Baptizing Aliens - OK With Me

In an interesting announcement, Guy Consolmagno, the Pope's Astronomer, has said that he would be happy to baptize an alien.  He adds the stipulation that he would only do this if asked, because forced baptisms are a thing of the past (thank goodness).

Guy (seen left), is quite the progressive fellow in terms of science and faith, and I'm glad he's been public about this. It's been said in recent times by certain short-sighted individuals that it is "unChristian" to believe in the possibility of alien life, but that's not true. (I discussed this here, if you want to know more.)

I would like to see more people adopt his point of view. There's nothing in Scripture that denies alien life and there's no reason to arbitrarily decide that we must fight that notion. (Otherwise, if aliens landed we would all look pretty stupid.)  Sure, it's unlikely, but it's possible. And, it's even possible that these creatures could have souls and be favored by God. I know that's bizarre, but since it could happen we should be open to it.  TV shows like to assume that Christians would protest any ideas of aliens, but we need to shed that silly stereotype.

Of course, dunking aliens in water could backfire...

Can Christians Believe in UFOs?

This morning, I read an article over at Answers in Genesis that discussed an idea that I didn't know anyone actually believed: the idea that Christians cannot, and must not, believe in the possibility of alien life in outer space.

This is something I've never understood. The Bible makes no mention of aliens, at all, so why work it into our beliefs?

The fact that they are not mentioned in scripture has caused some to believe that aliens must not be real. As the article puts it:

Even if there were other galaxies with planets very similar to earth, life could only be there if the Creator had fashioned it. If God had done that, and if these beings were going to visit us one day, then He would surely not have left us unenlightened about this. (emphasis mine)

However, the Bible also fails to mention quantum physics, sewing machines, and Antarctica, but those things are certainly real. Most of our world is a mystery and the Bible only tells us about a little of it.

The article also lists numerous reasons why the existence of alien life is dubious and tries to play the part of the paranormal skeptic by decrying UFO sightings as crazy stories. They could be right about that part, maybe there are no aliens, but it has nothing to do with theology and doesn't belong in such an article. It's merely someone's opinion about a hotly debated topic.

The people at Answers in Genesis have gone so far as to say that alien life and the validity of Christianity are mutually exclusive ideas, so if aliens did land they would have to admit that their faith is wrong. That is a very foolish position and it is completely unnecessary.

Believe it or not, the Bible doesn't answer every question. Does it tell us how we can be saved? Certainly, it does.

But, did it warn us about the great depression or explain why Earth's magnetic poles shift? No

It's very unlikely that we will see aliens in our lifetime, even if they do exist, but let's not bog ourselves down with meaningless theology when the work of the Kingdom is to be done.

Now, what am I going to read in the checkout lane?

My trips to the grocery store are going to get more boring; the beloved World Weekly News is going out of print. Their website is still up, but apparently they are ending their 28 year run of printing, what they call, 'the world's only reliable newspaper.'

I'll be in the checkout line wondering what's going on with Bat Boy and which alien planet sent a physician to give the President a face-lift.