Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!lll-winken!sun-barr!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: bcsaic!carroll@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Jeff Carroll) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Extra-terrestrial worlds Message-ID: Date: 18 Oct 90 07:26:39 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Boeing Computer Services AI Center, Seattle Lines: 47 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article vvrcd@mars.lerc.nasa.gov (Robert C. Dibacco (SVER)) writes: >and also am a Christian. My knowledge of what the Churches in general preach >is that we are unique in the Universe. I have always found this hard to... >[I don't know of any official doctrine one way or the other. I don't >see anything in the Bible or Christian doctrine that would have any >problem with other species. Christian tradition placed mankind in a >hierarchy that included angels and other created species other than >ours. Though angels are probably not quite what you are thinking of, >it certainly indicates a view that allows intelligent beings other >than us. --clh] This question certainly poses a problem for those who hold that all non-Christians are damned. (It could be argued that the question is merely hypothetical until the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence is confirmed or denied; however a great deal of bandwidth continues to be expended in discussion of the equally hypothetical question of the fate of the soul of the savage who has never heard the name of Jesus.) Those who hold such a position are bound to one of two conclusions regarding this question: a) If extraterrestrial beings have knowledge of good and evil, and if they have sinned, then they are damned. b) Christ was revealed to these "other sheep" in another incarnation, similar to his revelation to the "Latter Day Saints". We seem to have escaped the FAQ of children worldwide, "Do dogs/cats/parakeets/goldfish/bunnies/turtles/etc. go to Heaven?" by arbitrarily defining that these animals have no moral sense, i.e., no knowledge of good and evil. Do we have the data to support this conclusion? If not, then how do we *know* that Fido went to heaven? And not knowing, how can we justify telling Junior that he did? For all we know, Fido is burning in hell for stealing bones from some other dog down the street. I personally am of the opinion that Christianity doesn't need the threat of eternal damnation as a marketing tool, and that the Scriptural grounds of such a doctrine are shaky. Each of us has quite enough to do caring for the welfare of his own soul without worrying about secondguessing the grace of God. Jeff Carroll carroll@atc.boeing.com