Could there be life on other planets?
The consensus among most conservative Christians is that there are no aliens in outer space. This is an evolutionary idea that states that out of billions of stars there must be a few planets somewhere that could sustain the evolution of life. Much of what is currently driving NASA’s exploration of the solar system is a search for life. From a biblical creationist perspective, we will find no amoebas or bacteria on Jupiter’s moons. It is unlikely that we will even find water anywhere in our solar system other than on earth. God made the earth and he created a perfect biosphere that will indefinitely support the life he created.
But the question still remains. Is it possible that God could have created a planet that contains plants, animals and even sentient creatures similar to human beings? While the Bible is silent on this, I would negate the possibility of intelligent life on other planets.
Mark Twain wrote a science fiction story, “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven,” about the idea of a heaven where thousands of aliens from every inhabited planet in the universe arrive at a heaven that was so populated that it is the size of many planets. In the story, Captain Stormfield is amazed to find out that Christ has appeared on every planet in the universe to life an exemplary life and die for that planet’s sins. He is told, “The worlds He has saved are like to the gates of heaven in number – none can count them.” Twain was satirizing the Christian view of heaven in the face of the emerging evolutionary science. However, it is just as likely that a Christian view could be used to expose the impossibility of intelligent life besides ours in the univers.
This doesn’t negate, however, the possibility of worlds that have plant and animal life. It is possible that God could have created these planets on the fourth day of creation (Gen. 1:14-19). There may be worlds He created in the foreknowledge that a redeemed civilization would one day discover and colonize. Just as a millennial impulse drove the Age of Exploration in the 15th century, so a Golden Age of Christian knowledge may drive the exploration of new worlds and the settlement of new civilizations.
If the postmillennial view is correct, we can expect to one day colonize the solar system. It is likely that we will create self-sustaining biospheres – perhaps giant bubbles on the surface of the planet Mars – that will sustain life in a similar manner as on earth. It is even possible that one day we will discover a planet capable of sustaining an atmosphere and all the various species of life found on earth. Another idea is that scientists may someday be able to create a “biosphere” on another planet that would imitate the conditions on earth. Maybe a “Noah’s Ark” of future space colonists will bring the seeds of a new earth to a far distant star?
Of course this is speculation. But Christian Reconstructionists and other postmillennialists should be considering the possibilities.
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Your comments are welcome!
Posted by R. Hoeppner on 06/03/2007 03:08 PM #
Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism (DVD)
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Just what is Calvinism?
Does this teaching make man a deterministic robot and God the author of sin? What about free will? If the church accepts Calvinism, won’t evangelism be stifled, perhaps even extinguished? How can we balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? What are the differences between historic Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism? Why did men like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Edwards and a host of renowned Protestant evangelists embrace the teaching of predestination and election and deny free will theology?
This is the first video documentary that answers these and other related questions. Hosted by Eric Holmberg, this fascinating three-part, four-hour presentation is detailed enough so as to not gloss over the controversy. At the same time, it is broken up into ten “Sunday-school-sized” sections to make the rich content manageable and accessible for the average viewer.
Running Time: 257 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
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Massacre of Innocence (DVD)
Exposing The Occult Roots of Abortion
This presentation looks at the spiritual roots of abortion and exposes the myths surrounding child killing. Little known historical facts about abortion and how they relate to modern feminism are presented logically and accurately. Has been effective in converting many to a pro-life position.
Massacre of Innocence goes where no pro-life presentation has gone before in “tearing the lid off abortion” to reveal the spiritual realities we must battle if we will bring an end to this crime. The presentation is absorbing, fast-paced, informative and incredibly devastating to any attempt to justify abortion.
“… an extraordinary statement … a powerfully articulate presentation about what abortion really means, and why a great and moral nation like the United States must not allow the slaughter to continue.”
— Congressman Robert K. Dornan
Running time: 85 minutes
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The Silent Scream (DVD) Eight Languages
“When the lives of the unborn are snuffed out, they often feel pain, pain that is long and agonizing.” – President Ronald Reagan to National Religious Broadcasters Convention, January 1981
Ronald Reagan became convinced of this as a result of watching The Silent Scream – a movie he considered so powerful and convicting that he screened it at the White House. More recently, it was by catching just a glimpse of what this film reveals that Planned Parenthood director and abortion advocate Abby Johnson turned and became a strong advocate for the pre-born.
The modern technology of real-time ultrasound now reveals the actual responses of a 12-week old fetus to being aborted. As the unborn child attempts to escape the abortionist’s suction curette, her motions can be seen to become desperately agitated and her heart rate doubles. Her mouth opens – as if to scream – but no sound can come out. Her scream doesn’t have to remain silent, however … not if you will become her voice. This newly re-mastered version features eight language tracks and two bonus videos.
“…a high technology “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” arousing public opinion just as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 antislavery novel ignited the abolitionist movement.” – Sen. Gordon Humphrey, Time Magazine
Languages: English, Spanish, French, South Korean, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese
Running Time: 28 minutes
$17.95 — ORDER NOW!
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Go Stand Speak (DVD)
With “preaching to the lost” being such a basic foundation of Christianity, why do many in the church seem to be apathetic on this issue of preaching in highways and byways of towns and cities?
Is it biblical to stand in the public places of the world and proclaim the gospel, regardless if people want to hear it or not?
Does the Bible really call church pastors, leaders and evangelists to proclaim the gospel in the public square as part of obedience to the Great Commission, or is public preaching something that is outdated and not applicable for our day and age?
These any many other questions are answered in this documentary.
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
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The Real Jesus: A Defense of the Historicity and Divinity of Christ (DVD)
Who is the Real Jesus?
Ever since the dawn of modern rationalism, skeptics have sought to use textual criticism, archeology and historical reconstructions to uncover the “historical Jesus” — a wise teacher who said many wonderful things, but fulfilled no prophecies, performed no miracles and certainly did not rise from the dead in triumph over sin.
Over the past 100 years, however, startling discoveries in biblical archeology and scholarship have all but vanquished the faulty assumptions of these doubting modernists. Regrettably, these discoveries have often been ignored by the skeptics as well as by the popular media. As a result, the liberal view still holds sway in universities and impacts the culture and even much of the church.
The Real Jesus explodes the myths of these critics and the movies, books and television programs that have popularized their views. Presented in ten parts — perfect for individual, family and classroom study — viewers will be challenged to go deeper in their knowledge of Christ in order to be able to defend their faith and present the truth to a skeptical modern world – that the Jesus of the Gospels is the Jesus of history — “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is the real Jesus.
Speakers include: George Grant, Ted Baehr, Stephen Mansfield, Raymond Ortlund, Phil Kayser, David Lutzweiler, Jay Grimstead, J.P. Holding, and Eric Holmberg.
Ten parts, over two hours of instruction!
Running Time: 130 minutes
$19.95 — ORDER NOW!
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Posted by Paul on 06/18/2013 04:50 PM #