# The Bible and aliens **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 27, 1999, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872 "1999-10-27T04:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 1999, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/21 "1999-10-27T20:45:00Z")
You also have to wonder if any of the priests had epilepsy. Some epileptics will hallucinate during an “episode”. And, in ancient times, a person with epilepsy was considered “touched by God”, or “gods” as the case may be. * * * Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to relive it. Georges Santayana ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 1999, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/22 "1999-10-27T21:19:00Z")
Ai says: \<\< I have whole book someplace of Christian science fiction stories. \>\> To be distinguished from Christian Science fiction stories. On the question of hallucinogens available to Bible writers: not needed. Go to Israel, take one of those back roads through the Judean desert. It is… well, to use an overused term, awesome (in the sense of awe-inspiring.) One comes away with an understanding of how someone could go out into the desert for 40 days and come back with visions. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 1999, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/23 "1999-10-27T22:30:00Z")
CKDextHavn, I saw a show on cable about UFO’s/Ancient technology one time (don’t ask which one, they all bleed together)and it was claiming that the Ark of the Convenant was a giant capacitor: the wooden poles enabled you to carry it without getting shocked, and the cherubs on top of it were contacts, and if you touched both of them at the same time you would create a short and shock yourself. Is that what you were talking about in your post? And is that a ludicrous theory? (sure might be able to build a big capacitor back then, but how could you charge it?) ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 1999, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/24 "1999-10-28T01:22:00Z")
Just for the record: Chernobyl means _“black-white”_ in both Ukrainian and Russian. * * * This space for rent. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 1999, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/25 "1999-10-28T16:07:00Z")
Ever wonder if “Roswell Rods” are in some way related to threads making a beeline for Cuba? Like this one… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 1999, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/26 "1999-10-29T05:47:00Z")
Sorry Poly, no highjack intended. I was merely responding to a statement by Mjollnir and should have included the quote. > [@](#): > > I read that the Ukrainian word for “wormwood” is “Chernobyl.” Awaiting verification one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 1999, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/27 "1999-10-29T05:50:00Z")
I wasn’t criticizing you, Wally…just attempting a hijack of my own! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 1999, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/28 "1999-10-28T18:23:00Z")
Oh. Carry on, then. 🙂 * * * This space for rent. ---
**Author:** ![davidbrantley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@davidbrantley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidbrantley)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 1999, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/29 "1999-10-28T18:37:00Z")
In ‘apocalyptic’ literature, the elements in the visions are symbols, meant to stand for thing the author for whatever reason would not want to name. IIRC, I read one interpretation that links the beasts in Ezekiel’s vision to constellations in the Zodiac: the lion with Leo, the eagle with Scorpio (which some cultures saw as a bird rather than an arthropod), the lamb with Aries, and the man with Aquarius, and that at one point these constellations were associated with the equinoxes and solstices. The upshot being that God had dominion over all of the heavens. Just my 20 m$. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 1999, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/30 "1999-10-28T18:56:00Z")
That’s the trouble with symbols: They don’t always mean the same thing to everyone, and their “meanings” are determined by our personal world-view, personality, education, our parents’ ideas of child-rearing and whether or not you had coffee this morning. 🙂 “A picture says a thousand words.” But WHICH thousand? Yours, mine or theirs? * * * Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to relive it. Georges Santayana ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 1999, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872/31 "1999-10-29T05:06:00Z")
Maybe the reason why the apocalyptic form survives to this day is because people can fill in the blanks (symbols) with whatever they’d like. A very creative form of literary abuse? Several years ago I was told that when the upc codes reached 666, well, (hushed tones) it would be the signal for the Second Coming… It’s no use saying - Aren’t we taught that we won’t know the time and place? Now if someone wanted to start a thread saying that people who twisted the bible into fantastical “secrets” like these were aliens, well, that might be pretty interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bible-and-aliens/16872.md?page=1)