Maybe I’m just slow on the uptake, but it suddenly ocurred to me this morning why so many secularists embrace the idea of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence and why so many Christians reject the notion. Speaking in strictly general terms, for the secularist, it is statistically impossible for mankind to be alone in the universe. I realized today that this idea is based upon the theory of evolution, and taking that as a premise, it is absolutely true that, statistically speaking, life would only have evolved in one location in the universe. Because this notion is founded so fundamentally upon evolutionary theory, Christians reject it out of hand, as we believe in all life being created, in an intelligent design to all things. (Now, of course, I have also heard the idea from both Christians and ‘religious secularists’ that God would not have wasted anything, and so therefore He must have created intelligent life elsewhere besides on Terra Firma.)

It is entirely possible that non-intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, and it is also possible that God created other intelligent life and simply found it unnecessary to reveal it to
Man. I do believe that Man is unique as the image-bearer of God (“Let us make Man in our image…”), so if other intelligent life exists elsewhere, I would tend to think that they would share a position similar to that of the angels — once fallen, forever fallen.

Personally, I tend to believe that Man is alone in the universe (so far as created intelligence goes) because I believe God intended Man to be unique, the only of His creations to bear His image. The Genesis account does not mention life being created anywhere but on Earth. Additionally, Christ came to Earth to pay the price for sin, and not elsewhere, which further leads me to believe that Man is unique. I believe that the rest of the universe was created for His, and our, pleasure and enjoyment, to demonstrate His power, and to draw His image-bearers to Himself.

I won’t die defending this position, nor will I get angry if I am proven wrong. It is simply my opinion based on what little knowledge I possess.

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