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Isaiah 45:18-For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
For the last few weeks, there has been a lot of hype about a comet that has been streaking through our solar system from somewhere beyond. A lot of people are convinced (others terrified) that it is actually an alien spaceship, come to invade Earth. In fact, many believe that the comet is a return of Anunnaki (see my article here for a brief discussion the Anunnaki, https://marktabata.com/2024/04/10/what-about-the-anunnaki/ ). When I ministered in Hazard, Kentucky, several people we were blessed to work with had exchanged belief in God for belief in extraterrestrials. It is technically called panspermia, which is the idea that life on Earth was seeded from comets or asteroids or extraterrestrials. .
Now, some in churches of Christ that I know refuse to talk about these things: but the statistics are clear on why need to be addressing them very seriously.
“Some Christians believe we’re wasting time on UFOs that’s better spent preaching the gospel. We’ve been criticized by some for helping to spread the ET meme. With all due respect, it’s time to wake up and smell the ozone. That ship has sailed. It’s simple math: A third of America’s adult population—about eighty-one million people—believe ET has been phoning home from a domestic area code, and only 10 percent of us—about twenty-four million—believe in God as He is described in His book. In other words, doctrinally sound, Bible-believing Christians are outnumbered in America by ET believers three to one.” (Derek P. Gilbert & Josh Peck, The Day the Earth Stands Still: Unmasking the Old Gods Behind ETs, UFOs, and the Official Disclosure Movement, 16-17 (Kindle Edition); Crane, MO; Defender)
So, should we be concerned with 3I/Atlas?
Let’S study.
First, it should be pointed out that the current mindset regarding God and the existence of aliens is nothing new. Our Mormon friends have been saying for decades that God is an alien. Listen to what Brigham Young (a leader in Mormonism) said on April 9, 1852, under the sermon titled, Self-Government-Mysteries-Recreation And Amusement, Not In Themselves Sinful-Tithing-Adam, Our Father And Our God (yes, you read that correctly, M.T.):
“When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is michael, the archangel, the ancient of days! About whom holy men have written and spoken-he is our father and our god, and the only god with whom we have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later. They came here, organized the raw material, and arranged in their order the herbs of the field, the trees, the apple, the peach, the plum, the pear, and every other fruit that is desirable and good for man; the seed was brought from another sphere, and planted in this earth…. What a learned idea! Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven.” (Erastus Snow, Orson Hyde, et al. The Complete Journal of Discourses – Deluxe LDS Reference Edition – with Comprehensive TOPICAL Guide, Multiple Indexes, Speaker Biographies, & Over 12,500 Links, 1490-1509 (Kindle Edition)
More recently, another Mormon scholar has written:
“It is equally clear from the teachings of latter-day prophets, that Eloheim, our Father, was once a mortal being working out his salvation upon another earth in subjection to his Father. Joseph Smith taught: It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that… he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the father of us all, dwelt on an earth. 2 President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “Our Father in Heaven, according to the Prophet, had a Father, and since there has been a condition of this kind through all eternity, each Father had a Father.” 3 Brigham Young explained that “there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are now passing through.” 4 Surely, these divine progenitors of Eloheim are deities in their own right, with worlds, powers, kingdoms, and creations of their own. None of which could have been created by Eloheim or Jehovah.” (Lynn M. Hilton, The Kolob Theorem, a Mormon’s View of God’s Starry Universe, 384-400 (Kindle Edition); Orem, Utah; Granite Publishing and Distribution, LLD)
(For more on Mormonism and their view of God, please see my article here https://marktabata.com/2023/06/13/do-christians-and-mormons-worship-the-same-god-2/#more-3026)
Second, the problem with an alien god doesn’t answer the subject of whether or not God exists. All this does is push the question of God’s existence further back. Put another way: if aliens exist, where did they come from? Saying God is an alien just makes Him part of the created universe. No matter how far back you push the envelope, you have to get back to the eternal God to account for the created universe. You cannot have the created without the Creator.
Third, science is actually pretty clear about the existence of aliens. Listen: I’m a big Star Trek fan. In fact, I have been one my whole life! (Just between us, I am partial to Star Trek: Voyager). But that stuff is science fiction, not scientific fact. We are living in a world where a lot of people are having a difficult time telling the difference between the two. The findings of science are pretty clear that there aren’t aliens out there. Listen to the words of a NASA scientist:
“So, could it be possible that intelligent extraterrestrial beings are sending UFOs to Earth? As discussed in chapter 7, the number of conditions necessary for life in any particular star-planet system, combined with the amount of time and complex processes involved in producing intelligent life, as well as the limited time frame that a planet remains habitable, make it extremely unlikely to find another planet in the universe capable of sustaining intelligent life. Especially during the same time frame that life exists on Earth. In fact, by some estimations, a person is more likely to win the California state lottery more than five thousand times in a row than we are apt to discover another life-friendly planet. In addition, there are several problems with the idea that UFOs might be coming from distant planets.” (Leslie Wickman, Ph.D., God Of The Big Bang: How Modern Science Affirms The Creator, 1428-433 (Kindle Edition); Brentwood, TN; Worthy Books).
Again, hear the testimony of cosmologist Peter Strauss in his interview with Lee Strobel:
“These extraordinary cosmic “coincidences” have not escaped secular scientists. “There is, for me, powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all,” said Paul Davies, a professor of physics at Arizona State University. “It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the universe . . . The impression of design is overwhelming.” 7 British cosmologist Edward R. Harrison doesn’t hesitate to draw conclusions from the universe’s razor-sharp calibration. “Here is the cosmological proof of the existence of God,” he said flatly. “The fine-tuning of the universe provides prima facie evidence of deistic design.” 8 And Strauss wasn’t done yet. “Not only is our universe precisely calibrated to a breathtaking degree, but our planet is also remarkably and fortuitously situated so life would be possible.” “In what way?” I asked. “To have a planet like ours where life exists, first you need to be in the right kind of galaxy. There are three types of galaxies: elliptical, spiral, and irregular. You need to be in a spiral galaxy, like we are, because it’s the only kind that produces the right heavy elements and has the right radiation levels. “But you can’t live just anywhere in the galaxy,” he continued. “If you’re too close to the center, there’s too much radiation and there’s also a black hole, which you want to avoid. If you’re too far from the center, you won’t have the right heavy elements; you’d lack the oxygen and carbon you’d need. You have to live in the so-called ‘Goldilocks Zone,’ or the galactic habitable zone, where life could exist.” “Are you referring to intelligent life?” I asked. “Anything more complex than bacteria,” he said. Then he continued, “To have life, you need a star like our sun. Our sun is a Class G star that has supported stable planet orbits in the right location for a long time. The star must be in its middle age, so its luminosity is stabilized. It has to be a bachelor star—many stars in the universe are binary, which means two stars orbiting each other, which is bad for stable planetary orbits. Plus, the star should be a third-generation star, like our sun.”…Strauss paused, but I could tell he wasn’t done yet. “There are so many parameters that have to be just right for our planet to support life,” he said. “The distance from the sun, the rotation rate, the amount of water, the tilt, the right size so gravity lets gases like methane escape but allows oxygen to stay. “You need a moon like ours—it’s very rare to have just one large moon—in order to stabilize Earth’s tilt. As counterintuitive as it sounds, you even need to have tectonic activity, which experts said could be ‘the central requirement for life on a planet.’ 9 Plate tectonics drives biodiversity, helps avoid a water world without continents, and helps generate the magnetic field. Also, it’s nice to have a huge planet like Jupiter nearby to act like a vacuum cleaner by attracting potentially devastating comets and meteors away from you.” “Periodically, newspapers tout the discovery of what astronomers call an ‘Earth-like planet,’” I said. “Yes, but generally all they mean is that it has a similar size as Earth or that it might be positioned to allow surface water. But there’s so much more to Earth than those two factors.” “How many conditions have to be met to create an Earth-like planet?” I asked. “Hugh Ross sets the number at 322,” he replied. 10 “So if you run probability calculations, you find that there’s a 10-304 chance you’re going to find another planet that’s truly like Earth.” “Still, there are lots of potential candidates out there,” I pointed out. “One estimate is there could be more than a billion trillion planets.” “Granted,” he said. “So let’s factor that number into our probability equation. That still means the odds of having any higher life–supporting planet would be one in a million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion.” He let that astonishing number sink in. “In science,” he said, “we have a phrase for probabilities like that.” “Really? What is it?” There came a grin. “Ain’t gonna happen.”” (Lee Strobel, The Case For Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence For The Supernatural, 178-181 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan)
Notice how proper evaluation of the evidence of the universe not only leads away from the existence of extraterrestrial aliens, but also undeniably shows us that there is an eternal Creator Who made all things!
Fourth, I am not concerned about aliens from other planets and comets traveling through our solar system because God’s proven and inspired Word informs us as to why He made the stars and other heavenly bodies, and also why He made the Earth. The stars and heavenly bodies were made to bear testimony to the Lord’s greatness in showing signs and seasons (Genesis 1:14-15; Psalm 19:1-5), and the Earth was made to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18).
Now, are there demonic forces that will try to undermine people’s faith in God by pretending to be aliens and attacking the Bible? Of course (John 8:44; 1 Timothy 4:1-5)! But we don’t need to be deceived (John 8:32). (For more study on this subject, see my article here https://marktabata.com/2024/10/31/are-there-reasons-to-believe-that-the-modern-ufo-phenomena-could-be-demonic/)
What to take away from all these things?
First, 3I/Atlas is a remarkable testimony to the greatness of the universe in which we live, which testifies to the greatness of the God Who created all things. Let us enjoy the wonders of creation, and then enjoy and gratefully worship the eternally wonderful Creator, the great I AM, the Uncaused First Cause, Who has fashioned it all!
Second, reach out with the truth of God to those who have been deceived by the panspermia deception. Christians, we have to be willing to openly discuss these things with our friends and neighbors. That is part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-29; 1 Peter 3:15). They need to know that we can discuss these matters rationally without being rejected or ridiculed.
Finally, rest your confidence in Jesus. He is our Hope and our Anchor in the time of storm, and we will not be moved!
Hebrews 6:19-20-This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Father, we praise You for Your wondrous creation in which we reside. Thank You for Your goodness and Your wisdom. Help us to trust and rest in You, and to point people to Your Word so that they also may be redeemed. Enable us to see the deceitfulness of Satan and his lies. In Christ Jesus Name we pray, Amen.