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Vatican: It's okay to believe in aliens

post #1 of 17
5/16/08 at 9:47pm
Thread Starter 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/...vatican_aliens

This is reassuring, I guess.
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post #2 of 17
5/16/08 at 10:00pm
Hard to believe this was OK'ed by the pope. I suspect this guy was speaking out of turn. But, hey, I agree with him. I don't see intelligent life on other planets any challenge to the existence of God. If they're out there, He created them as well. Their existence would be irrelevant to the message of our Bible. Which is God's message to US. Heck, He probably gave them their own Bible. And if they fell into sin like we did, He might even have provided a way for them to be saved, just like He did here. No, I don't see any problem with it. God is big enough for that.

There's an excellent trilogy by C. S. Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, & That Hideous Strength which are somewhat of a take-off on the same subject. I've read all three several times. But then, I'm a science-fiction nut from way back.
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post #3 of 17
5/16/08 at 10:19pm
Don't you love how the media spins things? This is the opinion of one man in the patronage of the Vatican......not the official teaching of the Church. Seriously.
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post #4 of 17
5/16/08 at 10:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by coaster View Post
Hard to believe this was OK'ed by the pope. I suspect this guy was speaking out of turn. But, hey, I agree with him. I don't see intelligent life on other planets any challenge to the existence of God. If they're out there, He created them as well. Their existence would be irrelevant to the message of our Bible. Which is God's message to US. Heck, He probably gave them their own Bible. And if they fell into sin like we did, He might even have provided a way for them to be saved, just like He did here. No, I don't see any problem with it. God is big enough for that.

There's an excellent trilogy by C. S. Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, & That Hideous Strength which are somewhat of a take-off on the same subject. I've read all three several times. But then, I'm a science-fiction nut from way back.
same here - not really a problem for me, either.
i enjoyed Out of the Silent Planet, & Perelandra... but never could make it thru That Hideous Strength. perhaps i should try again, huh?
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post #5 of 17
5/17/08 at 6:36am
Ya, it's one of those that are hard to get started. But once you get involved in the characters and the intrigue, then it gets more interesting. I'm puzzled, though, why the three books are commonly called the "space trilogy" and why the artwork on the cover of the current edition on Amazon looks like lunar terrain. The book takes place on planet Earth. England, to be specific. Maybe the artist didn't finish the book either.
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post #6 of 17
5/17/08 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by coaster View Post
Hard to believe this was OK'ed by the pope. I suspect this guy was speaking out of turn. But, hey, I agree with him. I don't see intelligent life on other planets any challenge to the existence of God. If they're out there, He created them as well.
Didn't Jesus say, "Other sheep have I that are not of this flock?"
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post #7 of 17
5/17/08 at 8:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by coaster View Post
Ya, it's one of those that are hard to get started. But once you get involved in the characters and the intrigue, then it gets more interesting. I'm puzzled, though, why the three books are commonly called the "space trilogy" and why the artwork on the cover of the current edition on Amazon looks like lunar terrain. The book takes place on planet Earth. England, to be specific. Maybe the artist didn't finish the book either.
well, Perelandra takes place off-planet... maybe that's the only one the artist read!
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post #8 of 17
5/17/08 at 9:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by coaster View Post
. But, hey, I agree with him. I don't see intelligent life on other planets any challenge to the existence of God.
same here. No where does it say, this is the only place.
Besides i have this crazy idea i want startrek to be real
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post #9 of 17
5/17/08 at 9:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandtigress View Post
Don't you love how the media spins things? This is the opinion of one man in the patronage of the Vatican......not the official teaching of the Church. Seriously.
And where, in the teachings of the Church, does it say that there is no possibility of other worlds? BTW, I'm Catholic too.

Personally, I think it's great, because I think it's incredibly egocentrical to think that earth is the only thing God could create. Why just focus on Earth? Humans AREN'T the center of the universe, as much as we like to think we are.
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post #10 of 17
5/17/08 at 9:21pm
We're not even the centre of our own little tiny galaxy. The entire universe is a whole other story!
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post #11 of 17
5/17/08 at 10:11pm
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Originally Posted by calico2222 View Post
And where, in the teachings of the Church, does it say that there is no possibility of other worlds? BTW, I'm Catholic too.

Personally, I think it's great, because I think it's incredibly egocentrical to think that earth is the only thing God could create. Why just focus on Earth? Humans AREN'T the center of the universe, as much as we like to think we are.

Oh, I'm not saying that we should or shouldn't believe in aliens and other life. I'm just saying that this is not the opinion or official teaching of the entire Vatican, like the news is trying to make it out as. That's all.
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post #12 of 17
5/19/08 at 11:18am
Hmmm, wouldn't the aliens be doomed to hell though since they are probably not Christians?
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post #13 of 17
5/19/08 at 12:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl View Post
Hmmm, wouldn't the aliens be doomed to hell though since they are probably not Christians?
Actually, they probably wouldn't, since the Vatican has abandoned the idea of limbo.
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post #14 of 17
5/19/08 at 12:45pm
Well, limbo wouldn't have anything to do with it, I don't think. Limbo was a theological idea for what happened to babies if they died unbaptized, but without any commited sins of their own. Limbo, if it exists, would be a third place, other than Heaven or Hell, where one does not experience the complete joy that is Heaven, but neither does one suffer. Theologians who support the theory paint it as a place where one is as happy as humanly possible, but not as happy as is heavenly possible.

The Church never officially taught that Limbo does or does not exists - it was merely a popular theory.
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post #15 of 17
5/19/08 at 2:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl View Post
Hmmm, wouldn't the aliens be doomed to hell though since they are probably not Christians?
Well, not necessarily. Borrowing from C S Lewis (and my apologies) it's possible they may not have sinned yet, or maybe never will, or maybe Jesus was sent there to redeem them as well. Maybe Jesus cruises around the universe redeeming lost planets. Oh, man, that's getting a little bizarre!!
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post #16 of 17
5/19/08 at 5:30pm
earth is limbo. everyone here is really a alien
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post #17 of 17
5/19/08 at 6:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by theimp98 View Post
earth is limbo. everyone here is really a alien
I've been here for 400 years.

I sure hope I sleep better at night now that I know some priest says that it's okay to believe in us aliens.
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