This post was written by Steve Faivre on December 4, 2006
The prospect of extra-terrestrial life has always stirred the muse of poets, and increasingly, it provokes the research of scientists.
Bruce Jakosky, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, has written an essay, Is Anybody Else Out There?, published in The Chronicle Review (October 6, 2006, B14-15). His essay illustrates the need for integrating one’s academic scholarship within the framework of a Christian worldview.
Jakosky writes, “Learning about the origin of the universe tells us how we got here, learning about other planetary systems helps us understand our own planetary system, and learning whether there might be life elsewhere helps us understand the nature and meaning of life here on earth� (B15, emphasis mine).
However, the implications of this line of research have led some to existential despair. He quotes a common saying in the scientific community: “There are two possibilities. Maybe we’re alone. Maybe we’re not. Both are equally frightening� (B15). He continues,
It would be truly mind-boggling to determine that we are the only intelligent life in our galaxy. That knowledge would have profound implications for understanding our connection to the world around us and for understanding the nature of humanity and what it means to be human.
At the same time, it would be just as amazing to find even a single example of non-Earth life on any other planet, whether it be the simplest conceivable microbe or an intelligence with whom we might (or might not) be able to communicate. By itself, the knowledge of life’s existence elsewhere would change how we view ourselves, our planet, and the universe as a whole. (B15)
I’m agnostic on the issue of life (even intelligent life) elsewhere in the universe. Someday science may establish extra-terrestrial life as fact. But the existence (or non-existence) of life beyond this Earth requires the revelation of the Scriptures to properly interpret the significance of that fact.
The Scriptures declare that mankind was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). This image sets mankind in a class apart from other creatures – one must assume regardless of where they are found. The Scriptures also declare that the eternal Son of God entered history with a human nature as Jesus (John 1:1-3, 14).
The Son of God now partakes of human nature as the Son of Man for the rest of eternity.
Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (Revelation 1:17b-18)
Therefore, the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrial life has no real bearing on human significance. It is something we can know without the benefit of a radio telescope.
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