother.

philologos

Freiheit wrote: »

What implications would it have for 'people of faith?'....

What implications do you think it should have? Unless you outline this, the discussion is pointless.

I can think of none. The Bible as Christians understand it is God's word communicated to humans. There's nothing limiting the possibility that God could have spoken to other intelligent life on their own terms.

Freiheit

Well why would a biblical God create life on other planets and not mention it in the bible?would it not make the bible look even more ridiculous? If they are human like why was christ sent to save earth humans only?

Sarky

philologos wrote: »

What implications do you think it should have? Unless you outline this, the discussion is pointless.

I can think of none. The Bible as Christians understand it is God's word communicated to humans. There's nothing limiting the possibility that God could have spoken to other intelligent life on their own terms.

Well that didn't take long.

Freiheit

'The earth is a circle' Isaih 40:22
The earth has corners....revelation 7:1
The earth rests on pillars...Samuel 2:8
The earth does not move,Chronicles 16:30

How did they explain those away? mistranslations ? No doubt they'd find a way of explaining aliens away too!:)

philologos

Freiheit wrote: »

Well why would a biblical God create life on other planets and not mention it in the bible?would it not make the bible look even more ridiculous? If they are human like why was christ sent to save earth humans only?

Think about it this way, what is the Bible according to Christians?

It's God's revelation to mankind. It needn't delve into extensive depth, because it is about God and what He has done in respect to humankind.

I'm still trying to figure out what is so difficult about that notion even in the light of potential "extraterrestrial" life in the universe.

philologos

Freiheit wrote: »

'The earth is a circle' Isaih 40:22
The earth has corners....revelation 7:1
The earth rests on pillars...Samuel 2:8
The earth does not move,Chronicles 16:30

How did they explain those away? mistranslations ? No doubt they'd find a way of explaining aliens away too!:)

Perhaps you should present the verses in their correct context rather than slicing out choice words?

It would be like me delving through a 30 minute conversation that you had with someone and selecting a small passage, or selecting numerous words and concatenating them together without consideration of what the conversation was actually about.

Delirium

philologos wrote: »

Think about it this way, what is the Bible according to Christians?

It's God's revelation to mankind. It needn't delve into extensive depth, because it is about God and what He has done in respect to humankind.

I'm still trying to figure out what is so difficult about that notion even in the light of potential "extraterrestrial" life in the universe.

Two words, original sin. If the bible is revelation to mankind that would imply there another intelligent species that aren't living with the possibility of eternal damnation for not bending the knee to your deity.

Then you have the puzzle of why God wouldn't say something along the lines of, "btw I created a much better behaved species on a planet in the tangerine nebula." It would be pretty important especially if that species was to appear, say around the year 32AD claiming to be the son of the creator. When in actual fact it was our intergalactic cousins on safari.

philologos

koth wrote: »

Two words, original sin. If the bible is revelation to mankind that would imply there another intelligent species that aren't living with the possibility of eternal damnation for not bending the knee to your deity.

The Biblical text clearly refers to man. By the by I'd have to ask by what you understand by "original sin" as the phrase is not found in the Bible?

Just because the Bible is God's word to mankind doesn't of necessity preclude God from speaking to other species in their own terms.

koth wrote: »

Then you have the puzzle of why God wouldn't say something along the lines of, "btw I created a much better behaved species on a planet in the tangerine nebula." It would be pretty important especially if that species was to appear, say around the year 32AD claiming to be the son of the creator. When in actual fact it was our intergalactic cousins on safari.

Who says that aliens must of necessity be "better behaved"? Actually, heck who said that being "well behaved" was the central focus of Christianity?

It doesn't seem that the idea of God revealing Himself to human kind through the Bible doesn't draw any difficulty to considering extra-terrestrial species.

Sarky

You're using something that WASN'T said to establish the likelihood that it exists.

That's really, really stupid.

decimatio

I don't think it'd change much to be honest. It'd probably be much less of an issue for them than Evolution was/is.

The thing about religion, what makes it so weak from our perspectives, a non-requirement for evidence and an unfalsifiable nature, is exactly what makes it so strong to adherents.

If you believe in xianity for example what does it matter if 90+% of it needs to be reinterpreted every few decades ? By believing in the first place you've already shown that evidence in relation to your religion is meaningless.

Nevermind Aliens, they could find documentation written by eyewitnesses and validated as such, which contradicted some specific belief like Jesus rising from the dead for example, or contradicting something Saul of Tarsus said, a non-eyewitness who practically made xianity.

Would it matter? Not an iota.

Delirium

philologos wrote: »

The Biblical text clearly refers to man. By the by I'd have to ask by what you understand by "original sin" as the phrase is not found in the Bible?

The whole tantrum God had when Adam and Eve decided to have some fruit. The fall of Man I think is another phrase I've seen used also.

Just because the Bible is God's word to mankind doesn't of necessity preclude God from speaking to other species in their own terms.

Well the bible doesn't say "Adam, Eve and A.L.F ate the forbidden fruit". He could speak to man in his own terms but why leave out other life-forms? I mean the snake got a mention, why not mention the aliens (who may or may not have eaten the fruit too) as well?

Who says that aliens must of necessity be "better behaved"? Actually, heck who said that being "well behaved" was the central focus of Christianity?

Never said the aliens must be better behaved. I'm suggest a possibility, that's all. It wasn't a comment about "well behaved" being part of Christianity as we know from old testament it's a bit of a sticky wicket.

It doesn't seem that the idea of God revealing Himself to human kind through the Bible doesn't draw any difficulty to considering extra-terrestrial species.

Well you would say that as you're a fan of the book. And it's not considering aliens but what impact proof of them would cause for members of certain book clubs.

How do Christians resolve the problem of a more advanced peace loving species existing without Christianity to guide them? It would suggest that its not necessary for a society better itself.

philologos

koth wrote: »

The whole tantrum God had when Adam and Eve decided to have some fruit. The fall of Man I think is another phrase I've seen used also.

Well the bible doesn't say "Adam, Eve and A.L.F ate the forbidden fruit". He could speak to man in his own terms but why leave out other life-forms? I mean the snake got a mention, why not mention the aliens (who may or may not have eaten the fruit too) as well?

The Bible says that Adam and Eve fell into sin at the fall. What it doesn't say is that I'm guilty of their particular sin, but rather I've sinned in my own right and I am guilty of it before a holy and righteous God. I'm inclined towards sin, that's not quite the same as being guilty of the sin of Adam.

It doesn't matter who was present. Adam and Eve are describing what generally happened to humankind. The Bible was God's revelation to man. It doesn't surprise me very much that it doesn't concern aliens much as it doesn't surprise me that it doesn't give extensive details of God's relationship to pet dogs.

koth wrote: »

Never said the aliens must be better behaved. I'm suggest a possibility, that's all. It wasn't a comment about "well behaved" being part of Christianity as we know from old testament it's a bit of a sticky wicket.

I don't agree that it is a "sticky wicket". Indeed, I've touched on that here before, but that's for another discussion.

koth wrote: »

Well you would say that as you're a fan of the book. And it's not considering aliens but what impact proof of them would cause for members of certain book clubs.

That's a bit silly. The OP is the one claiming that I should somehow have a grandiose difficulty in respect to extraterrestrial life. If so, I'm one of the people who should know far better than you as to what difficulty it would pose to Christians in all due respect.

koth wrote: »

How do Christians resolve the problem of a more advanced peace loving species existing without Christianity to guide them? It would suggest that its not necessary for a society better itself.

Christians would presumably nonetheless point to a better God - who came into the world, died in our place so that we could find the only true place where peace is actually possible - unity through Christ.

Aliens or no aliens the Gospel still holds together.

666irishguy

Depends on what kind of ET life it was. Bacterial life would be debated until they had DNA proof it was non terrestrial in origin or until somebody could for example land on Mars and find more of it in a place that couldn't facilitate the argument that it came from Earth on a piece of rock. If they landed on the White House lawn I would imagine the world would go ape **** for a few weeks and then slowly over the course of a few years come round with the odd pocket of holdouts not believing they are real or claiming they are demons or something else. It would be religions worst nightmare however, if they had been here before (or all along as observers) and kicked the legs out from under the whole show with proof the religious texts were not historical. My greatest nightmare with regards to ET visitors would be akin to the plot of Halo. The Aliens are religious extremists and as the ramp comes down from the saucer, a voice from inside says "can we interest you in the word of God".

Delirium

philologos wrote: »

The Bible says that Adam and Eve fell into sin at the fall. What it doesn't say is that I'm guilty of their particular sin, but rather I've sinned in my own right and I am guilty of it before a holy and righteous God. I'm inclined towards sin, that's not quite the same as being guilty of the sin of Adam.

So why isn't everyone in the Garden of Eden if we're not carrying the burden of Adam and Eves dietary indiscretion?

It doesn't matter who was present. Adam and Eve are describing what generally happened to humankind. The Bible was God's revelation to man. It doesn't surprise me very much that it doesn't concern aliens much as it doesn't surprise me that it doesn't give extensive details of God's relationship to pet dogs.

:rolleyes:
a talking snake gets a mention but the other species that was also created in Gods image doesn't even make the cut? Aliens didn't get a mention because the desert dwellers couldn't imagine other intelligent beings living on another world.

That's a bit silly. The OP is the one claiming that I should somehow have a grandiose difficulty in respect to extraterrestrial life. If so, I'm one of the people who should know far better than you as to what difficulty it would pose to Christians in all due respect.

Tut tut, philo. Telling fibs makes baby Yoda cry!

The OP was:

Freiheit wrote: »

What implications would it have for 'people of faith?'....

It's a "how would the religious adapt to ET visiting" question.

Christians would presumably nonetheless point to a better God - who came into the world, died in our place so that we could find the only true place where peace is actually possible - unity through Christ.

I suppose "fingers in the ears" is one way to react.

Aliens or no aliens the Gospel still holds together.

ShooterSF

The bible doesn't even mention kangaroos so I doubt Aliens appearing would concern them.

Sarky

ShooterSF wrote: »

The bible doesn't even mention kangaroos so I doubt Aliens appearing would concern them.

It doesn't say anything about Jesus being a wife-beating drunk who once strangled a child either. This is, by Phil's logic, evidence enough that if proof were found of Jesus being an abusive alcoholic husband and child-murderer, then that's perfectly ok and doesn't change the gospel.

Airtight, so it is. Atheism is over, everyone, go home.

endacl

ShooterSF wrote: »

The bible doesn't even mention kangaroos so I doubt Aliens appearing would concern them.

Why would kangaroos be concerned at the appearance of aliens?!? Australia's full of weird yokes. Kangaroos have seen it all before.

philologos

koth wrote: »

So why isn't everyone in the Garden of Eden if we're not carrying the burden of Adam and Eves dietary indiscretion?

Humans are inclined to sin as a result of the fall. We've sinned ourselves individually, and as a result we deserve nothing but God's wrath. Thankfully God sent His Son Jesus to stand in our place and take the condemnation we deserve if we believe and trust in Him. Wonderful news that I marvel at every day.

:rolleyes:
a talking snake gets a mention but the other species that was also created in Gods image doesn't even make the cut? Aliens didn't get a mention because the desert dwellers couldn't imagine other intelligent beings living on another world.

Satan gets a mention because he's a real force we'll have to deal with in this life.

Tut tut, philo. Telling fibs makes baby Yoda cry!

How is it a lie to say that as a Bible believing Christian I'm a good candidate to say it wouldn't affect my faith one iota because the Bible is God's revelation to man.

It's not lying to say that the OP in his posts so far has implied that it should be a difficulty. After all if he wanted a real answer he wouldn't have posted it here. There's no reason why an atheist should have a clue as to how this would affect a Christian who sincerely believes in the Gospel.

I suppose "fingers in the ears" is one way to react.

Except that's not what I'm doing. I'm telling you clearly and Biblically that there's no good reason why it should affect my faith. I've asked you why it should and the reasons are fairly poor so far.

If the Bible is a book about God's relationship with man why should I expect extensive treatises concerning aliens. You've missed the point. What is the purpose of the Bible in Christian belief?