How Would Life on Other Planets Impact Christianity?

What would happen if we discovered actual proof that there was life in other planets? Such a discovery would revolutionize many areas of study, but how would it affect religion, specifically Christianity?

How would the Church react?

If something like this happened, there would likely be a wide range of responses from different corners of the Church. Some churches would celebrate the discovery and see it as an exciting moment in our history.

There would be other people that would deny that such a discovery actually took place. If people can deny moon landings, which took place during my lifetime, then people could deny this. Not matter what the evidence, it can always be claimed to be faked.

Others might believe something was encountered but would see it as being a discovery of demons rather than aliens. There are already Christians who see UFO sightings as being an encounter with the demonic. They would warn people against believing the scientific narrative.

Would Christians lose their faith?

Since people have given up on Christianity for much less than the discover of life on other planets, there probably would mean that some would give up on Christianity. Some people have been taught such a narrow view of Christianity that they cannot pivot with new discoveries.

But there is nothin inherent about alien life that would require abandoning Christianity. The Bible does not speculate on life on other planets and so it does not require a denial of life on other planets.

The biggest challenge might be to views of creation and evolution. In some ways it would be easier to include a discovery of intelligent life. But the discovery of very primitive life forms could provide evidence for evolution, which could shake some people’s faith.

Is there life on other planets?

I have no idea. One estimate is that there are 100 sextillion planets in the universe. While it is possible that only one planet in 100 sextillion planets has life, that seems unlikely.

However, I am also skeptical when I hear scientists say that a newly discovered planet probably has life because it is in the Goldilocks zone, where there can be liquid water. I really doubt that all you need is liquid water for life to emerge.

I also am skeptical about either discovering life on other planets and especially meeting alien life forms. The distances between solar systems are so vast that interstellar travel is not practical. I would love to see the technology develop that we see in science fiction but I am not confident.

So I suspect there is some sort of life on other planets, whether intelligent or not, but I don’t expect to see proof. But even if we did, I would not have my faith wrecked with that discovery. There is plenty of room in my faith for a wider understanding of the universe.

By the way, if you want to reflect more on this, I recommend The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis. (Amazon affiliate link)