On Sat, 9 Dec 2000 06:05:12 -0600 "Darryl Maddox" <dpmaddox@arn.net>
writes: in part:
>
> A similar question has haunted me since I was in my early teens but
> no one I
> asked ever seemed to want to talk about it. Since this is a group
> composed
> of people who are concerned with both religion and science someone
> in this
> group has some thoughts they would care to share. The question is:
> If we
> discovere intelligent life in or from outer space, and if they have
> no
> concept of God and then of course have never heard of, and perhaps
> can not
> even conceive of a being such as Jesus, what effect might that have
> on our
> own belief systems? While George's question about our obligation
> to
> proclaim the gospel to them is an interesting one it seems to me it
> skips an
> essential point - How do we determine if they have a "soul" which
> needs
> saving? If they have no soul, such as some peole argue for animals
> on this
> planet, are they then either doomed do a temporary physical
> existence, or if
> they have souls are all who could not accept Christ because they had
> never
> heard of him until they ran into us doomed to condemnation? I
> know it is
> trivial but I have asked the same question about native cultures on
> this
> planet prior to their contact with the Christian tradition and have
> never
> gotten much of an answer to it either. I know someone had to have
> asked it
> before I did and I would bet with anyone that someone has written
> significantly on the question, I just don't know where; so if anyone
> knows
> any good sources I would appreciate that information also.
>
There are several questions here. First, can there be intelligent life
that is not spiritual? I think the answer has to be a qualified yes. If
the level of intelligence is sufficient, I think that the point of Romans
1:19f kicks in. But that may end with no more than a vague awareness.
What we know of God is the result of revelation, which does not have to
be given. Certainly our more remote ancestors had much less awareness
than we, some because they were not evangelized, others because
revelation was progressive. Abraham knew enough to trust God. Did he know
the protevangelium? If he did, it is certainly less explicit than Isaiah
and the gospels.
The second question involves the relevance of Jesus Christ to a nonhuman
person. My understanding is that the Second Adam entered human life
specifically to redeem the children of the First Adam. Consequently,
those who are not of Adam's race are not covered by Jesus' atonement. If
these nonhuman persons are fallen, there is nothing that seems reasonable
that would preclude a redemption by divine act. But they do not have to
be fallen. C. S. Lewis, in his space trilogy, suggested some
possibilities, including multiple intelligent species on a single planet
and a primordial couple who were obedient to the divine command. Only
earth was "the silent planet." Additionally, there is no necessity that I
see that an intelligent being have an eternal soul. Indeed, there are
those who claim that only the souls of the redeemed are eternal. I think
they're mistaken, but the view is not incoherent.
There is a third consideration that renders involvement in all possible
answers moot: the distances involved. It now seems almost certain that
there are no intelligent entities elsewhere in the solar system. So any
possible nonhuman persons are, barring a miraculous transport from their
planet or to there, isolated and insulated from us. We don't need to
worry about preaching the gospel revealed to us to extraterrestrials.
I don't recall running across a discussion of this topic, so the best I
can suggest for further consideration is to get a good theology or
Christian doctrine book and think through the section on soteriology. Or
you may seek to understand what underlies Lewis's space trilogy and
Narnia books.
Dave
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