Post by Bainespal on Nov 26, 2011 21:24:57 GMT -5
I've never been quite sure why "aliens" (perhaps divine/angelic beings by another name) would be so threatening to the theology of the cross. If death entered creation (cosmos in the Greek) because of man's sin, then Christ came to redeem the cosmos. In what way that would apply to creatures other than man I think we have no real basis to say, but to say that God came to redeem only man, or that only man could be redeemed, seems more presumptuous and dogmatic than verifiable in any way.
Right... we don't know what God's covenant with the angels was or is, and we don't even know how or if the angels were created in God's image. I agree that the same principle holds true for other beings on other worlds; we cannot say dogmatically what their theological situation is, if they do in fact exist.
I know some Christians have been saying that alien encounters are really demonic encounters. I read Jeff Gerke's paper (I think this is the right link) on the subject, and I think that the argument is strong and may well be true, to one degree or another. If fallen angelic beings are aliens, maybe the unfallen ones are as well.
Ever notice that in spec fic, there are only two kinds of aliens? There are humanoid aliens, which are benevolent. Then there are the insectoid/animal aliens, which are usually hostile. (The water-based ones, squids and other Lovecraftian creatures, are sometimes friendly.)
It seems like science fiction writers can't imagine cultural interchange with beings that aren't essentially humanoid. My theory is that we can only imagine interacting meaningfully with beings that are made in God's image, as we are.
If there's a third kind, I have yet to encounter it.
As Divides indicated, aliens can also be conceived of as angelic beings. In some science fiction, there are incorporeal, mystical aliens (like the Vorlons in Babylon 5); I think these comprise a third kind, a pseudo-angelic class of aliens.