Extraterrestrials and Christianity
There's nothing in the Bible directly referencing other worlds, extraterrestrials, or extradimensional and interdimensional beings, and a lot of other things like cryptidzoological creatures such as Bigfoot or Mothman.
If you haven't been reading this blog series, I highly suggest you retrace your steps and read my list of entries before you read this one.
Was The Garden of Eden Temporally Displaced?
Nephililim, Giants, and Monsters
There is not much Biblical basis for the existence of extraterrestrials, but that does not mean they do not exist, as I illustrated in my last post "UFOs and Angels." There's a lot of conspiracy theories that involve aliens and the Catholic Church, and most of them are likely bunk. I really cannot take "Ancient Aliens" and the Gaia Network, or late authors like Thomas Horn, seriously, predominantly because of their lack of understanding of history, patristic and apostolic Christianity, let alone Catholicism, which they wrongly believe was invented by Emperor Constantine and is separate from Christianity. Just FYI, St. Ignatius of Antioch, a direct successor of St. John the Apostle, referenced the Church as Catholic (Universal) in the first century to denote it from Gnostic cults that were around at the same time.
Maybe the Vatican Archives has crashed UFOs and mummified aliens, but I seriously doubt it, and I doubt they would retain the knowledge of extraterrestrials. Here's why, and it's based on logic and reason. First, that God, who is infinite, incomprehensible, uncontainable, and omnipresent, took on a human nature and compressed His divine Self through the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, into a human body within the womb of the Virgin Mary, Theotokos (God-Bearing One), and clothed Himself in her flesh. So... You can't top that! And many people take that for granted, but we're talking about God, who is infinite, placing Himself in a box—and quite literally when we look at the Eucharist and the Tabernacle. So, aliens can't top that. And if a person thinks that the Church rejects science and evolution, they would be sorely mistaken. The Church does not take an authoritative stance. Believers can take a literal interpretation of scripture or metaphorically through the lens of evolution, since the Book of Genesis is believed to be allegorical in many places. This is a stance not only taken by the Church going back to the Patristics, but even the Ancient Hebrews who predated the Christian Church. So the Church would have no reason to hide the existence of aliens or reason to fear that it would be a contradiction of divine revelation.
Secondly it would seem based on the testimonies in Congress our own government is not entirely sure what exactly they are dealing with so it's likley even if the Church had knowledge or artifacts of extraterrestrials or their crafts they likley couldn't discern their origin either.
Some Theologians and Exorcists like Fr. Iannuzi believe that the Biblical references of stars are not just references to celestial beings like Angels but other planets and worlds and other beings. It is Fr. Iannuzi's opinion that a third of the stars that fell in the angelic war were not only angels but other beings from separate worlds and that these are also the Sons of God who fathered the Nephilim and Giants.
Scripture mentions these stars in Job 38:7 during creation and the angelic war in Revelation 12:4.
In the last few decades, the topic of extraterrestrials and Catholicism has been discussed. For example, on November 28th, 1999, in the Parish of Sant'Innocenzo I Papa e San Guido Vescovo in Rome, a boy asked St. Pope John Paul II if aliens existed. His response was, "Always remember they are children of God as we are." Later, Vatican astronomers, discussing Pope Benedict XVI, stated that he believed in the possibility of extraterrestrials and that he would baptize an alien if they had asked him to. Pope Francis made a similar statement when asked about extraterrestrials by reporters. St. Padre Pio was purported to have been written to on two occasions by children asking if there was life on other planets, to which he stated yes and that the Lord did not limit His glory only to Earth and that certainly there were other creatures in the universe that loved God. These sorts of conversations aren't actually new, as St. Paul says there's nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). St. Augustine of Hippo and others corresponded with one another discussing whether Cenophali (Dog-Headed Men) were considered human and could be baptized and saved. Recently, Paul Thigpen, a Catholic convert from Pentecostalism (Protestantism) and lay apologist, wrote a book about the possibility that God could have created other races beyond just the human race. His book ("Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Catholic Faith: Are We Alone in the Universe with God and the Angels?") stirred objection and arguments from some Thomists. Paul Thigpen is not the first person to ask this question since Christian writer C.S. Lewis tackled this subject in his fictional Space Trilogy.
It should also be noted that although St. Thomas Aquinas is a beloved theologian and saint of the Catholic Church, he is not the only theologian or founder of a theological school of thought. Unfortunately, some people within the Church treat St. Thomas, a Doctor of the Church, as though he is completely infallible. St. Thomas was mistaken about the Immaculate Conception of Mary, a Dogma of the Church. St. Thomas Aquinas wouldn't be offended that people repeatedly point out his error because he is a saint, so supernaturally humble, and because he was not even alive when this Dogma was proclaimed. In his earthly humility, he was said to have declared his life's work nothing but straw when he was in ecstasy in the midst of a divine revelation.
Those who object believe it's impossible, heretical, or dangerous and could be part of the Antichrist deception. These are legitimate concerns of an extraterrestrial deception by world governments or the forces of the Antichrist. St. Gabriel the Fool, an Orthodox Christian Saint, was attributed to have said, "During the Antichrist times, the strongest temptation will be anticipation of salvation from the cosmos, from humanoids, extraterrestrials that are actually the demons. One should rarely look up to the sky, as the signs might be deceptive and one may be ruined."
On the one hand, these happenings could be demonic; on the other hand, not everything is demonic, and it's not unreasonable that God may have created other beings, some who may not have fallen and maybe others that had. If Fr. Iannuzi is correct and that the Nephilim are extraterrestrial human hybrids, it would explain a lot of the similarities with Fairies, Jinn, and alien abduction cases. It would seem there are similarities with these abduction cases and Incubi and Succubi and the Sons of God who fathered the Nephilim offspring.
On the other hand, I have a hard time believing an advanced species with the ability to interstellar or extradimensional travel would need to physically examine humans in a manner similar to a prostate exam or colonoscopy. I would think they could just scan a person's body or teleport skin cells or sperms and eggs to create clones or offspring.
In some abduction cases, this is claimed to occur, and it would seem that this is in line with the theological theory of Incubi and Succubi spirits transporting male seed through impure dreams and encounters resulting in nocturnal emissions or transporting seed when a man self-abuses through the sin of impurity. This is one of the theories of how Fallen Angels could have reproduced by using already available material since the Angels are spirits and they cannot create in the manner in which God does. Although it is said that Angels can assume temporary bodies like the Archangel Raphael in the Book of Tobit. This could mean by possession or illusion. In the case of possession, it would involve the Sethite Men becoming possessed by demons when they gave into lust and took the Daughters of Cain as wives, breaking their vocation to God as religious contemplatives.
But assuming we're talking about aliens, they may have physical or semi-corporeal bodies, although different than our own and may not be restricted by the limitations of spirits like the Angels and Demons.
What it comes down to is there are too many cooks in the kitchen, meaning too many opinions and objections to adequately figure it out. It's a mystery of faith. It's possible intelligent life exists in other parts of the universe or galaxy, and it's possible but not likely that we are the only ones in this sea of stars. If aliens exist, it doesn't debunk Christianity because they are a part of creation and maybe salvation just as we are.
If anything, we can look to words that God spoke to Job from the whirlwind (Job 38) because we simply cannot begin to comprehend all of creation as His ways are not our ways, and only He knows the inner workings of the universe as the architect of existence.
You can read further about this subject in the articles links below.
Pope's astronomer insists alien life 'would be part of God's creation'
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