# Does the Bible rule out extraterrestrials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383 "2010-09-11T05:26:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/1 "2010-09-11T05:26:25Z")
A poster in another thread said that the only extraterrestrials are God and the angels. Obviously, I’m assuming he bases this on biblical authority. But does the Bible specifically rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial life? Or is it possible, within the context of the Bible, that God created other worlds with their own races as well as creating Earth and humanity? I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in the Bible saying this happened but is there anything that specifically says it didn’t? No need to post “The Bible is just a myth.” I already believe that. I’m just asking what it says. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/2 "2010-09-11T08:28:32Z")
There’s very little actual mention of what goes on in space in the Bible. The most references to Jewish astronomy occur in Job, where they are largely poetic. Any mention of beings in the heavens (night sky) is undoubtedly intended to signify the stars or constellations, or the gods commonly worshipped in the region. The “hosts of heaven” is taken to be either the stars (or their gods) or the angels, depending on where it’s used, and not anybody living on them. Job 38, for example, has this passage: > [@](#): > > “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?” (NKJV, which unfortunately ditches the fantastic line “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades?”) That passage incidentally is probably the best Biblical answer for whether there are extra-terrestrials. It’s a question that God only knows, neither explicitly allowed for nor ruled out. Only if you subscribe to a ‘it’s not mentioned in the Bible, therefore it cannot have existed’ mindset would you reject the possibility. Christian writer C.S. Lewis, of course, wrote his best fiction based on the idea of extraterrestrial dealings with God, in the Cosmic [Space] Trilogy. Clearly they’re meant as speculative, but he imagined a world that was ancient but had never fallen (_Out of the Silent Planet_) and another one that was still in an Edenic state and might receive Salvation in an altogether different manner than Earth did (_Perelandra_). ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/3 "2010-09-11T10:56:36Z")
I don’t think the people at that time had any concept that the Earth was just one world among many or even that the sun was just a star. A few ancient Greek scientists like Aristarchus had the concept but that was very specialized knowledge. The Catholic view. > **[Catholic.net - Catholics on the net](http://catholic.net/index.php?option=dedestaca&id=410)** > > God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Catholic Church Teaching, Bible, Catechism, Prayers, Saints, Virgin Mary, Apostles, Pope Francis, Vatican, Catholic News, Life Issues ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/4 "2010-09-11T13:26:18Z")
Not at all. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/5 "2010-09-11T13:39:16Z")
The bigger theological question I’ve seen is, if there is extraterrestrial sentient life, then did Jesus die for their sins too, or do they need another savior? Also, I know a guy who believes that angels and demons are actually extraterrestrials, and another who believes the opposite–that any extraterrestrial life would be demons pretending to be aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/6 "2010-09-11T13:43:29Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Christian writer C.S. Lewis, of course, wrote his best fiction based on the idea of extraterrestrial dealings with God, in the Cosmic [Space] Trilogy. Clearly they’re meant as speculative, but he imagined a world that was ancient but had never fallen (_Out of the Silent Planet_) and another one that was still in an Edenic state and might receive Salvation in an altogether different manner than Earth did (_Perelandra_). Unsurprisingly, I share your enthusiasm for this book series. 🙂 I’d just like to add that Mars did fall, in its way, but not very far - Malacandra-Oyarsa himself dealt with the situation - whereas Venus did not fall (thanks to Ransom) and so would not require salvation - but if it had, matters would have been all the worse. > [@Perelandra](#): > > The small external evil which Satan had done to Malacandra was as a line; the deeper evil he had done in Earth was as a square; if Venus fell, her evil would be a cube – her Redemption beyond conceiving. Yet redeemed she would be. Did you ever read [this](http://scientificintegrity.blogspot.com/2010/04/religion-and-rocketry-by-cs-lewis.html)? (I borrowed a copy of _The World’s Last Night_ many years ago, but I don’t own it.) ---
**Author:** ![halfreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@halfreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halfreal)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/7 "2010-09-11T13:57:22Z")
Curiously, while I’m not aware of anything in the Bible that would contradict the possibility of extraterrestrial life, it does indeed (supposed you believe it) give a fairly clear hint on its existence - right in the first verses of Genesis, where the text has life (i.e. plants) created _before_ the sun, indicating (again, if you accept it as true) that at least simple life forms are probably rather common. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/8 "2010-09-11T14:21:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The bigger theological question I’ve seen is, if there is extraterrestrial sentient life, then did Jesus die for their sins too, or do they need another savior? As the [catholic.net](http://catholic.net) link says, they might have never fallen at all, and thus not need saving thankyouverymuch. That would crank the guilt trip up a notch, the Catholics would \*love \*that 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/9 "2010-09-11T14:37:23Z")
I have always taken [John 14:2](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:2&version=ESV) (“In my father’s house are many rooms”) to refer to other planets and other sentient life forms. Earth is one room, there are many others. If I am misguided, what is the mainstream interpretation of that passage? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/10 "2010-09-11T14:44:07Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I have always taken [John 14:2](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:2&version=ESV) (“In my father’s house are many rooms”) to refer to other planets and other sentient life forms. Earth is one room, there are many others. If I am misguided, what is the mainstream interpretation of that passage? That must be it. God decided to put cryptic, ambiguous messages in the Bible when it came to one of the most important details in the universe. He was just too busy specifying what fibers could be worn together. ---
**Author:** ![halfreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@halfreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halfreal)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/11 "2010-09-11T14:54:48Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > > I have always taken [John 14:2](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:2&version=ESV) (“In my father’s house are many rooms”) to refer to other planets and other sentient life forms. Earth is one room, there are many others. If I am misguided, what is the mainstream interpretation of that passage? > > That must be it. God decided to put cryptic, ambiguous messages in the Bible when it came to one of the most important details in the universe. He was just too busy specifying what fibers could be worn together. If you understand the Bible as a guideline for life on earth, the question of extraterrestrial life might very well qualify as one of the _least_ important details in the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/12 "2010-09-11T15:44:17Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > > I have always taken [John 14:2](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:2&version=ESV) (“In my father’s house are many rooms”) to refer to other planets and other sentient life forms. Earth is one room, there are many others. If I am misguided, what is the mainstream interpretation of that passage? > > That must be it. God decided to put cryptic, ambiguous messages in the Bible when it came to one of the most important details in the universe. He was just too busy specifying what fibers could be worn together. It is entirely possible, perhaps even vastly more probable than not, that Man will never have the slightest need to know whether there is other intelligent life in the universe; or, at any rate, is not in the least danger of meeting or usefully communicating with such. But hey, ten posts in before the snark started puts us ahead of the game. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/13 "2010-09-11T16:00:55Z")
> [@halfreal](#): > > > [@DanBlather](#): > > > > That must be it. God decided to put cryptic, ambiguous messages in the Bible when it came to one of the most important details in the universe. He was just too busy specifying what fibers could be worn together. > > If you understand the Bible as a guideline for life on earth, the question of extraterrestrial life might very well qualify as one of the _least_ important details in the universe. I guess you are right, it’s more important not to mix wool and cotton. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/14 "2010-09-11T16:56:40Z")
> [@halfreal](#): > > > [@DanBlather](#): > > > > That must be it. God decided to put cryptic, ambiguous messages in the Bible when it came to one of the most important details in the universe. He was just too busy specifying what fibers could be worn together. > > If you understand the Bible as a guideline for life on earth, the question of extraterrestrial life might very well qualify as one of the _least_ important details in the universe. Actually, I think the Bible, at least the NEW testament has alot to do with getting along together and treating each other with kindness and respect. Once we figure out how to deal with EACH OTHER we will be more able to handle a six foot atichoke named “Jhgfyt7rn” with a 3700 IQ. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/15 "2010-09-11T17:04:02Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > Once we figure out how to deal with EACH OTHER we will be more able to handle a six foot atichoke named “Jhgfyt7rn” with a 3700 IQ. And find a way to get him to embrace Jesus in his heart. Hearts. N-dimensional bio-quantic phytoplasm pumps. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/16 "2010-09-11T17:06:28Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > > Once we figure out how to deal with EACH OTHER we will be more able to handle a six foot atichoke named “Jhgfyt7rn” with a 3700 IQ. > > And find a way to get him to embrace Jesus in his heart. Hearts. N-dimensional bio-quantic phytoplasm pumps. And if he doesn’t it’s OK to kill him. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/17 "2010-09-11T17:18:50Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > > [@halfreal](#): > > > > If you understand the Bible as a guideline for life on earth, the question of extraterrestrial life might very well qualify as one of the _least_ important details in the universe. > > Actually, I think the Bible, at least the NEW testament has alot to do with getting along together and treating each other with kindness and respect. Once we figure out how to deal with EACH OTHER we will be more able to handle a six foot atichoke named “Jhgfyt7rn” with a 3700 IQ. That’s why us atheists are so damn aggressive and mean, we don’t have the Bible to guide us. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/18 "2010-09-11T18:41:33Z")
Given that God “Himself” is not a product of this world, wouldn’t that make Him an “extraterrestrial”? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/19 "2010-09-11T18:58:21Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Also, I know a guy who believes that angels and demons are actually extraterrestrials, and another who believes the opposite–that any extraterrestrial life would be demons pretending to be aliens. I was taught more-or-less the latter as a child. UFOs are real, and piloted by aliens. Humans are created in God’s image. Therefore, aliens are not created in God’s image, and are therefore either demons or creations of Satan. Therefore, UFOs are piloted by demons or Satanic creations. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383/20 "2010-09-11T19:33:17Z")
David Brewster, 19th century Scottish scientist (and inventor of the kaleidoscope), wrote a book called [More worlds than one : the creed of the philosopher and the hope of the Christian](http://www.archive.org/details/moreworldsthanon00brewuoft), in which he argues that there are indeed extraterrestrials and that this is perfectly compatible with the Bible. > [@](#): > > Neither in the Old nor in the New Testament is there a single expression incompatible with the great truth, that there are other worlds than our own which are the seats of life and intelligence. Many passages of Scripture, on the contrary, are favorable to the doctrine, and there are some, we think, which are inexplicable, without admitting it to be true. The beautiful text, > > > [@](#): > > > > When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained ; what is man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that thou visitest him. PSALM viii. 3, 4. > > for example, in which, the inspired Psalmist expresses his surprise that the Being who fashioned the heavens, and ordained the moon and the stars, should be mindful of so insignificant a being as man, is, we think, a positive argument for a plurality of worlds. (Thanks to Clifford Pickover’s book [Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them](http://www.amazon.com/Archimedes-Hawking-Science-Great-Behind/dp/0195336119/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284233425&sr=1-1) for introducing me to this quote.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-rule-out-extraterrestrials/553383.md?page=2)