On Sat, 9 Dec 2000, David F Siemens wrote [in part]
> 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.
Angels are intelligent, spiritual beings, but the fallen angels cannot be
redeemed and are not covered by Christ's atonement.
Also, if we do prove that other primates are intelligent, we can assume
they do not have souls?
Graham
Graham Richard Pointer
Dept of Physics and Astronomy
North Haugh
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9SS
Scotland
http://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~grp1
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