What is the spiritual "place" in which we would place extraterrestrial life, if it were discovered? Heaven or Earth? Sacred or profane? NASA is asking a group of theologians for the answer to these questions.
In a recent effort to understand how humans would react to the news that intelligent life exists on other planets, NASA turned to theologians at Princeton University's Center for Theological Inquiry (CTI). One of the 24 experts consulted is the Reverend Dr Andrew Davison from Cambridge University, a PhD in biochemistry from Oxford and a brilliant mind.
Theologians and ETs, a complicated (but fascinating) relationship
Sul blog of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Cambridge , Davison says his research so far has already seen “how often theology and astrobiology have been the subject of popular writing” over the past 150 years. Among the questions he and other theologians are called to answer there are some incredible ones. For example, would the Catholic religion accept or contemplate the idea of different incarnations of Jesus in the universe?
Moreover, this is only the latest step taken between NASA and theologians. An almost ten-year relationship: it all started way back in 2014 when NASA awarded the CTI a grant of over a million dollars. The target? Study the interest of the faithful and the openness of scientific research regarding the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Studies have shown a correlation between faith, religiosity and the idea of “aliens”.
The search for meaning
A research published in 2017 has found that people with a strong desire to find meaning, but low adherence to a particular religion, are more likely to believe that aliens exist. This, theologians point out, shows that belief in both theories can come from the same human impulse.
Davison notes that “large numbers of people would turn to the traditions of their religion for guidance” if extraterrestrials were found, and what it means “for the standing and dignity of human life.”
