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== The Bible and Extraterrestrial Life ==

== The Bible and Extraterrestrial Life ==

The question of whether an extraterrestrial civilization, or any race capable of forming such an institution, is compatible or incompatible with the [[Bible]], is in sharp dispute. Those insisting that the Bible is entirely compatible with extraterrestrial races hold that the Bible contains no verse that says directly that man is the only sentient race in the universe. Still others quote this verse:{{Bible quote|I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.|book=John|chap=10|verses=16|version=NASB}}

The question of whether an extraterrestrial civilization, or any race capable of forming such an institution, is compatible or incompatible with the [[Bible]], is in sharp dispute. Those insisting that the Bible is entirely compatible with extraterrestrial races hold that the Bible contains no verse that says directly that man is the only sentient race in the universe. Still others quote this verse:{{Bible quote|I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.|book=John|chap=10|verses=16|version=NASB}}

[[Christian]] critics of this position point out that that verse probably referred to the distinction between [[Judaism|Jew]] and Gentile that [[Jesus]], and the Apostles after him, often made. Eventually, these Apostles, and especially [[Paul]], hoped to make that a distinction without a difference--a hope that many Christians today still cherish. But more to the point, these Christian critics reject the proposition that "other sheep" might include extraterrestrial races. They hold that the presence of such a race would give the lie to the claim of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] that He came to take away the sin of the world.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_John|chap=2|verses=2|version=NASB}}</ref>, and that He died once and only once to bring this about. They contend that since Jesus is referred to singly (as he was an individual person), this rules out the possibility of an alien counterpart to Jesus, and that an alien counterpart to Jesus is a necessary precondition for an alien nation to exist.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=1|verses=26-28|version=NASB}}</ref><ref>{{Bible ref|book=Romans|chap=5|verses=14|version=NASB}}</ref>--and that Kingdom is also not of this universe, or "cosmos".<ref>Although defenders of the compatibility position might insist that neither of the two verses speaks directly to the uniqueness claim, the use of definite article adjectives and references to a specific person named [[Adam]] (and another, named [[Jesus]]), with no hint that either Adam or Jesus had any counterpart elsewhere in the cosmos, militates in favor of uniqueness almost as well as any direct negation of plurality might. And against the claim of lack of evidence that any hypothetical alien race would require counterparts to Jesus or Adam, [[Christian]] critics reply that if the Bible is real at all, then life does not arise out of non-life, therefore ''every'' race would have its Adam--and if any given Adam did ''not'' fall into sin, then his race would be under strict Divine orders to avoid contact with humans until the "hour of temptation" (see above) came to pass For a further exposition of the uniqueness posision, see [[Essay: Extraterrestrial Life and the Bible]].</ref>

[[Christian]] critics of this position point out that that verse probably referred to the distinction between [[Judaism|Jew]] and Gentile that [[Jesus]], and the Apostles after him, often made. Eventually, these Apostles, and especially [[Paul]], hoped to make that a distinction without a difference--a hope that many Christians today still cherish. But more to the point, these Christian critics reject the proposition that "other sheep" might include extraterrestrial races. They hold that the presence of such a race would give the lie to the claim of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] that He came to take away the sin of the world.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_John|chap=2|verses=2|version=NASB}}</ref>, and that He died once and only once to bring this about. They contend that since Jesus is referred to singly (as he was an individual person), this rules out the possibility of an alien counterpart to Jesus, and that an alien counterpart to Jesus is a necessary precondition for an alien nation to exist.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=1|verses=26-28|version=NASB}}</ref><ref>{{Bible ref|book=Romans|chap=5|verses=14|version=NASB}}</ref>--and that Kingdom is also not of this universe, or "cosmos".<ref>Although defenders of the compatibility position might insist that neither of the two verses speaks directly to the uniqueness claim, the use of definite article adjectives and references to a specific person named [[Adam]] (and another, named [[Jesus]]), with no hint that either Adam or Jesus had any counterpart elsewhere in the cosmos, militates in favor of uniqueness almost as well as any direct negation of plurality might. And against the claim of lack of evidence that any hypothetical alien race would require counterparts to Jesus or Adam, [[Christian]] critics reply that if the Bible is real at all, then life does not arise out of non-life, therefore ''every'' race would have its Adam--and if any given Adam did ''not'' fall into sin, then his race would be under strict Divine orders to avoid contact with humans until the "hour of temptation" (see above) came to pass For a further exposition of the uniqueness posision, see [[Essay: Extraterrestrial Life and the Bible]].</ref>

The presence of extraterrestrial ''microbes'' on one or more of the other planets in our solar system (most likely Mars) does excite some fear in Christian quarters. But not all Christians harbor such fear, and even [[Young earth creationism|young earth creationists]] are quite confident that they could explain such a finding. For example, if the [[hydroplate theory]] is correct and a slurry of mud from the Great Flood traveled to Mars and poured itself out upon it, then such a slurry would almost certainly contain microbes. That some of these might be extremophiles, and thus capable of long-term survival even in such a harsh environment as that of Mars, is entirely possible and would allow complete harmony between the finding of microbes in such locations and the Biblical account of earth pre-history.

The presence of extraterrestrial ''microbes'' on one or more of the other planets in our solar system (most likely Mars) does excite some fear in Christian quarters. But not all Christians harbor such fear, and even [[Young earth creationism|young earth creationists]] are quite confident that they could explain such a finding. For example, if the [[hydroplate theory]] is correct and a slurry of mud from the Great Flood traveled to Mars and poured itself out upon it, then such a slurry would almost certainly contain microbes. That some of these might be extremophiles, and thus capable of long-term survival even in such a harsh environment as that of Mars, is entirely possible and would allow complete harmony between the finding of microbes in such locations and the Biblical account of earth pre-history.

==  References ==

==  References ==