Dear Anonymous,

There is no contradiction between the existence of extraterrestrial life, even intelligent life, and the Christian faith. Perhaps some interesting questions would be raised in that case, but there are no fundamental problems.

There's not a lot to respond to until we actually encounter such beings and confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt (rather than grainy images of faint lights or so forth) that they exist.

It's entirely possible, by the way, that what we see are demonic deceptions. Some of these
aliens have come down and spouted suspicious philosophy that contradicts the truth we know. The Scriptures say, Satan can appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), so this is possible.

To those who believe in them and cast down God, I'd say that there is no contradiction between believing in God and Christianity and acknowledging the existence of intelligent alien life forms, and if they think there is a contradiction, they need to explain why and defend their assertion.

Concerning aliens who bring beliefs that contradict Christianity, they very well could be demonic deceptions or just aliens that don't know the truth.

Eric

Hi, Anonymous —

I just wanted to add to what my colleague Eric has said.

On this week's edition of Rome Reports: The World as seen from the Vatican, on EWTN, the show had a piece on the exact topic of your question.

I'll let the You Tube video speak for itself.

Science and faith: a dialogue on finding life on other planets - November 12, 2009

Hope this helps,

Mike
[Related Posting]

Anonymous,

Man is defined as a rational animal. Any alien that is rational and has a body qualifies as man, and is redeemed by Christ.

If there are aliens, they are included in the cosmic plan of redemption by Christ, who is the pattern and end of the whole universe, not just of the Earth, so the Catholic Church has no problems with the possible existence of aliens.

Mary Ann