Pop’s Page

The recent revival of the movie “ET” reminds us that prayer is a subset of communication with an extra-terrestrial. After all, the Lord taught us to pray: “Our Father, who art in HEAVEN.” While many scientists struggle hard to reject any supernaturalism despite—as Paul notes in Romans—the obvious fingerprint of God all over creation, they nevertheless are eager to find intelligent life in the universe, as long as it is not God Himself. A wonderful article surveying the current scene by the Christian journalist Fred Heeren can be found at http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0203/articles/heeren.html

Hereen notes that the argument made 50 years ago by the famous physicist, Enrico Fermi, is making a comeback. If the universe is really 10 or so billion years old, and there is an advanced civilization somewhere in our galaxy, and they can travel at one tenth the speed of light, then there has been plenty of time for them to colonize the entire galaxy. So where are they? Consistent with the missing aliens is the increasing scientific data that suggests that we are really alone in the universe. One argument even claims that the universe has to be as big as it is just so one single inhabitable planet could exist. Read Hereen’s article. You’ll find it “fascinating” (as another alien with elongated ears used to say.)

For Christians, the true ET is the Lord Himself, who is only a prayer away. So, we’re not alone after all!