Many of you who keep up with conservative bloggers have probably heard of Matt Walsh. He has a blog titled “The Matt Walsh Blog” and he has become an internet star. He gets so many visitors to his site that blogging has become a way for him to earn a living. He has even become a contributor to The Blaze, Glenn Beck’s news site.
On Friday, October 31, Walsh posted a link to a news story about an engineer who, on his deathbed, claimed that aliens are real and that they have visited Earth. In his description of the article, Walsh said some pretty interesting things concerning the topic. Walsh noted how he has an obsession with the subject of aliens. Here is most of his post:
“Can the notion of other intelligent life elsewhere in the universe be squared with what we read in the Bible? For instance, if other beings are rational and intelligent, then they must have an eternal soul, and if they have an eternal soul, then they must have their own salvation history. But that would either mean that Christ came to this other world, or that the other race never fell like ours. Their Adam and Eve didn’t eat the apple, in other words.
It all sounds pretty preposterous and somewhat heretical, but at the same time we have to consider the sheer magnitude of the universe. Trillions and trillion[s] of planets strewn across billions of galaxies, and we are here in just one small, infinitesimal corner of it. Is it necessary to believe that God only saw fit to put rational life here on this planet and nowhere else? If so, why is the universe so big? Why create literally trillions of planets that will never, ever be seen or encountered by the only race of sentient beings in the cosmos?”
There is no doubt that Walsh has an influence on many conservatives (even if only a little), and because of this I believe that it is important to examine what he said. Walsh’s main reason for the possibility that God could have created aliens is that the universe is so vast that it is a waste of space if life only exists on Earth. This is not the exact way he words it, but this is the essential meaning of what he is saying. I do not mean this in a harsh way. He asks a great question when he says, “[W]hy is the universe so big?” It is a question that I have asked before, and I have even written an article about it. I have also written a three-part series on UFOs and the Bible. Like Matt Walsh I also have an interest in aliens. However, I seem to have come to a different conclusion than what he has.
I think this is a good time for me to return to the topics of why the universe is so large and the relationship between God and aliens. I will look at three different topics in this article: 1) the theological reasons why God did not create alien life; 2) why the universe is so vast; and 3) a short summary for why UFO and alien sightings (those are not considered hoaxes or misidentifications) are demonic (Walsh made an interesting comment about this which I will discuss later).
Theological Difficulties for God creating Aliens
The first thing that I want to note is that I’m not saying that God is not powerful enough to create a universe teeming with life. He does have the power to do that. However, this does not mean that he had to. With that said, let’s take a look at the theological reasons why I think he did not (this list is adapted from part 1 of my UFO series – all quotations and the sources that I originally used can be found in part 1 of my series):
- Scripture teaches us that all of God’s creation was placed under the curse when Adam and Eve sinned (Romans 8:18-22). The curse was universal. Even the animal kingdom was affected. “Therefore, any ETs living elsewhere would have been (unjustly) affected by the Adamic Curse through no fault of their own—they would not have inherited Adam’s sin nature.”
- To add to this, Jesus came and died for the sins of mankind, and will redeem not only mankind but all of creation as well (Romans 8:18-22). As I have written about previously, this freeing of creation from bondage includes the animal kingdom on earth (and not intelligent beings on other planets). Scripture specifically tells us that when God restores his creation at the end of the age, he will create a new heavens and new earth (as I have wrote about before, God does not create a brand new heavens and earth as a replacement for this world, but instead he will renovate the one we live on now). Notice that God’s restorative acts involve the heavens and not just the earth. This means that all of creation, including outer space, has been affected by the curse.
- Some believe that Christ’s sacrifice may have been repeated on another world for aliens. “However, Christ died once for all (Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18) on the earth. He is not going to be crucified and resurrected again on other planets (Hebrews 9:26). This is confirmed by the fact that the redeemed (earthly) church is known as Christ’s bride (Ephesians 5:22–33; Revelation 19:7–9) in a marriage that will last for eternity. Christ is not going to be a polygamist with many other brides from other planets.” “For God to have created any intelligent sentient beings other than humans would violate the gospel—remembering that the whole purpose of creation was to bring forward a bride for Christ (not many brides).” Since Christ died once and for all, and his death and resurrection are required for salvation, he could not have died again on other planets.
- The idea of alien life is mostly based on the theory of evolution. Since we evolved here, surely someone else evolved on another planet. I’m not going to spend much time on this since I have already written about the incompatibility of Christianity and evolution (see here, here, and here).
Why is the universe so big?
It is highly improbable for God to have created aliens on other planets in another part of the universe. But the question and curiosity still remains: why did God create the universe so big? Look at the following to get a basic understanding for how gigantic this universe is (this is adapted from my article on this subject – all quotations and sources can be found in that article):
“Once we leave our solar system, the next closest star is Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light years away. Traveling at 186,000 miles per second [the fastest speed possible according to Einstein’s theory of special relativity] you would reach this star in 4.2 years. To reach the edge of the Milky Way, it would take you about 100,000 years. However, it would take you, after leaving the Milky Way, another 2.3 million years to reach Andromeda, the next closest galaxy.
It would take 20 million years to reach the next galaxy after Andromeda. And all of this is only a very, very small fraction of what is out there. Remember there are billions of galaxies. If you were to do nothing but count the stars you would not live long enough to finish.”
So, why would God create a universe so big when most humans throughout history never knew it was this large? First, let’s ask the question in a slightly different way. What if the universe was very small? Of course, a skeptic would probably answer with something along the lines of “if God is so great and powerful, then why didn’t he create the universe bigger?” If God created the universe small, skeptics would complain; if God created it big, well, they will still complain. I know that Matt Walsh is not a skeptic, but the question of a small universe still applies.
In either case, let’s look at Scripture to understand why God would create such a large creation. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The very size of the universe should make us stand in wonder and awe of God. The universe shows us just how creative and powerful God really is. In fact, to God, the universe is probably rather small. Writer Gary Bates says it well:
“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.”
This should make us want to worship the Creator even more. “The vastness of the universe also shows us how important the earth is in God’s sight. Stars are technically just giant balls of gas. The simplest life form on this planet is more complex than the biggest stars. DNA has the structural complexity that makes the stars look like nothing. Plus we must remember that it doesn’t take God any more energy to create billions of galaxies than it does to create an ant. 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.’”
I would also like to add that most human generations knew nothing about germs or DNA. Yet, God still created them. Just because most people knew nothing, or cannot see, the entire universe doesn’t mean that God created aliens. We must also realize that the universe will exist forever as the new heavens like I mentioned earlier. Could it be possible that God may allow us to visit them throughout eternity? That is definitely possible.
Lastly, “God’s love really becomes clear when we think of how small we are. We are tiny dots on a tiny speck in a gigantic universe that is so large it boggles our minds. However, to God size and distance are nothing compared to the value of a human soul.”
Are UFOs and aliens demons?
One commenter on Walsh’s post mentioned that aliens are demons. Walsh responded by saying sarcastically, “Oh. OK then. Case closed.” Another person asked, “Where’s that fact in the Bible?” Since I have already written an article about why UFOs and aliens are demonic I will use the rest of this article to summarize why I believe that they are in fact demons (as I have noted above all of the quotations and sources below can be found in parts 2 and 3 of my UFO series).
- First thing to note is that there is some strange evidence concerning alleged UFOs sightings: a) there is collateral evidence (such as scorch marks, burnt or damaged plants that can take longer than normal to recover, and depressions in the ground) that does exist and occur at places where eyewitnesses say they saw a UFO land; b) electromagnetic disturbances happen that result in power outages and that interfere with cars, electrical systems, and other devices; c) UFOs have been picked up on radar – objects that professionals cannot explain – that should not be in the place where they are detected and should not exist; d) Physical effects on humans and animals. Animals typically get spooked just before and during UFO sightings. Humans will experience headaches, dizziness, nausea, and other symptoms during an encounter.
- “UFOs have appeared in many different shapes. The way that UFOs behave is impossible for real, material objects in our universe to act. (I discuss this more in-depth in part 2 of my series.) There is also a lot of testimony that UFOs change shape. They appear to slip in and out of our reality (disappear and reappear). How can something physical in our world do something like that? Many believe that since the alien beings could be millions of years older than us then they are millions of years more advanced than us. Look at how advanced we have become in just a hundred years! Surely the alien races are even more advanced! This idea is based only on evolution and is a faith. In any case, how can any physical object, no matter how old and advanced, defy the laws of physics? This sounds more supernatural than natural!”
- There has never been a radar detection of one entering our atmosphere.
- Aliens seem to be able to live and breathe in Earth’s atmosphere without respiratory devices.
- UFOs have been fired upon by American, Canadian, and Russian pilots and not one UFO has been shot down.
- “’And startlingly, no UFOs sighted on differing occasions ever appear exactly alike.’ To go along with this, we have Gray aliens that are most common in the United States, ‘Nordics’ (tall, blond, European-looking) that are common in England and Europe, and monster or bigfoot like aliens in Latin America. Why is it that only certain types or races of aliens appear to certain cultures?”
Bates summarizes the above information well:
- “They [UFOs] are already here. Some way and somehow they appear to be emanating from our own planet.
- They are visible yet do not seem to be real physical entities. In other words, they do not seem to be bound by the same physical laws as the rest of our material/natural world.
- They and/or their occupants are sometimes willing to be seen, but do not appear to want to make open and friendly contact on a large scale.”
There is also a relationship between UFOs and the occult. This may not sound like evidence that UFOs are demonic, but “abductees often speak about being transported through solid objects, like a wall or roof. This is similar to activities one will find in the occult such as astral travelling, or an ‘out of body experience.’
Abductees also speak about being pulled toward a light which is similar to near-death experiences (NDE). In fact, some people who have had a NDE claim to have had seen aliens on the ‘other side’ and even report seeing loved ones with the aliens. This seems to point to a psychic/spiritual nature of UFOs.”
A majority of abductees and those who claim to have had contact with aliens develop an interest, and even participate, in New Age/occultic or Eastern mystical religions. Some claim to be able, besides astral travel, to have psychic powers, and even witness poltergeists.
There is also the testimony of the some of the world’s best UFO researchers that believe that UFOs are coming from a parallel dimension (i.e., they are not aliens coming from billions of light years away). These include Dr. J Allen Hynek, the creator of the Hynek Classification System (which is where we get the Close Encounters system), John Keel, Jacques Vallee (who has a character based on him in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and John Mack. Here are a couple of quotes from my series:
Keel has said, “The UFOs do not seem to exist as tangible, manufactured objects. They do not conform to the natural laws of our environment. They seem to be nothing more than transmogrifications tailoring themselves to our abilities to understand. The thousands of contacts with the entities indicate that they are liars and put-on artists. The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon. Officialdom may feel that if we ignore them long enough, they will go away all together, taking their place with the vampire myths of the Middle Ages” (emphasis mine).
Mack has said, “It’s both literally, physically happening to a degree; and it’s also some kind of psychological, spiritual experience occurring and originating perhaps in another dimension.”
Notice that Mack said that there seems to be a physical and spiritual aspect to the UFO phenomenon. Interestingly, we find this very concept in the Bible when it comes to Jesus! Since Thomas was able to touch Jesus we know he was real, yet Jesus could appear and disappear at his will. He could even go through walls (John 20:25-28)!
The last thing that I want to bring up is the strange connection that UFOs have with Christianity (besides the previous paragraph):
First, John Ankerberg and John Weldon have made an excellent point about the whole aliens visiting the Earth: “…how credible is it to think that literally thousands of extraterrestrials would fly millions or billions of light-years simply to teach New Age philosophy, deny Christianity, and support the occult…”? This is an aspect of UFOs that many people simply do not know about or choose to ignore.
Second, Researchers into UFOs have also collected data that shows that people who began to go through the abduction experience were able to halt it by invoking the name of Jesus. Why are alien beings from another galaxy scared of the name of a carpenter who lived 2000 years ago? If Jesus was a nobody, then why do advanced beings from another planet, and who are supposedly millions of years older than humanity, tremble and flee at his name?
Third, there are many similarities between demons and aliens. I encourage anyone to take a look at the latter section of part 3 of my UFO series or click on the link in the previous sentence. Both go into good detail of these similarities.
Conclusion
I respect Matt Walsh. He has a good way to get both conservatives and liberals to interact with the topics that he writes about. Although I have not read all of his articles, the ones that I have read I generally agree with. However, on this particular subject, I have to disagree with him. God did not create aliens on other planets, the size of the universe has nothing to do with E.T., and, to me at least, the evidence is in favor for UFOs and aliens being demonic rather than real biological creatures coming from a galaxy far, far way.
