UFOs and the Christian Worldview

I came across the following link from an online acquaintance, the guy who
runs Marcher Lord press, an up-and-coming site specializing in finding and
publishing Christian Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Let me frank - I didn't care for the recent revival of the Sci-Fi classic, *
V*. However, if we have a God-shaped hole in our hearts, and the evil one
specializes in using smoke-and-mirrors to ape God's miracles and pull
attention away from God wherever possible, it stands to reason that
something like this could very well be the form that part of the End Times
turmoil may take. But the evil one is a phony. While the Moon is a bright
extraterrestrial light in the night sky a certain number of nights per
month, it is itself just a dead ball that reflects the light of another
living source.

Anyway, I found this to be a compelling and rational read, and it's worth
boning up on this stuff now against a possible appearance by what appear to
be bona fide aliens.

http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm

UFOs and the Christian Worldview

Most Christians don't think about UFOs.

Except for catching the occasional episode of *X-Files* or maybe watching
the latest *Independence Day* wannabe, the topic of extraterrestrial life
simply never comes up. If a Christian ever does think about alien
intelligence, he usually believes it's all a bunch of hooey, nothing more
than a product of the lunatic fringe. "Addicts take their drugs and, poof,
they see flying saucers—right next to flying skillets, flying Volkswagens,
and flying walruses."

This is what I thought, too, before I started this study.

I have to admit to a certain fascination with the subject. I've always loved
science fiction, so the idea of extraterrestrial civilizations has been with
me for decades. I watched every quasi-documentary on the subject I could. I
became acquainted with subjects like alien abductions, cattle mutilations,
crop circles, crashed or captured alien vessels, government studies, alien
autopsies, the supposed hybridization program, and men in black.

The video footage in some of these documentaries was astonishing. Even
allowing for a high percentage of forgeries, there were some amazing
examples that could not be explained. After watching a particularly
convincing UFO special on The Learning Channel, I decided it was time to
take a serious look at the subject.

You have to understand something about me: I'm a researcher. I love
learning. I'm also a seminary graduate. I hold the Master of Divinity degree
from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. So when I decide to research
a subject like this, I plunge into it with both flippers—all with the
purpose of integrating it into the Christian worldview.

Before I read a single UFO book, I wanted to settle some things in my mind.
What would happen if there came undeniable, absolutely certain evidence of
extraterrestrial life? Would my faith be able to handle it, or was my
Christianity too brittle to accept it? In other words, would I be obliged,
by my own inability to face this new data, into denying it completely? Would
I be in the same group as those who say the earth is flat?

I asked myself if I believed God could create intelligent life on other
planets if He wanted to. I asked myself what it would mean to my faith, if
anything, if that were the case. I asked myself whether other intelligent
species, if there were any, would have to come to faith in Jesus Christ or
if God would have supplied them another way.

I asked myself whether the pillar of cloud and the pillar fire in the Bible
were really UFOs, whether Elijah's chariot of fire were really a flying
saucer, and if Paul's trip into the third heaven were really an abduction
experience.

I asked the hardest questions, too. What if God were merely a
superintelligent alien? What if we are just his simulation on some cosmic
supercomputer? What if mankind is not the unique creature, the pinnacle of
God's creation, that the Bible teaches we are?

I came to some faith conclusions, the chief of which was that I decided
outright that I was going to come out on the other side of this study with
the same God I came into it with. I wasn't interested in dropping Jesus or
making Him into a spaceman. I knew that my God was the holder of the
universe, so anything that made its way across that universe would have to
be under the umbrella of His sovereignty. With that settled, I opened the
UFO literature.

For the record, I do believe God could create intelligent life on other
planets, but I don't believe He's done so. If there were any intelligent
extraterrestrial species, it wouldn't impact Christianity's validity in the
slightest. Our belief system would not come crashing down like a house of
cards. Our mission field would expand, but Christianity itself would never
be replaced as the answer.

I believe all alien species, should there be any, would have to come to
Jesus Christ to be saved. It's just an extension of what we already believe:
that an obscure carpenter from a poor family in an insignificant region of a
backwater outpost of the Roman empire holds the key to eternal life. How
much more difficult is it to extend that to say that the One who holds the
key to eternity is from a no-name planet circling a forgotten star on the
edge of an unimportant galaxy?

I don't believe the Bible depicts UFOs in any way, shape, or form. There is
no reason to believe the angels and miracles in Scripture are anything but
what they claim to be: supernatural agents and works of God. As this paper
will argue, I do think UFOs have something to do with angels, but not the
angels that inhabit heaven.

I don't believe God is just a super-alien who created us on his PC for a
school project. God is eternal, holy, and unchanging. I believe in the God
of the Bible, the God who made man His crowning creation.

All right, enough introduction. I'll sum up my position in one sentence: I
believe the UFO phenomenon is 100% demonic. I believe it is a real
phenomenon, not just the ravings of crack addicts and lonesome country
hicks. I believe UFOs are real, aliens are real, abductions and animal
mutilations are real, and that governments (especially the American
government) maintain relations with these beings. But I believe the whole
thing is demonic.

The "aliens" message can be convincing, though. As I studied it, I felt its
pull. Even with my MDiv and all my years of living the Christian life, I
could still feel the tug of doubt, like someone pulling hairs on my arm. *What
if? *The scary thing is that if it could be that troubling to me, how would
it sound to someone with little or no Christian mooring? Indeed, I believe
this is the Great Deception that is going to come upon man. It will be so
compelling, so reasonable, so consistent with modern sensibilities, that
people will ascribe to it by the billions. Even the very Elect will be
deceived, if it were possible.

So I offer this document in defiance of that deception. My aim is to inform
those Christians who desire to integrate the UFO phenomenon into the
Christian worldview of what I've discovered in my investigation. If I'm
wrong, no biggie. If I'm right, you will have been given the truth in time,
God willing, for it to make a difference.

It is worth noting at the outset that many Christian leaders and groups
consider aliens to be demonic: Hank Hanegraaff (Christian Research
Institute's "Bible Answer Man"), cult watchdogs Watchman Fellowship, and
authors Chuck Missler, Dale Sumbreru, William R. Goetz, and Dr. Mark Eastman
among them.

I also find it interesting that several non-Christian sources have concluded
that UFOs are demonic. A former Chief of British Defense Staff, Admiral of
the Fleet Lord Hill-Norton, says some UFO encounters are "definitely
antithetical to orthodox Christian belief." Gordon Creighton, a Buddhist and
editor of *Flying Saucer Review, *has said, "I do believe that the great
bulk of these phenomena are what is called satanic."

Such explanations are uniformly denounced by the greater UFO community as
too nice and easy. The article in which Hill-Norton and Creighton are quoted
(which can be found in the News Archives section of the web site,
www.mufon.com <http://www.mufon.org/>) received a firestorm of opposition
from secular readers. The primary criticism of the aliens-are-demons theory
is that it is, to some, too nice and neat. The very essence of UFOs, they
say, is that they are unexplained—by which they mean *unexplainable.* But
what if an explanation could be found? Should it be rejected *a priori?*

I myself set out on this study intending to disprove "the demon theory" as
naiève. I remember sending e-mail to a former professor, informing him I was
embarking on this investigation. I told him I wanted to study it seriously
and not accept the simple answer I had heard: that aliens were nothing but
demons in disguise. The things we say...

I read dozens of secular books on UFOs. I read Christian books on the
subject. I watched programs and read articles. I scoured the Internet. I
exchanged ideas with UFO researchers around the world. As I studied, I found
certain arguments ringing true, making more sense than others, explaining
more of the phenomena. That is the purpose of investigation, is it not?

After I had surveyed the evidence and heard the arguments, I had to
reconsider my views. I could no longer assert that "the demon theory" was
irrational. After all, wouldn't it be just as closed-minded to reject the
demon theory out of hand as it would be to accept it without investigation?
And what if, for once, the most obvious answer—nice and neat though it
be—were actually the truth? It is my hope that after you read the arguments
below, you will be willing to reconsider your views, too.

Note: In this document I sometimes express amusement over the claims of
these "aliens" or their disciples. Sometimes I say I "like" or "love" this
or that. It doesn't mean that I truly approve of these ridiculous
assertions, but simply that I am entertained by their bald-faced audacity. I
think God laughs at them, too.

*List of Arguments*

Argument #1: Walk-the-walk Christians are never
abducted<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%201>

Argument #2: Calling on the name of Jesus stops abductions in
progress<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%202>

Argument #3: The link between UFO activity and the occult
<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%203>

Argument #4: The psychological nature of alien encounters
<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%204>

Argument #5: The religious nature of the aliens' message
<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%205>

Argument #6: The fiendish character of alien and UFO behavior
<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%206>

Argument #7: The interdimensional nature of UFOs and aliens
<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%207>

Argument #8: The focus, in abductions, on extracting terror
<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Argument%208>

Other arguments and
observations<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Other%20arguments%20and%20observations>

The Alien Message<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#The%20Alien%20Message>

Conclusion: What Can You
Do?<http://jeffersonscott.com/nonfiction/ufos.htm#Conclusion>


Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |

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