A question from a methodist

Since I was a kid religion has always played a predominant factor in my life. I was raised to believe in the Lord, which I still do. In fact three years ago I was confirmed and baptized into the Methodist Church. Alas, since my earlier years to date, I have always believed that we cannot be the only thing out here, despite my religious views. Thus the question is raised: Is believing in extraterrestrial life sacrilegious and does it go against God?

You have to determine your objective....... For me it was found that religion and the search for truth have little in common.

Rich

If Jesus was resurrected and went to heaven with his earthly body "flesh" that means that there is another place were people with bodies like ours can live, right?
Are there other types of beings that God made?
Yes
Does the bible say that God only made us humans on earth and did not create life anywhere else?
No
If you ask me,I believe that according to the bible, God made many types of beings and they live in the heavens,not on earth, making them extraterrestrial.
I am an atheist BTW, I don't know what people of faith would tell you. I would like to know as well.

Edit: Also remember that each person interprets the bible their own way and you should interpret it as you see it, not as someone else tells you that you must believe.
There is also a few books and programs calle Aliens in the bible, you might want to check those out. Also check out EZEKIEL 1:4- 1:24.

"And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst therof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

(verse 5) Also out of the midst therof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

[edit on 15-2-2010 by Elieser]

Originally posted by shadestruck
Is believing in extraterrestrial life sacrilegious and does it go against God?

From what I was told by my priest when I was a kid, the bible is the story of earth and mankind as that is who we are and where we are, but there is no limitations on what God can do and has done.

from his perspective, the bible = earth stuff...there might be a billion billion earths out there with their own version of the bible.

your allowed to investigate without worry

reply to post by shadestruck

Is believing in extraterrestrial life sacrilegious and does it go against God?

If being religious prevents you from thinking, I think you have larger problems then thinking about ET life.

No God = No problem

[edit on 15-2-2010 by Whyhi]

reply to post by shadestruck


The only problem religion would have with ETs is if they want to be worshiped.

That's the main thing in religion..not worshiping other gods/idols/ blah blah blah ya know?

I understand where you are coming from, but it is fine to believe in both.

I really never understood why any church would have a problem with their being other forms of life.

If anything, it further shows the "awesomness" of your god.

[edit on 2/15/2010 by iamsupermanv2]

I was born and raised in the Methodist church, but stopped going around the age of 20.
My church friends considered me "lost" or "fallen" at the time and while I forgive them for their judgment I will never forget the collective "snubbing" I received from them.
Chirstians are the meanest and most judgmental of all humans. I have seen it firsthand. While I mean no offense to you they have little to no tolerance for other ideas IMHO.
There's no problem with wanting to know how possible ET life could connect with your beliefs. Though I would not suggest going around telling people at your church what you are currently contemplating

I was an atheist for years , and recently I came to the conclusion that there is a creator based on the beautiful patterns found in nature among other things, and , well, I wrote about it in a thread here on the ATS called God Is An Artist.
You can take a look at it if you want to.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

It is a weird question that you left a important variable out of.

Define extraterrestrial life, are you talking about visiting extraterrestrial life?
If so chances are this is just another unproved belief.

Or you mean non-terrestrial life somewhere, yet to be discovered but has (scientific/mathematics) probability agreeing with you.

I cannot tell you what your church thinks of both.
I can only tell you I would never let a personal belief get in the way of free thinking backed by science. It is my belief this is what makes us human, the belief in the unproved .. is not.

My advice is follow your beliefs. (a bunch of ATSers probably just to me saying that)
No matter what you should follow what you want, if that is following the bible word for word as the word of god, beleving ET visits on a nightly schedule, or you belief we should try to find out as much of our life/world/universe putting your personal beliefs to the side.


[edit on 15-2-2010 by nophun]

[edit on 15-2-2010 by nophun]

I love to see this, a waking mind!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with believing in the possibility of alien life. In fact it shows you have an open mind and are thinking logically. Why would God make the universe this big if it was only for us?

I feel from your post that you are worried that this notion will push you away from God but this is far from the truth! I don't believe God wants us to spend our lives listening to what a preacher tells us without questioning, but rather I think he would want us to make our own conclusions. Free your mind.

Peace & Love my friend

Thus the question is raised: Is believing in extraterrestrial life sacrilegious and does it go against God?

Im not christian but i have read the bibles, i do not recall seeing anything about believing (or thinking) in anything being against god. The bible is full of references to temptation but the temptation was never a sin it was what the person did as a result of the temptation. So i guess in your case there would be nothing wrong with believing in ETs as long as you do not worship them and put them above your god in your heart. Like i said im not christian so this is just my understanding and i may be wrong.

You obviously have not studied your Bible much on your own. The Bible is full of ETs. They are also known as Angels. The rebel faction of angels are called demons. It mentions 'cheribum, terephim, seraphim, nephalim (which are a cross breed between human women and 'angels', as there are no female angels mentioned). And a few others. In ancient Jewish writings and tradition, Eve was Adams second wife. The first was Lileth, where we get the lileth-bye or lullaby. She supposedly sided with the demons and left Adam, becoming a demon, who snatches babies away, unless someone stops her by singing a lileth-bye. The tale of Eisenhower signing an agreement at Edwards in the 50s agrees with this. The Greada Treaty. One group of aliens wanted us to give up nukes, the other had no problem with it, and gave us some other tech as part of the 'treaty', they say a stargate that we have built a base with on Mars, and another on the dark side of the moon. They also purportedly agreed to stop the 'abductions' which they ignored. Just like a demon would be expected to do. May all be bs. I am skeptical, but open.

It goes against Truth, and our God and Creator Yahweh is Truth so... perhaps.

It also depends on what you mean by extraterrestrial life too. Technically Angels are extraterrestrial if you are going by pure definition of the word.

Why would God make the universe this big if it was only for us? The short answer to that question is that we reside WITHIN God, and the plan was to populate all of creation including other planets in other galaxies up until Satan rebelled and Adam & Eve sinned. Since then the original plan has more or less been "on hold" until the Spiritual War is over and Christ's Kingdom is established.

I can assure you though, in TRUTH, that there are no little green men, grays, reptilians or any other lifeforms in any other galaxies or on any other planets. Currently the Earth is the only planet that is populated. All UFO's are either Angelic (Holy), Demonic or Earthly.

[edit on 15-2-2010 by ReginaAdonnaAaron]

Believing "they" exist and believing they will lead to your salvation are 2 different things. Jesus was arguably the greatest teacher of all time. Why would he object to us acknowledging newly discovered life. He was an open minded person. Look how many minds he opened in his time and continues to open today (I know some of you are thinking many Christian minds have been closed as well and perhaps so but that doesn't diminish the Christian mission/message in it's purest and simplest form, that being one of kindness, compassion, forgiveness and love). Believing that aliens exist doesn't violate these tenets

I'm a Christian as well! I don't believe it is wrong to believe in extra terrestrial life. I'm not sure how it plays into our beliefs, but you should read some of C.S Lewis' fiction books. Such as his space trilogy, starting with Out of the Silent Planet" Or even the Chronicles of Narnia give examples of how it might be possible for their to be life outside of our current knowledge. I am not Catholic, so I don't know much about the pope, but I have heard that the Vatican has said they think it is possible for there to be extra terrestrial life.

Heres a link to a wiki articles with the Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis!

en.wikipedia.org...

First Post!
HBCOG

Not only do you need to define "extraterrestrial", but define "religion" also. I 'm amazed that so many Americans equate religion with Christianity. About five years ago I told a coworker that I was not a Christian. He literally backed up and blurted "You don't believe in God?!!!"
Now seriously - Is that what I said? This man had a master's degree in sociology and he was so completely hung up on his one dimensional view of existance that this ignorant statement actually came out of his mouth.

I come from four generations of Methodist ministers. I don't know any of my pastor cousins who would think belief in non-earthly intelligences or inter-demensional beings was a violation of Christian principles, but remember, the UMC is a fairly liberal denomination.

[edit on 15-2-2010 by Office 4256]

If Aliens visited the earth would you consider them Super Human? they have manage to do something humans have only dreamt about.

Now if we consider the aliens as super human, then they cant have been made by god in his same image, like us humans?

I think you should keep looking for E.T's just dont expect them to believe in the same god as you

Genesis: 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

I guess the greys and the reptillians and all the other ET types are basically second class citizens of God's universe.

WG3

yes, i'm a bible expert....i know what's written in it and i study prophecy.
Jesus(Yahushu'a) said "i have other sheep that are not of this fold"...
do you believe me? i just remembered...it is possible that some et's are evil muthers. i suppose the best reading would be Enoch...it's alot but it's pertinent and was probably highly distributed and well known books back in the day. i take it back....there's alot of researching to do in order to see the big picture. i take that expert part back,too....i'm a babe in this.

Originally posted by ReginaAdonnaAaron

I can assure you though, in TRUTH, that there are no little green men, grays, reptilians or any other lifeforms in any other galaxies or on any other planets. Currently the Earth is the only planet that is populated. All UFO's are either Angelic (Holy), Demonic or Earthly.

[edit on 15-2-2010 by ReginaAdonnaAaron]

You are wrong, here is the proof of ancient life in Mars by NASA. I have no idea why this is not all over the news and especially here. They even have discovered fossils and it has been in the news.
NASA website
LINK

New Study Adds to Finding of Ancient Life Signs in Mars Meteorite

Using more advanced analytical instruments now available, a Johnson Space Center research team has reexamined the 1996 finding that a meteorite contains strong evidence that life may have existed on ancient Mars.
The new research focused on investigating alternate proposals for the creation of materials thought to be signs of ancient life found in the meteorite. The new study argues that ancient life remains the most plausible explanation for the materials and structures found in the meteorite.

To the OP, if they tell you that it is wrong and a sin to question what they tell you even if there is proof of it, I believe that you are smart enough to notice that something is not right. They might try to tell you not to fall in to temptation and not to listen to the demons that are full of lies and are trying to separate you from God.
Have you ever heard the expression "The veil has been lifted" and "I was blind but now I see"? For me it has been the total opposite, I was blinded by those who claimed to be helping me lift the veil, they were the ones pulling the veil over my eyes. Some times you have to step out of the situation that you are in and look at it from outside in order to see all of the details that can not be seen while you are in it.

[edit on 15-2-2010 by Elieser]

[edit on 15-2-2010 by Elieser]

Originally posted by shadestruck
Is believing in extraterrestrial life sacrilegious and does it go against God?

IMO, assuming you mean aliens as physical creatures from another physical world, there is no Biblical basis for this, and so you could conclude it goes against God. There is Biblical basis for demons, demonic deceptions, and Satan being the Lord of the air or things that fly. Some people speculate that ETs, should they present themsleves or be presented by TPTB as "physical" beings, are either deceptions (man-made or demonic) or are demons themselves.