Expert: Dean Gade - 12/9/2005

Question
Does the Bible comment on the possibility of intelligent life on other worlds?

If there is intelligent life on other worlds is Jesus going to each of these worlds to die to save those people(?) from their sins?

Or did God inspire the writers on these other worlds to write their Bible saying Jesus died for them on a planet called Earth?

(Or would God be ignoring other intelligent life?  It appears he ignored many people on this earth, such as the American Indians before Europeans brought Christianity to the Americas.)

If there is no intelligent life outside of the earth, why did God make such a large complex universe just for one tiny planet.  It would be comparable to making the earth only to care about one atom.

I'm sure there are not direct Bible answers to these questions, but I am interested in an expert's speculation of these matters.

Thanks

Steve  

Answer
No, the Bible doesn't comment on that possibility.  But, an arguement from silence is not a solid one.  God MAY HAVE created other intelligent beings on other planets.  

Who knows, they may have continued to honor and obey God unlike we human beings. They may not need a savior!

If that be true, then God  would most likely not let us meet them in this present creation...we might corrupt them.

When the Indians or any other groups that we might call remote, left the people of God and the truth of God, we don't know.  But somewhere along in their history they left the revealed knowledge of God from those to whom God gave that knowledge.

These remote people are not part of a separate creation. At one time they had the word of salvation.

Rom 10:13-18
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."   

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"   

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?"   17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

"THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH,THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD."
(from New International Version)


EVEN WITHOUT THE REVEALED KNOWLDEGE OF GOD(WHAT WE WOULD NOW CALL THE BIBLE) THE REALITY OF A GOD THAT SHOULD BE SOUGHT IS PLAIN IN THE CREATION ITSELF:

Rom 1:18-23

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
(from New International Version)

As you can see, there are some direct answers from the Bible as to the people of the earth.  But nothing about others on other planets.

A Christian author who wrote about this is C.S.Lewis. Sorry it has been so long since I read it that I can't remember which of his books it was.