Epigraph:
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord and Sustainer of all the worlds. (Al Quran 1:2)
The Muslim Times’ has chosen a new heading for this article, from the Huffington Post and chosen this picture
Vatican Scientist Thinks Aliens May Exist — But Not An Alien Jesus
Source: Huffington Post
By Carol Kuruvilla;
There’s only room for one Jesus in this universe, the Vatican Observatory director says.
NASA scientists are getting closer to determining whether there is life on other planets — and the enthusiasm about aliens has spread to the Vatican.
Nasa’s Kepler mission announced last month that it had discovered an Earth-like planet in a solar system light years away that may have all the conditions necessary for the existence of intelligent beings.
News about the planet, which NASA is calling Kepler-452b, has “thrilled” researchers at the Vatican Observatory, a branch of the papacy that has been studying the stars since 1582, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Rev. José Gabriel Funes, an astronomer who directs the observatory, said he’s open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life and has been for quite some time. Funes finds no contradiction between Catholic theology and the belief in aliens. He has said in the past that humans shouldn’t put limits on God’s creative freedom.
However, Funes draws the line at the idea of an alien Jesus.
“The discovery of intelligent life does not mean there’s another Jesus,” Funes told AFP. “The incarnation of the son of God is a unique event in the history of humanity, of the universe.”
Funes said he also doubts whether humans will “ever meet a Mr. Spock.”
Funes is likely right about that. Kepler-452b is 1,400 light years from Earth. According to NBC, it would take a space probe constructed with with current technology about 28 million years to reach the planet.
The Catholic Church hasn’t shied away from confronting theories about extraterrestrial life. According to The Independent, the Vatican uses the example of the early Christians baptizing gentiles as an example of how the church would treat aliens.
Pope Francis last year took up the subject himself, saying that he’d baptize Martians, if they were willing.
If — for example — tomorrow an expedition of Martians came, and some of them came to us, here… Martians, right? Green, with that long nose and big ears, just like children paint them… And one says, “But I want to be baptized!” What would happen? . . .Who are we to close doors?
Guy Consolmagno, the president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, said he often gets emails from the public about aliens. He’s co-author of the book, Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? which seeks to answer questions about the intersection of religion and science.
Consolmagno said he’s convinced that it’s only a matter of time before humans discover life on other planets — or that aliens discover us and our world of pain, injustice and disease.
There is hope, Consolmango told the Catholic News Service, that “any race advanced enough to cross the stars to visit us must also be advanced enough to show us how to overcome all those human ills.”
The Muslim Times’ Chief Editor’s Comments
Discovery of alien life would be a powerful reminder to us that we should not try to limit or define, God the Father in terms of human experience on our planet earth.
I believe discovery of alien life would be another chance to challenge the Christian dogma about Jesus’ divinity.
My comments about the obsession of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters with Jesus are none other than what the visionary and one of the Founding Fathers of USA, Thomas Payne wrote, more than two centuries ago, in his book Age of Reason:
From the time I was capable of conceiving an idea, and acting upon it by reflection, I either doubted the truth of the Christian system, or thought it to be a strange affair; I scarcely knew which it was: but I well remember, when about seven or eight years of age, hearing a sermon read by a relation of mine, who was a great devotee of the church, upon the subject of what is called Redemption by the death of the Son of God. After the sermon was ended, I went into the garden, and as I was going down the garden steps (for I perfectly recollect the spot) I revolted at the recollection of what I had heard, and thought to myself that it was making God Almighty act like a passionate man, that killed his son, when he could not revenge himself any other way; and as I was sure a man would be hanged that did such a thing, I could not see for what purpose they preached such sermons. This was not one of those kind of thoughts that had anything in it of childish levity; it was to me a serious reflection, arising from the idea I had that God was too good to do such an action, and also too almighty to be under any necessity of doing it. I believe in the same manner to this moment; and I moreover believe, that any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be a true system.
There being only one Jesus was once used as an argument for earth not being a sphere, for it was stated on Catholic authority that Jesus could not die twice, once for people on our side of the earth and once on the other side.
To me all this suggests a mere obsession with the person of Jesus of Nazareth, may peace be on him, at the total expense of our rationality and reasonability. Let me quote Andrew Dickson White, the Founding President of Cornell University:
Ref: A History of the Warfare of Science With Theology in Christendom