From: Howard J. Van Till (hvantill@chartermi.net)
Date: Mon Sep 22 2003 - 15:49:14 EDT
>From: "Steve Petermann" <steve@spetermann.org>
> But shouldn't we be hard to please? Did Lewis do a detailed systematics on
> the question? Is systematics only for fleshing out the stuff that poses no
> real foundational challenge? I posed a few questions that no one addressed,
> passing them off as scholastic gymnastics. Seems to me that Christianity
> can't afford to hold positions that can be so easily shaken by the SETI
> group getting a message next week. (Anyone see _Contact_). Of course it may
> never happen but since it reasonably could and reasonable people would like
> to know Christianity's response, can it make a compelling case?
Steve,
When I speak to a general audience about our scientific understanding of the
universe and our religiously motivated questions about it, I am very often
asked whether or not I think there are ET's out there?
My answer is usually. 1) I don't know, but 2) I know of no convincing reason
(scientific, philosophical, theological, or biblical) why it would be
impossible, so that 3) my hunch is that there are lots of sites with living
creatures out there, some of which might well be sentient and morally aware,
and 4) my mischievous wish is that convincing positive evidence of such will
be known before I die, because: a) I would enjoy observing the anxious
adjustment that some religious communities would have to make in response to
this discovery, and b) we would learn something new, thereby enriching our
experience of life in the presence of The Sacred.
Howard Van Till
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