You may recall from past blogs I have made no secret of the fact I believe God created life elsewhere. You may also glean from the past blogs that I am a total and unapologetic sci-freak. Especially, programmes like Dr. Who, Star Trek, and Star Wars.

The themes of faith and especially the Christian faith crop up time and again in these franchises. If the themes of God are not overt they are there subtly. One has to look at the Jedi in Star Wars and the theme of warrior monks which existed long ago in Christianity like the Knights Templar. Or I remember watching an original episode of the 60s Star Trek where a planet they came upon was like the Earth but in Roman times.

The difference was this off-world Roman Empire had never fallen, unlike its ancient earth counterpart. The Romans had developed a technology where gladiatorial games and other spectacles were televised live from arenas. And Roman soldiers carried machine guns instead of swords. The Enterprise crew became embroiled in the affairs of this Roman-dominated planet. They became involved with a group called the sun worshippers. This group was forced to fight or be sacrificed in broadcasts watched by the Roman populace live.

It was only at the end of the episode as the Enterprise prepared to warp out of the planet’s orbit that they realized the word sun was the wrong sun. It was actually the son meaning they worshipped Jesus Christ. Of course, this had a very profound effect on the crew. They realized this planet mirrored earth not only for the Romans but also for the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There are rumoured to be in our Milky Way galaxy alone 100 billion – 200 billion stars. Beyond that in our universe are millions upon millions of other galaxies with stars. And even beyond that, some scientists contend that there are other universes as opposed to the one universe. In other words, we are one of many universes hence the word ‘multi’ as opposed to ‘uni’. This blows the average mind and even the most brilliant of minds in space science evokes awesome wonder. If this does not make you sit up and ponder these facts then nothing will. Also, the awesome God who made all of this possible and yet clothed himself in humility as the Servant King in the human form of Jesus Christ.

There is a theory called the Fermi Paradox which postulates that if aliens exist why haven’t we heard from them by now? And this theory does have traction, groups like SETI or the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence have yet to receive a convincing signal from outer space.

That’s not to say ETs do not exist and there are people including Christians thinking it is a matter of time before we make first contact. Interesting radio signals have been recorded and heard but for most scientists, there is probably a natural explanation for them. However, there have been cases like FRBs (Fast Radio Bursts) or even the ‘Wow’ signal (google it) that have scientists baffled to this day.

Some scientists think we have not heard anything because as the Fermi Paradox postulates there are no aliens (at least not sentient beings like us). Or they have gone beyond radio waves in technology and use other means of communication like lasers to get their message out across the cosmos. Another theory says that ETs are just not interested in us or that many have not developed radio communications yet. We humans have only developed radio as a means of communication over the last 150 years.

If ETs exist and they have the tech to track our whereabouts they will already know of our existence. Earth has been advertising itself for years now as television and radio signals leak into space. We all hope that if a Star Trek-like Federation exists they are friendly. On the other hand, as the late Stephen Hawking referenced if it is an actual Klingon Empire listening to our broadcasts we are in big trouble.

Life as Brian Cox has referenced could well exist in our solar system. Maybe on Mars or even two of the moons of the gas giant planets like Jupiter or Saturn. Life may or may not be discovered on Mars but if life doesn’t exist today life probably did when Mars was more Earth-like. Moons orbiting gas giant worlds like Saturn could harbour oceans under an Antartic-like surface. Life could have developed in these alien oceans and if so how far that life has progressed is anyone’s guess. That’s why moons like Europa and Enceladus remain intriguing places to search for life. Even if that life is no more complex than microbes we will at least to paraphrase Professor Brian Cox that God has called into being a second or third Genesis on worlds beyond Earth.

We now know that planets orbiting other suns or stars (our sun is a star) exist. They are called exo-planets and some of these worlds are very bizarre indeed. Others rememble the more familiar gas giants of our own solar system like Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. While others may indeed be Earth-like worlds with life that mirrors the multitude of species including us that dwell here.

You will find as many different views on alien life in the Christian community as in any other. Some feel our planet is a one-off as far as God’s creation is concerned and therefore unique. While others are quite happy with the concept of other created life in the universe.

Christian figures like Billy Graham and C S Lewis saw no contradiction in God creating other life forms. Billy Graham suggested that the Bible does not address the concept of ETs because the Bible was written for our planet alone. Dr Graham suggested that if other life exists be it like us or not the Lord has made provision for them also.

As Christians, whatever your take on the likelihood of life elsewhere we cannot but be moved and awed by the cosmos that the Creator and King of the universe brought into being by his Divine might.

Finally, I will set you some homework that appears to reference Biblically the very idea of created life and order in the universe. Everything that exists did not come into being whether it be here or elsewhere in the universe without God making it so.

Colossians 1:16, Genesis 1, and John 1.

God bless you

Nick x.