Another question I was asked by a reader is, How should Christians respond to theories of UFOs and other unexplainable phenomena? People around the world have seen and experienced something. But what is the something? How can a Christian respond to these reports when conversing with others, particularly those who are not Christians?
I haven’t publicly told my story of alien abduction in the past, but I’ll tell it right now. No, I’m kidding. It really hasn’t happened to me, but I believe the best way to approach this subject is to think in terms of the fact that God can do anything He wants to do. God could create creatures on other planets—and maybe He already has, I don’t know.
I’m familiar with the logic that says “This universe is so big there must be other intelligent beings out there,” but this is a completely secular evolutionary viewpoint. God created the universe to be as vast as it is, and it didn’t take Him any more effort to create a universe of this size than it would have to create a smaller universe. It required more creativity, but God is infinitely creative. The logic that claims there are so many planets that some of them must be inhabited is not valid logic.
The other side of this subject is that God has not revealed to us everything He has done. He could easily have created beings in other worlds and simply not told us. The Bible tells us about our world and God’s unfolding drama of redemption. Certainly we know if God created other creatures in some corner of the galaxy that were intelligent and sinned, Christ would not be re-crucified for them. The redemption purchased by his death and resurrection will redeem every inch of the entire universe.
Meanwhile, people ask the question, “What about supposed occurrences where people have seen or experienced aliens or UFOs?” I think many UFO sightings are simply matters of people not knowing what actually happened. I remember one time Nanci and I saw something unusual, and to this day we don’t know what it was. Perhaps it was some kind of Air Force plane with the ability to be a hover craft. Do we really think it was aliens? No.
Other times, I think we need to be reminded the Bible teaches there is an invisible world, and there are both righteous and unrighteous angelic beings. Is it possible for someone to see something that is paranormal—that is, supernatural? Could there be either a demon or a righteous angel involved? I think the answer is yes, it could be. There is simply no way to know without looking at the specific situation.
My mother, who was an extremely credible person, told me a story one time that was difficult and troubling to her. When she was a young woman, she and her friend saw a plane crash miles from where they were, but close enough that they saw the whole thing happen.
She and her friend—and they could not explain it—literally heard the pilot speaking as he was going down. They checked with each other, and both of them heard the exact same words. There is no possible way this could have been projected through any means—there was no natural explanation for it, yet they experienced it. Do I believe that happened? Yes, even though it may be scientifically impossible, meaning we don’t know how to explain it through scientific means.
Do paranormal things happen to people? Yes, they do sometimes. Is it sometimes demons? Is it sometimes righteous angels? Probably. Is it sometimes because people are on drugs? Or on medication? Is it sometimes a dream? Someone’s imagination? “Yes” is the answer to all these things.
Yet in the end, if it were announced there was a discovery that there were aliens in some corner of the universe who made contact with us, would it in any way undermine my faith in God’s Word? No, it would not. I would just think, Oh, apparently God did not tell us in His Word.
In the ages to come, in the New Heavens and the New Earth, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the infinitely creative God did not go right on creating beings in other worlds. They wouldn’t necessarily be beings created in God’s image, and they wouldn’t necessarily be like us. They could be more intelligent, communicative animals. Who knows? God is capable of doing any of that, and I think we should not restrict our imaginations in this area. What we should do is be careful to guard our imaginations and test everything by God’s Word.
