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The speculation concerning Jesus dying multiple deaths on other worlds has occasionally found poetic expression. See, for example, [[The Innumerable Christ]] by [[Hugh McDiarmid]].

The speculation concerning Jesus dying multiple deaths on other worlds has occasionally found poetic expression. See, for example, [[The Innumerable Christ]] by [[Hugh McDiarmid]].

[[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".

 

Defenders of the compatibility position might insist that neither of the two verses named above speaks directly to the uniqueness claim. But the original [[Greek]] text uses 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. These things militate in favor of uniqueness almost as well as any direct negation of plurality might. Again, compatibility defenders might cite a lack of evidence that any hypothetical alien race would ''require'' counterparts to Jesus or Adam. But [[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.<ref>For a further exposition of the uniqueness posision, see [[Essay: Extraterrestrial Life and the Bible]].</ref>

That other ''non''-Christians not only acknowledge, but indeed explicitly ''declare'', that the Bible and extraterrestrial civilization are incompatible, must also figure in any consideration of such "compatibility."

That other ''non''-Christians not only acknowledge, but indeed explicitly ''declare'', that the Bible and extraterrestrial civilization are incompatible, must also figure in any consideration of such "compatibility."