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What Does The Bible Teach About UFO's And Aliens?
Not too many years ago, anyone who saw a UFO, claimed to have encountered aliens from other planets, or even believed in them was considered weird or out of touch with reality. Over the last 50 years or so, there has been a significant shift. Today the average person [at least in the West] accepts the idea of life on other planets and even visits from extraterrestrials. Science fiction movies and books abound [and are very popular] to feed this hunger.
Christians must examine this [and other] issues with an open mind. Too often in history, Christians have opposed new ideas or discoveries because they differed from what they had believed. Missed opportunities and unfounded prejudice often resulted. [What might TV be today if Christians had been the first onboard instead of the last?] The most important thing is: What does the Bible teach about aliens? Is it really against what the Bible teaches, or is it only against our preconceived ideas?
As we examine the possibility of UFOs and aliens, we must consider where this idea comes from and how it affects known Biblical doctrines. Note: I use the term "UFO" in the common meaning of spacecraft from outer space, not the technical definition of Unidentified Flying Object. There is no question that there are flying things we can't identify in a given situation. The real question is whether the explanation is from Earth, spiritual, or outer space. In everyday speech, "UFO" has come to mean spaceships, and that is how we will use it.
Word Of God Is Truth
The idea of UFOs and visitors from other planets has to explain how its views fit in with what the Bible declares to be true. The Word of God is the ultimate truth. There are some serious difficulties to be examined. Including the following:
1. The Bible teaches that God created the universe in 6 24-hour days around 6,000 years ago. [For the scientific reasons behind this, there is much good research material on Answers In Genesis and Creation Ministries.] If aliens [I use "aliens" to mean intelligent physical life on other planets] exist, they must have been created within those six days. Genesis 1 & 2 does not mention any intelligent beings created off the earth. If they exist, why are they not mentioned?
It may be argued that since the creation story focuses - but is not limited to - life on earth, mentioning off-world beings was unnecessary. This is called an argument from silence and is considered a weak argument. It is a guess built on a lack of evidence.
The fact is that almost all belief in UFOs and aliens is based on the unBiblical theory of evolution. The underlying idea is that "since" life evolved on Earth, it must have also evolved elsewhere. The aliens may have been evolving for millions of years more than we have, so they must also be more intelligent and advanced. [Another argument from silence since there is no proven physical evidence for extraterrestrials.]
Since we know, from the Bible [and actual science], that evolution is false, this line of reasoning fails. If aliens exist, they are the same "age" as we are [6,000 years]; therefore, there is no reason to believe they would be any more intelligent or advanced.
2. Adam was the representative of the human race and all physical creation [i.e., he did not represent the angels]. It seems unfair that a separate creation would suffer because of Adam's sin without ever knowing the reason why. Their redemptive destiny would be tied to events on an Earth they could not know.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. [Rom. 8:22, NIV]
We know Jesus died once and for all. He cannot journey to other worlds to die for sin there. That would deny the completeness of his victory on the Cross [and mock His suffering]. It would also deny His resurrection with a physical body. Jesus is also declared to be the only begotten Son of God, which would do away with the idea of different saviours for different worlds.
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. [Heb. 10:10, NIV]
3. Besides the theological problems, there are many physical problems with space travel. Travelling the distances and speeds that space travel requires is physically impossible. Consider these facts:
"If it were possible to travel at light speed [c], you would be traveling at...186,000 miles [300,000 kilometers] per second. Taking off, you would circle the earth seven times in one second...you would pass the moon in two seconds and Mars in just four minutes...
"The next closest star is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light years away. Traveling at 300,000 km every second, it would take you 4.2 years to get there. To transverse our own galaxy, the Milky Way, it would take you about 100,000 years...it would take...approximately 2,300,000 years to reach Andromeda, the nearest galaxy like our own...traveling at the speed of light, remember.
"To propel an object that weighs one pound to a velocity 50% of the speed of light would require an energy source equal to the energy of 98 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs...To stop the spaceship, it would require the same amount of energy it took to get it moving...
"It is estimated that there are 100,000 dust particles per cubic kilometer of space. At light speed...an impact with just one of these tiny objects would destroy a spaceship. Even at one-tenth the speed of light, the impact would be equivalent to about 10 tons of TNT...
"A g force of 1 is equivalent to the earth's gravity...At 3 g's, an air force fighter pilot could rupture the blood vessels in his eyes. At 5 g's, the pilot would pass out, and 9 g's would kill the pilot in a matter of seconds. Any further increase would start to tear the plane apart. Changing directions at light speed or above would exert millions of g's on the ship and its occupants." Gary Bates
Remember that if aliens exist, they were created at the same time we were. They have not had "millions of years" to develop advanced technology.
I do not see how a belief in UFOs and aliens can overcome the above theological and physical difficulties [and there are many more]. We also need to remember that most sightings/contacts are later proven to be natural events or hoaxes. There is a small percentage that is genuinely unexplained. Just became they are unexplained doesn't mean they are visitors from another planet. One possible and frightening explanation of genuinely unexplained "encounters" is that they are often very similar to occult and demonic manifestations and possession.
Bible Verses For Aliens?
Passages in the Bible are sometimes used to support the idea that aliens have visited us in the past. ["Aliens" themselves seem to know a good deal about the Bible.] Two sections that come quickly to mind are Gen. 6 and the beginning of Ezekiel.
In Gen. 6, we have the "sons of God" coming to the "daughters of men, " thereby producing giants on earth. It is then supposed that the sons of God refer to visitors from other planets having sexual relations with humans.
Admittedly, this is a confusing portion of Scripture, with different Christians having different explanations. Some have felt that the sons of God are fallen angels, and we have demonic relations here. Others believe that the sons of God were the righteous line of Seth intermarrying with the ungodly line of Cain. In any case, there is no evidence of any alien involvement. The fact that God then judged the world, destroying it in a global flood, would indicate that the offence was of human origin. If aliens were involved, they would have escaped judgment simply by flying away. God's judgment would have been designed to affect everyone involved.
Then we have the "spaceships" of Ezekiel [Ez. 1]. Some use Ezekiel's descriptions of his visions to claim that he was seeing UFOs. I would point out that in the very first verse, Ezekiel states he was seeing a vision of God. We know by studying dreams and visions in the Bible that they are most often a symbolic picture of reality. Sometimes the dreams/visions were weird - Pharaoh saw cows [which don't eat meat] eat other cows without gaining weight. Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, among others, had interesting visions. What they saw represented and explained something they did not know. Likewise, Ezekiel saw a vision. It was a symbolic picture of what God was trying to teach him, not a physical object.
Those who find UFOs and visitors from other planets in the Bible must, with their preconceived ideas, read into the Scriptures things which are not naturally found there.
Some Christians may feel that the entire UFO/Alien culture [which is fast becoming mainstream] is foolish and not worth their attention. However, the doctrines and experiences of those who are involved reveal that there is something dangerous going on which should not be ignored. The sexual and other abuses that "abductees" experience reveal that this is certainly not friendly activity.
For further reading and research, I recommend the Alien Intrusion book below.
For more information about Glenn Davis, see our About Glenn page or visit Glenn Davis Books.
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