When E.T. Phones The Pope (Washington Post Article)

reply to post by Landru


I see what you're saying, but these things are only creating more questions and are not directly contradicting Christianity.

Originally posted by nrky
If 'God' made humans in 'his image', then to have made another creature 'in his image' would mean that at least one of them would be wrong.

LOL, Isn't it about the ultimate in hubris to take that statement literally (not saying you do)! I always have an inner chuckle when that is brought up and its almost always in the "Yep we look like him!" mode. WOW are we just full of ourselves or what!

To me its just another barrier that has to be knocked down on the path to our maturity as a sentient species. I have always felt that the message should be taken to mean "We have been created in gods image and since God is everywhere and everything we are but one aspect of that image. Sand, Trees, Birds, Planets, Stars, Quarks are all in Gods image too. Everything. Do not think one aspect has more Godlike qualities then another."

reply to post by Helmkat


Exactly. You said it better than I did in my post. The operating word again is 'image'. We don't know what part of image that means although in man's vanity some want to think of the physical aspects. Since Roman Catholicism is based on 'T'radition and Bible they are uniquely flexible when it comes to the ET question and religion. Think about that for a moment. If most other sola scriptura based Christian ideologies take the Bible literally, they might/will crumble under an ET disclosure; leaving Catholicism. Talk about 'God's plan' for Christianity! Those who most want to see ET because it will harm the Catholic Tradition may in fact see a reunification of Christianity! The old saying careful what you wish for......

In my book "The Eternal Messiah: Jesus of K'Turia" I start with the premise that life exists on other planets. The theme of the book then becomes: what will religion look like on another planet? And specifically, what happens if a preacher named Jesus happens to appear? How will the beings on the other planet react, and how will humans who know of the Biblical Jesus react? Will they think this Jesus is an imposter? Will they try to intervene in what they may think will happen?
Given the Vatican conference and the controversy about this topic, it is interesting that of all the scholars and theologians who read the manuscript before publication (of many different religions and denominations) there was little discomfort with the premise. In fact, the belief was that the book raised important theological issues.
You can learn more at www.EternalMessiah.com

Well, it looks like the Vatican got it's conference and statement over just in time:

"Martian meteorite surrenders new secrets of possible life"
spaceflightnow.com...

The Vatican Extraterrestrial Study Conference Program....emailed to me by one of the scientists who attended:

Pontifical Academy of Science
Study Week on Astrobiology
Casina Pio IV, 6-10 November 2009

Program:

Friday, November 6
9.00 Outstanding questions in astrobiology J. Lunine

Session 1: Origin of life (Chair J. Lunine)
9.40 Kinetics, catalysis, and the origin of metabolism S. Copley

Coffee break (10.20-10.50)

10.50 Towards a theory of life S. Benner

11.30 The geological record of early life on Earth
(and its limitations) F. Westall

12.10 Discussion on session 1 J. Lunine (lead)

Lunch (12.50-14.30)

Session 2: Habitability through time (Chair E. Gaidos)

14.30 The earliest Earth’s atmosphere F. Selsis

15.10 Evolution of Earth's atmosphere and climate J. Kasting

15.50 Snowball Earth: lessons for habitability
on Earth and elsewhere J. Kirschvink

Coffee break (16.30-17.00)

17.00 Discussion on session 2 E. Gaidos (lead)

Session 3: Environment and genomes (F. Westall, Chair)

17.40 Life & environment in Earth’s middle age A. Knoll

18.20 Molecular signatures of life through time R. Summons

End of day 1 (19.00)

Saturday, November 7

9.00 Submarine hydrothermal vents: Limits of life, early evolution
and the search for habitable planets. J. Baross

9.40 Conditions during the emergence of animal life E. Gaidos

Coffee Break (10.20-10.50)

10.50 The Atacama Desert as an analog model for Mars R. VicuÒa

11.30 Discussion on session 3 F. Westall (lead)

Session 4: Detecting life elsewhere (A. Knoll, Chair)

12.10 Europa: Next destination in the search for life M. Blanc

Lunch (12.50-14.30)

14.30 Titan and Enceladus: astrobiological analogs
with Earth A. Coustenis

15.10 Life in water-rich asteroids? J. Castillo-Rogez

15.50 Early Mars: Cradle or coffin? R. Pierrehumbert

16.30 Coffee break (16.30-17.00)

17.00 Discussion on session 4 A. Knoll, lead

End of day 2(18.00)

Sunday, November 8
Tours and/or free time throughout day 3 (no sessions)

Monday, November 9
Session 5: Search strategies for extrasolar planets (C. Impey, Chair)

09.00 Summary of the Barcelona meeting P. LÈna

09.20 Search and characterization strategies S. Seager

10.00 Review of detected low mass planets C. Lovis

Coffee break (10.40-11.10)

11.10 Study of exoplanet atmospheres
and the small star opportunity D. Charbonneau

11.50 Low-mass planets around faint nearby dwarf stars D. Minniti

12.30 Discussion on session 5 C. Impey, lead

Lunch (13.10-14.30)

Session 6: Formation of extrasolar planets (D. Minniti, chair)

14.30 Formation of giant planets W. Benz

15.10 Formation of Earth-sized planets S. Raymond

15.50 Discussion on session 6 D. Minniti, lead

Coffee break (16.30-17.00)

Session 7: Properties of extrasolar planets (R. Pierrehumbert, chair)

17.00 Characterising exoplanet atmospheres, from
gas giants to terrestrial habitable planets G. Tinetti

17.40 Habitability of exoplanets D. Sasselov

18.20 Discussion on session 7 R.Pierrehumbert, lead

End of day 4 (19.00)

Tuesday, November 10

9.00 Briefing on Proceedings volume J. Funes/C. Impey

Session 8: Intelligence elsewhere and shadow life (S. Benner, chair)

9.30 SETI turns 50 J. Tarter

10.10 Searching for multiple origins of life P. Davies

Coffee break (10.10-10.40)

10.40 Discussion on session 8 S. Benner, lead

11.20 Reflections on the future of Astrobiology C. Impey

12.00 Final remarks and work on the summary statement All

Close of the study week (12.30)

Originally posted by Landru
The philosophical problem for Catholicism and ETs isn't man as the center of creation, or evolution both of which they have long come to , more or less, modern understandings of.

The problem is Jesus as the Savior, if Mr. Spock or Yoda show up ... very evolved philosophically etc. the question of whether Aliens have souls and whether Jesus would save aliens. That is where it gets crazy and dicey for them

also everything about God making the universe in seven days, adam and eve etc. suddenly become "oh they're just metaphors".