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    This is my favorite news item this week
    Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 12:04 PM

    Via AP:

    Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.

    I will not offer any comments, but you feel free.

    7 Comments

      Joe Carter
      November 11th, 2009 | 1:11 pm | #1

      Not surprisingly, the press gets it wrong again. Galileo wasn’t locked up because he thought the earth was not the center of the universe, he was locked up for challenging a particular view of scripture.

      Anthony Mator
      November 11th, 2009 | 1:45 pm | #2

      I saw that headline. Immediately made me think that the Pope has been watching V. It also made me think that their conference isn’t going to do them any good, because I guarantee they did not invite Guillermo Gonzalez, the astrophysicist whose job was to tackle the question of extraterrestrial life before he lost his tenure on account of his belief in Intelligent Design.

      Coyle
      November 11th, 2009 | 4:58 pm | #3

      Question for Catholics: Would sentient alien life forms be expected to acknowledge the authority of the Magisterium in spiritual matters? Should we expect E.T. to phone Rome? :)
      Sorry, couldn’t resist…

      Anthony Mator
      November 11th, 2009 | 7:39 pm | #4

      Something about that word “Magisterium” reminds me of Trogdor the Burninator.

      Michael Dooley
      November 12th, 2009 | 8:18 am | #5

      C.S. Lewis tackled this issue long ago. He cautioned that other beings from other worlds could well not be under the curse of sin and therefore will not need Christ as their savior–at least as we sinful beings understand it. Beings from other worlds may well have a different, rebellionless relationship to the Lord.

      Ed Jordan
      November 12th, 2009 | 2:39 pm | #6

      I’m sure there are ways to reconcile erring aliens with our inerrant scriptures, but it seems to me that arriving at them requires the participation of theologians who know that God is sovereign over every living thing and not Darwinists who believe that life is accidental and meaningless.

      Timothy
      November 14th, 2009 | 7:56 pm | #7

      Kind of depends on the meaning of all in “all have sinned”. Many humans exempt babies and the mentally handicapped from “all”. Does all include ETs?

      Did the ancient human Adam screw up salvation for the entire universe or just for humans on earth and its future colonies?

      Do ETs have immortal souls made in God’s image?

      Has God lived among His ET creation?

      Do ETs possess inspired scripture equal in authority to the Bible? If so, so much for KJV only.

      Inquiring minds want to know…