Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Life As We Know It?
So we may have found a planet outside our solar system capable of sustaining life. Is this news? To me, it only seems that it would be important from a humanistic, materialistic point of view. That is, that any life on another planet might have something from which we could learn in terms of science. But when we're busy eradicating life on this planet, why care if life exists on other planets? Do we really think there's some "magic bullet" planet there that holds the answers to life, the universe and everything?
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4 comments:
Hi Barb,
You know, my first thought I had when I read that story was, "I wish I could go to that planet and get away from it all." ;-)
Maybe it's the geek in me, but I've always been fascinated by astronomy and things like this. When I was a kid, I loved reading about this stuff and knew every planet in the solar system. This stuff still fascinates me and I am disappointed we don't do more in space exploration.
I also wonder about life on other planets from a theological perspective. If there is other life, of course God created them as He created us. I wonder, do they have souls, too? Are they fallen like we are, or were they able to avoid Original Sin? If they also had a Fall like we did, then God must have worked out a plan for their salvation too. Perhaps Christ became flesh on many worlds.
I know all this sounds weird, but I really do wonder about it.
I guess I'm kinda on the fence about this. Part of me is curious about what lies out there, and part of me wonders what difference it would really make. Has a Christian writer tackled the issue of life on other planets besides C.S. Lewis?
Barb,
Non that I know of. I have C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy on audiobook, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.
I don't really know what differences life on other planets would make to us, either. I imagine some people think they might have cures for diseases and teach us how to break the speed-of-light and travel through space like they do in science fiction shows. But the other life may be just as clueless and struggling for knowledge as we are. Or if they are not "fallen", being in contact with "fallen" aliens may not be desirable to them. Some people do seem to have the idea that the "grass is greener" on another planet. Of course, we know how that kind of thinking usually works out.
Ack! That should be "None". Sorry about that.
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