Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mgobbi@cs.ubc.ca (Mike Gobbi) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Extra-terrestrial worlds Message-ID: Date: 4 Oct 90 07:02:53 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 88 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu The question of what alien civilizations would do to our theology is, naturally enough, a theme that has been used in science fiction a fair bit. Alan Dean Foster pops into my mind as an author who makes at least a token stab at the problem both in NOR CRYSTAL TEARS (a man-meets-insect story) and in QUOZL (a man-meets-bunnies tale). Unfortunately his stabs are just token. If anybody out there knows of books that take a serious and detailed look at this conflict I would like to hear about them. I personally disagree with the poster's opinion that, regarding the stars, "God put them so far away so we cannot get to them." I have no trouble with aliens in my theology whether or not we ever meet them. Encountering native americans did not spell the doom of Christianity, and I don't see that being of a different species (as opposed to race) should be any different. The notion that "God created man in his own image" clearly cannot be taken COMPLETELY literally, since there is so much variation in what various men look like. I have no trouble extrapolating this to suppose that the image we were created in was a spiritual one, and alien physiologies can fit the bill. With regards to alien religions, I feel that the historical precedence will hold. Looking again to the Indians for an example, we see that they had a theology of their own before encountering the Christian faith. They were just as saved by Christ's actions as the Jews, unawareness of the incident notwithstanding. Similarly, any extraterrestrial beings would have been saved by Jesus' sacrifice despite the fact that they have never heard of him (or even of humanity...) Perhaps the Mormons view is correct and after visiting America, Jesus went interstellar to see the other citizens of the galaxy. Maybe indeed all forms (and tribes) of intelligent life HAVE seen our savior. (although, not being a Mormon myself I do not accept this premise). -- __ /..\ In quest of knowledge.... --mm--mm-- Mike Gobbi [Actually, I know of a fair number of books that try to look at the religious implications of aliens. Those that I can come up with at the moment are the following. All of these are very fine books that seriously examine various models of alien religion. I'm going to summarize them to the point where they sound silly, but they're all very good. This is by no means a complete list, just all I can find lying around at home that seem to merit the term "serious". Richard Bowker, "Forbidden Sanctuary". An alien who is a member of a Christian-analog group being persecuted by a Roman-analog society takes refuge with the Catholic Church while visiting earth. They have an apparently superior technology and demand that he be returned or they will destroy us. Joan Slowczewski, "Still Forms on Foxfield". Quaker colonists on another planet develop a symbiotic relationship with entities that have group intelligence, and who perceive things at the quantum level directly. One of the nicest jobs at trying to come up with a really alien creature. Interesting to see how Quakers cope with a species whose viewpoint is almost completely unintelligible, and with a challenge from folks from earth who want to annex the planet to a new empire that considers religion no longer of any value. Robert R. Chase, "The Game of Fox and Lion". The aliens are genetically engineered, starting with some human genes. The protagonist is an engineered human computer, who has become a monk. No one will believe that his religion is real, as it looks like he took refuge with the monks just to save his life. But it is. (Indeed he's probably one of the finest Christian protagonists I've run into.) There are a number of ethical and religious issues involving people who in various ways are outside the bounds of humanity. John Barnes, "Sin of Origin". Catholic missionaries work with a group of aliens whose sexuality is such that their normal way of life would be considered inherently sinful in humans. They appear to be impossibly hostile. The challenge is to get to understand them before the military manages to solve the problem by wiping them all out. Postulates a universe where the Catholic church includes non-human members and leaders, with the expected tensions. James Blish, "A Case of Conscience". Catholic missionaries find a planet apparently without sin. It's a very complex and subtle book that's hard to summarize, but the conclusion seems to be that the whole planet is a setup created by Satan. The C.S. Lewis space trilogy is well enough known that I'm not going to bother giving any details. Andrew Greeley has written an SF involving a group of Catholic missionaries working among non-humans, but I don't recall either the title or any details. --clh]