Alien: What is "eviction"?
-Movie, "District 9"
Tradition has it that Enoch, Abraham, David, John the Apostle, and later John Philoponus were all "astrotheologians" of note. They pondered God and our place in the Universe. Some even assumed or recognised the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe.
A few days ago an article by Alok Jha in the Guardian, "Earth must prepare for close encounter with aliens, say scientists", drew my attention to one of our most seminal "astrotheologians" today, Ted Peters of the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, California. Indeed, I believe he coined the word!
Over the past few decades there has been a radical shift in theological attitudes. Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other things, that other worlds could be inhabited. Very serious consideration is now being given by theologians such as Prof. Peters, not only to the likelihood of life outside our Solar System but also to the implications of possible extra-terrestrial intelligence or "ETI" contact. This matter is no longer pseudo-science discussed only in covens of New Agers but a subject of the utmost import and taken seriously by leading academics and scholars.
In a paper presented to the Royal Society, Prof. Peters considered issues that are increasingly becoming the domain of a new generation of theologians. His paper addressed the following questions:
- Will confirmation of extra-terrestrial intelligence (ETI) cause terrestrial religion to collapse?
- What is the scope of God’s creation?
- What can we expect regarding the moral character of ETI?
- Is one earthly incarnation in Jesus Christ enough for the entire cosmos, or should we expect multiple incarnations on multiple planets?
- Will contact with more advanced ETI diminish human dignity?
These are thought provoking questions which makes Prof. Peters' paper worthy of serious study. In addition to his own research, he rallies the views of Tillich, Pannenberg, Rahner, Wilkinson, and others. His conclusion is that we won't see the demise of the major religions which is good news indeed. On the contrary, our theology, faith, and spirituality could well be refined and enriched by ETI encounters:
"Theologians will not find themselves out of a job. In fact, theologians might relish the new challenges to reformulate classical religious commitments in light of the new and wider vision of God’s creation."
"Traditional theologians must then become astrotheologians ... What I forecast is this: contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will expand the existing religious vision that all of creation - including the 13.7bn-year history of the universe replete with all of God’s creatures - is the gift of a loving and gracious God."
I would encourage reading his paper here in full as well as some of his published books.
The discovery of ETI need not be a crisis of faith.
There is no doubt that extra-planetary evolution and exobiology is going to impact dramatically on how we do theology in future. Of course our reading and understanding of scripture and the revelation of the Divine through nature and world faiths will be challenged and re-appraised by scholars, cosmologists, and mystics. There will be reflection and revisions as never before as we become exposed to new terrestrial and extra-terrestrial insights. These are exciting times.
Besides questions of theological import ETI visitations will present huge challenges at a social level. Such issues were well illustrated in the South African movie "District 9". The movie tag line was: "You are not welcome here." South Africa has addressed massive social and political questions of racism, xenophobia, sexual orientation, etc. in an historic and conciliatory spirit. It is enshrined in our Constitution. Even so South Africans haven't always been caring toward strangers or those of different orientation. The analogy of the South African experience isn't all that remote to a real and possible ETI incursion. Like other nations we are also inclined to ostracise more than to welcome. We pay lip service to our Ubuntu creed. Sometimes our churches are just as exclusive.
ETI encounters presents social issues of cosmic proportion cleverly portrayed in "District 9". We cannot be naïve and pretend this will not be the case. Are we as Earthlings really ready to explore our prejudices and fears around "exophobia" – the fear of those from beyond, for instance? We are called upon to stretch our hearts, feelings, and imaginations to accommodate distinctions, differences, and complexities never imagined before should we ever encounter ETIs. Will the encounter be friendly or ... fraught with suspicion and pre-judgments? Are these "Visitors" here to devour or milk us? Will their intentions be congruent with our sense of morality and spiritual values of hospitality and goodwill, if we have any? Can we overcome our inbred propensity to hostility and risk extending a hand of cosmic friendship when we are so fuelled by repressed memories of abductions and kidnappings? Will we be able to stand tall and own our rightful place in the Universe as truly intelligent beings as well? Or do we raise a white flag of surrender and come out with hands up? What will be the rules of engagement? We have many questions to grapple with. The discussion must begin.
Biblical scholars suggest that the sin of Sodom, when visited by Angelic Beings, wasn't sodomy but rather inhospitality, violence, and the intended sexual violation of strangers. Will we repeat history, this time on a global scale, and forever alienate our Visitors? Though caution and circumspection would naturally be the order of the day, flagrant inhospitality could have most dire and awful consequences for the human race. I would hope that if Christians were to err that we would be inclined to err on the side of hospitality, grace and goodwill. If we cannot muster such grace, can we then ever expect more of ETIs than we would expect of ourselves?
In another paper, "The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society", presented to the Royal Society by Martin Dominik and and John C. Zarneck, the authors believe that ETI could well be a "cosmic imperative" in the Universe. In other words, life out there is a lot more common than we suppose and we may not be as unique as we imagine. Dominik and Zarneck explain...
"So if there are alien civilizations at a comparable stage of evolution, one might expect that they do not differ that much from our own. However, with the Sun just about half-way through its lifetime as a main-sequence star, with about 4.5 billion years remaining, that ‘comparable stage’ might constitute a rather short transient episode, and advanced extra-terrestrial life might be inconceivable to us in its complexity, just as human life is to amoebae. ... The detection and further study of extra-terrestrial life will fundamentally challenge our view of nature, including ourselves, and therefore the field of astrobiology can hardly be isolated from its societal context, including philosophical, ethical and theological perspectives."
But on the other hand we could quite unique! The secret longing ETIs have for human contact may not be so much their need for genetic material as some propose but rather a pearl of far greater price, their desire to know the redemptive, filial relationship people of faith enjoy with the Living God.
We stand on the threshold of one of the Universe's greatest adventures. We are about to be introduced to the Cosmic Community! We do not know for sure. Of this we can be sure, the continuance of the Earthling Race will depend on our response to the Realities impinging on us now!
Love ye therefore the stranger, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
-Deuteronomy 10.19
oOo
For more see
Exoploitics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exopolitics#Exopolitics and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Salla
Ted Peters: http://www.plts.edu/peters.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Peters
Books:
More books by Ted Peters:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ted-Peters/e/B001IXO62Q/ref=sr_tc_2_rm?qid=1295115742&sr=1-2-ent
John Philopnus:
Place, Void, and Eternity: Philoponus : Corollaries on Place and Void : Simplicius : Against Philoponus on the Eternity of the World (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)
On Aristotle "Physics 5-8" (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)
Philoponus and the Rejection of Aristotelian Science
©Colin G Garvie HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za
