re: Religious Leaders Told to 'Prepare Now' for UFO Disclosure and 'Bible-Changing' Revelation

Posted on 5/13/26 at 3:16 pm to SlowFlowPro

Posted by FooManChoo

Member since Dec 2012

46870 posts

Posted on 5/13/26 at 3:16 pm to SlowFlowPro

quote:
Christianity =/= The Bible

I was clear to separate the two.

Sure, and yet Christian beliefs are based on the Bible. It's why I've been consistently linking the two together. It's why I asked how the existence of aliens would change Christian doctrine.

I'm still failing to see how the existence of aliens--even if they had their own claims of divine revelation and salvation--would change anything about biblical Christianity. You just keep saying that it opens the door to other things being true, but then you don't explain how those other things can be true when they otherwise contradict the truth-claims of the Bible.

quote:
Again, the point is that if we are allowing important things to be left out of the Bible, someone coming alone and making those "left out" claims (similar to Joseph Smith or Mohammed) would present issues with the Bible.

Not necessarily, at least not any more than Isaac Newton making claims about gravity that aren't in the Bible.

Again, the issue isn't with what is said in addition to the Bible, but what is said in contradiction to the Bible. Joseph Smith and Mohammed weren't just providing extra detail or nuance that was left out of the Bible (from their perspectives), but adding completely different information that contradicts the Bible.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say: it's why Muslims and Mormons both claim that the Christian Bible has been corrupted. They aren't just claiming new information in addition to the Bible, but information that replaces the Bible. That's why I keep referencing the law of non-contradiction.

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That's exactly the potential conflict I'm discussing. Yes.

That's why something like aliens being left out presents the potential for conflict with the Bible.

I'm still confused here. If you are truly talking about alien claims that contradict the Bible rather than just adding to them (as I believed you were doing before), then there is no problem at all. I've already addressed this: Christians would compare the claims of the aliens to the Bible just like we could compare the claims of Mormons to the Bible. That's not a problem, and it certainly isn't a unique one.

I think you're too smart not to get this, so I think the true issue in your mind is that you still think it's "different" (from Mormons, etc.) because of the potential intelligence being higher for the aliens. I've already addressed that, though.

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You only claim it doesn't have relevance based on an assumption not in the Bible. I think I can clarify this within the scope of your response to try to minimize the impact/status of these aliens.

The "assumption" is founded upon several arguments taken from the Scriptures, themselves, to show the unique status of mankind as image-bearers that would exclude all other creatures, great and small.

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What if these aliens are made in the image of God?

They may claim such, but the revelation of God does not support that any creatures other than humans are made in the image of God.

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The Bible says man is made in the image of God, but it doesn't say ONLY man is made in the image of God. There is no stated exclusivity, so these hypothetical aliens could also be in the image of God. Also, since aliens weren't deemed necessary to include, their status of being in the image of God also isn't necessary for inclusion.

The argument isn't merely from what isn't stated, but what is, and there are several legs to the chair that make a cumulative case for the exclusivity of humanity as the only image-bearers of God.

First, the structure of creation and the special attention to humanity (even in the absence of "superior" beings as angels being revealed later) as the image of God provides a natural emphasis. All creation is listed separately from mankind, including the angels, which would presumably be "superior" to even the hypothetical aliens. Angels are not taught to be made in the image of God, but only man. That's important because the Bible doesn't seem to be arbitrarily calling out humans as just one group of creatures among many that are given this status. The narrative in Genesis 2 pauses to call out humans above all creatures, and humans were last to be created, as a capstone of creation, according to the narrative, giving more primacy to humanity above all other creatures.

Second, we have the exclusion of angels from the image of God. As mentioned before, only mankind is said to have been made in the image of God, and it is the basis for our dignity and value, and why the death penalty was granted for the unlawful taking of human life. Angels are mentioned many times, all throughout the Bible, yet are never described as humans are as image-bearers. Given that humans will judge angels, their "superior" abilities are still "inferior" to men as covenantal image-bearers, and therefore it would make sense that whatever aliens would be like, they would also be inferior to men in this sense. The lack of the image of God for angels as arguably the greatest of the non-human creations of God indicates that no other creature lesser than angels could have that same image.

Third, you have the structure of dominion given to man. While the text only mentions earth, man is given all authority on earth over all that was listed as created. The only other created beings that the Bible speaks of that do not fit into this creation mandate, and therefore authority structure, are the angels, and we are told later in the Bible that we will even judge them. So, we have examples of humans being given authority over all creatures, great and small, on earth and in Heaven, to have dominion over and to judge. Given that aliens would be creatures somewhere between angels and bacteria, it is safe to assume that humans would have authority over them, as well, given the rest of the Scriptures' teaching on authority. In addition, we are taught in the Bible that Christians are united to Christ by faith, and that Jesus as the God-man (not God-alien) has been given all rule and authority. Further, they teach that in Christ, we also have such authority, which is the basis for judging the angels. If Christ as the God-man has all authority to judge all creatures, including angels, and humans are given a special authority equal to His due to our being in union with Him, then that means we would have all authority as subordinates to Christ in Heaven. This wouldn't make sense if there are many other alien creatures that share the same status.

Fourth, the nature of Jesus Christ indicates that there is only one kind of image-bearer (humanity). It's the biblical teaching that Jesus has only two-natures (God and man), and that He is uniquely representative and a unique mediator between mankind and God the Father. Jesus doesn't have more natures, as He would be one person with many natures rather than just the God-man. The descriptions of Him as God-man indicate that there are no other natures that He has taken on to pay for sins as a representative, so if there are thousands of races of aliens on other planets throughout the universe that had the same covenantal arrangement as humans (given law and grace), salvation would not be given to them through mediated representation in suffering and dying to pay for sin with other natures. That means there are either no other creatures that Jesus died for, or none that needed to have sins forgiven, just like the animals on earth. Jesus' natures of God and man point to the uniqueness of mankind as image-bearers that angels or aliens don't/wouldn't have.