Alien Intrusion
Page 46
Jeremiah must have been baffled by what God was saying. In his day, prior to the advent of the telescope, the stars could certainly be counted. Recent astronomical discoveries have confirmed that indeed the number of stars in the universe is effectively countless, and can well be equated with the innumerable grains of sand on the world’s seashores.
Such discoveries not only confirm the accuracy of the Bible, they serve to increase our awe and wonder at this enormous and incredible universe. There are literally dozens of Bible verses that refer to the heavens and the stars, and which claim that these give glory to God their creator. Sadly, modern evolutionary cosmology has sought to rob God of the credit that is his due.
Right there in that ancient book — the Bible — God, who is eternal, all-knowing, and all-powerful, is the “super-intelligence” that relayed information to the mortal authors. This information did not come from advanced aliens. How could any supposed extraterrestrials predict the future? God’s promises to Abraham were about the future and Abraham’s descendants, all of which are true and are still being fulfilled today.[17]
In man’s naturalistic thinking, the bigger the universe seems to be, the less likely it is that God may have created it. However, what is the “right size” in man’s thinking, particularly when we haven’t even traveled outside of our own solar system? How would we know? If we are honest, we know very little about the universe at all. In fact, the more we seem to discover, the stranger it appears to be. If the universe was a much smaller size — something that man could comprehend — then, conversely, man would likely say, “God’s not that great, is he?”
Many people question why the universe is so big. Why are there so many billions of galaxies, containing countless stars, and most of them we cannot even see? But shouldn’t that serve to increase our awe and wonder at God’s creative power, the more we discover? And although the universe is incomprehensibly and impressively large, nothing is big to him. In fact, stars are rather simple structures — they have been described as glowing balls of gas. In a thousand galaxies, each containing thousands of stars, there is less structural complexity than in the DNA of a simple organism. For example, it would require more creative input to create the organic structure of even a dead fish than it would to create countless quasars. This is exactly what Jesus did when he miraculously fed five thousand people with a few loaves and fishes, thus demonstrating his creative power. This was miraculous in Jesus’ day, but it seems even more incredible today due to our modern discoveries and understanding of DNA.
Christian theologian John Whitcomb wrote:
“It must be recognized that … it required no more exertion of energy for God to create a trillion galaxies than to create one planet.”[18]
Isaiah 40:28 says:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”
In short, we can see that the universe is the result of incredible design. If God is the designer then the universe he created displays his attributes. His omnipotence and his omniscience are visible (the heavens do indeed declare the glory of God, as the Psalmist remind us), and when we look at it we are reminded of him (and not led to speculate on what else could be “out there”). God tells us over and over in the Bible that he created an enormous universe through analogous expressions like the ones he made to Abraham earlier about stars.
As human beings we often try to judge the size and the reasons behind the universe with our own limited understanding. However, we are inhibited by our understanding of the time and space in which we exist — that is, the universe which God actually created. This is our only frame of reference. For example, how big is God? Before the universe was created there was no physical realm; no matter (atoms) or space to measure anything by. God was, and is, outside of this realm but he has created it.
Logically, the universe is not big to God. After all he’s the one who made it. Size is only relative to us as inhabitants of this universe. And size and time are related somewhat. Because the universe is big to us we consider how long it would take us to travel across it, for example. But God is “outside” of the dimensions that he created (the universe), thus he is not bound by it.
So size is not an issue for God. He exists in eternity where there is no time and space, yet at the same time, is present everywhere within it. The universe is not big for God, or compared to God— it is, in fact, futile to try to compare the two, as they are incomparable.
Many sympathetic to the notion of extraterrestrials widely inhabiting the universe often criticize Christians, believing them to be arrogant for presuming that we might be the only inhabitants of this vast universe. But this is actually a form of presumptive arrogance on the part of the accuser, thinking that if we humans had made the universe we would have filled it with other life forms. It assumes that God would do things our way. He doesn’t, and he states this in Isaiah 55:9:
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Perhaps his interest in and love for us are made all the more profound by our tinyness and uniqueness in an immense though otherwise uninhabited universe. Perhaps he’s showing us that size and distance and space and matter, regardless of their vastness, are insignificant compared to the worth of a human soul.[19] God put stars in the heavens, not only for his glory, but, incredibly, for mankind whom he loves. Genesis 1:14 states:
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”
For hundreds of years, the reliable signs in the sky have proved invaluable for man. In all of his awesome wonder, God loves his creation; fallen though it is and ruined by sin, he loves you and me. He knows the names of all of the stars, and yours and mine, too!
“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (Psalms 147:4).
The Scriptures say:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:3–9).
Endnotes
[1] Has held academic posts at the universities of Cambridge, London, Newcastle upon Tyne in England; University of Adelaide and was formerly professor of natural philosophy in the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. At the time of printing he is a professor at Arizona State University.
[2]Radio interview cited in R. Stannard, Science and Wonders: Conversations About Science and Belief (London: Faber & Faber Limited, 2002), p. 45, cited in TJ (now Journal of Creation) 16(2): 52, 2002.
[3]Based on a study by Messianic Jewish writer Bill Bockleman, “Who are the ‘sons of God’ of Genesis 6?” April 2000.
[4]Henry Morris, The Genesis Record (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), p. 164–175.
[5]So say Targum of Onkelos,Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, Kimchi, Rashi, Jerome, Maimonides and the Commentary on the Mishnah according to “Return of the Aliens? As the Days of Noah Were,”
[6]“Mischievous Angels or Sethites?”
[7]“The Sons of God,”
[8]Based on Bockleman, “Who are the ‘sons of God’ of Genesis 6?”
[9]For example, Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, book 1, ch.
3; Philo of Alexandria (1st century a.d.), The Works of Philo, p. 152; The Book of Jubilees, ch.5, vs. 1; The Ante-Nicene Fathers “Justin Martyr — 2nd Century,” vol.1, p. 363, “The Instructions of Commodianus — 3rd Century,” vol. 4, p. 435.
[10]A collection of 14 books written after the last book of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and before the first book of the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). It is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church as part of the inspired canon of the Bible, but is rejected by most Protestant denominations. Source:
[11]They were included in the Bible of the early church — the Vulgate. Protestants removed them at the Reformation on the grounds that they were not in the Hebrew Canon, only in the Greek Septuagint.
[12] Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1986).
[13]William T. Alnor, UFOs in the New Age (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1992), p. 29–30.
[14]“If God created the universe, then who created God?”
[15]“The gospel in Time and Space,”
[16]The concepts of Flatland, event horizons, and extra dimensions come from a 1987 book, The Scientific Alternative to Neo-Darwinian Theory, by the brilliant creation scientist, the late professor, Dr. A.E. Wilder-Smith. He had three earned doctorates and was a master of seven languages. The notion of Flatland was first promoted in an 1884 book by Edwin Abbott, called Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.
[17] God later sent Jesus Christ (the Creator made flesh, one of Abraham’s lineage) as atonement for sin, to rescue those of the human race who would accept this sacrifice by faith.
[18]John Whitcomb, The Bible and Astronomy, BMH Books, Indiana, p. 28, 1984.
[19]Comment received via email from Kevin Moritz, November 19, 2009.
Additional Information
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) — CE-III
Steven Spielberg made the “big time” with the hugely successful shark attack movie Jaws (1975). CE-III was the director’s follow-up movie, and his previous success ensured that he had more money this time for special effects. Following hot on the heels of the first Star Wars epic, it became one of the most successful sci-fi movies of the post–Star Wars era — it is regarded as a classic by some. After this movie, there was a flood of copycat genre movies trying to cash in on the phenomenal success of Star Wars and CE-III. In a coincidence of timing, there was also renewed interest in UFOs. Britain was undergoing its largest UFO frenzy since the summer of 1952.[1]
The story was based on the book The UFO Experience (1972), by Dr. J. Allen Hynek. The movie starts with the mysterious reappearance of previously lost WWII fighters still in pristine condition (and in the middle of a desert), and a scene where air traffic controllers are receiving reports from jet airliners who are being forced to share their airspace with UFOs. The central character is electrical engineer Roy Neary, who, after a midnight emergency service call, encounters a UFO on a lonely dark road. His experience is unnerving, to say the least. His pickup is bathed in brilliant light and the electrical systems go haywire. After this “close encounter of the second kind” (CE-II), Neary pursues the rapidly moving lights of the UFO, takes a bend in the road at high speed, and almost knocks over a child. Others on the road, including the child’s mother, are similarly obsessed with the lights in the sky. Neary discovers that she and others have also had a close encounter.
The movie reveals that the aliens have telepathically implanted images into the contactees’ minds, which lead them to near madness as they try to unravel the mystery inside their heads. The young child is abducted later in the movie in a terrifying scene where his mother is powerless to prevent the abduction.
The movie’s climax takes place at Devil’s Tower in Wyoming (which was the image planted in his head) where Neary discovers that the government has established a base and landing strip in anticipation of a friendly rendezvous with the aliens, once again built on conspiracy notions that the government is not telling the truth.
The visual effects were stunning for their day. The pilots of the aforementioned WWII planes step off the alien mothership, not having aged at all in some 40 years. The young boy who was previously abducted is released as well. The movie depicts Spielberg’s (a UFO enthusiast in his own right) vision of what extraterrestrials look like.
This created an interesting phenomenon after the movie’s release. Prior to CE-III, reports of alleged aliens with long, thin necks were non-existent. After the film, they became common. Before the film, alien eyes were reported as being human-like with a pupil and iris with white surrounds. Afterward, they were black, slanted, and much larger — an image that endures today. [2]
{Return to Chapter 1}
Independence Day (1996)
Approaching the 4th of July, as America prepares to celebrate its Independence Day, the earth is visited by enormous flying saucers that take up residence over the major cities of the world. Initially, there is no hint of their intentions until a computer expert, working for a television network, tries to find out what is disrupting the TV station’s signal. He discovers that the alien craft are utilizing our own satellites, and have synchronized a countdown in partnership with their moon-sized mother ship in orbit above the upper atmosphere. It is a countdown to the annihilation of the human race.
On this discovery, America’s war-hero president escapes the destruction of Washington, D.C. in the nick of time. The image of the White House being destroyed by an enormous heat ray is a disturbing yet enduring one. The special effects are breathtakingly powerful, as this destruction is repeated in all the major cities of the world. Earth’s defenses, even nuclear missiles, are powerless to stop the aliens.
It is then revealed (even the president didn’t know) that the military had captured an alien craft and several bodies at Roswell in 1947 (implying that the stories are true). On demand, the president is whisked to the top-secret installation at Area 51. When a live alien is recovered by the movie’s air force pilot hero, the alien awakes and telepathically (a common theme in UFO beliefs) reveals to the president that the human race is being exterminated because the aliens require the earth’s natural resources.
The captured “Roswell ship” has reactivated due to the appearance of the mother ship, and our resident computer genius devises a way to fly it to the mother ship and upload a computer virus that will deactivate the force fields around all the extraterrestrial spacecraft. The virus concept is highly reminiscent of the 1953 feature film The War of the Worlds, which was based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name. In the movie, a biological virus, like the common cold, kills the aliens, whose immune systems have no defense against the illness.
In the movie’s final scenes, the Americans deactivate the shields and relay the good news to their fellow men all over the world. No longer are there political boundaries or ideological differences, as mankind is united in a common cause to repel the alien invaders. In a Churchillian speech, the president announces that the 4th of July, Independence Day, now belongs to the whole earth and to every nation, not just America. The effort is successful, and alien ships are brought down all over the world.
This was a hugely popular movie that set box office records for opening-day attendance all over the world, mostly due to the trailer images of well-known icons, such as the White House, being destroyed.
The Roswell-type conspiracy theories about government “cover-ups,” which formed the basis of this movie, also inspired a generation of TV series such as Dark Skies, Roswell, and The X Files.
{Return to Chapter 1}
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
This movie is based on a short story by Harry Bates called “Farewell to the Master.” Filmed in black and white, it depicts the arrival of a flying saucer which is greeted by the usual alarmist military response (typical for the C
old War era, anyway). Out steps an enormously powerful eight-foot-tall robot known as Gort. Then an alien ambassador named Klaatu appears, requesting that the world’s political leaders gather because he has a sobering message to give them. Claiming to be a representative of an intergalactic federation that has been monitoring Earth’s activities for many years, his federation is concerned about the escalation of wars on the earth and our nuclear capability. (Lead actor Michael Rennie’s “regal” and authoritative English accent adds to the aura of superiority.) His request is denied, and after being wounded by a bullet, he blends into the human world, befriending a young boy and his mother. Klaatu gives the mother instructions for dealing with the robot Gort, should anything happen to him.