RE: The discovery of alien life may be close. How will religion survive it?
April 26, 2017 at 2:07 pm
(This post was last modified: April 26, 2017 at 3:27 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
(April 26, 2017 at 1:17 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(April 26, 2017 at 7:51 am)TubbyTubby Wrote: Interesting discussion in the Guardian. I suspect discovery of alien life won't have so much effect on the devoutly religious, they will sweep it into the 'science+facts to be erased' brain compartment. It will be helpful to stem religious take up of the educated young hopefully and perhaps be a light bulb moment to those not completely beyond help.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre..._clipboard
There is nothing about alien life that is contradictory to religion. I've always been of the opinion that there probably is life on other planets.
No, but it would be very problematic (if not an outright defeater) for specific doctrines, particularly original sin.* For example, would Klingons need their own version of Christ? Would the Son of God from eternity have to be crucified multiple times, one for every species, rather than just once in ancient Jerusalem? Or does the sacrifice of Jesus on Earth redeem advanced life everywhere? Did Vulcans** fall from grace because the original parents of humanity couldn't resist eating from the tree of knowledge?
* Personally, I don't think original sin could survive the discovery of intelligent alien life. It's only works if we're alone. I tend to think we are (alone, not intelligent) but not for theological reasons.
**Klingons and Vulcans are real! I've seen them on TV.