Do Aliens Exist? Biblical indicators

In our culture, many people talk about aliens. Both from scientific investigation such as SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), and from a social or experience perspective with reports of UFO sightings, crop circles, and abductions.

If you are interested in a more detailed treatment of this subject, I recommend a book by Dr. Gary Bates called Alien Intrusion. This book was a good eye-opener for looking at this topic, both in terms of the evidence, the symptoms, and their message and purpose.

I would not do true justice to this topic if I tried to treat it in-depth, you are better off reading his book. What I’d like to do is look at the question, “Do aliens exist?” from the Biblical evidence.

First, let’s look at Genesis where we find the foundation for nearly all doctrines in the Bible.

The Earth and other Heavenly Bodies

The first two verses in the Bible show how the earth is treated differently than the rest of the other heavenly bodies by mentioning the earth separately and by creating it before the rest.

Genesis 1:1-2, “¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Then later, on day four, God creates the other heavenly bodies, and mentioning that “He also made the stars”. But he made them for a purpose that he mentions, to give light and to mark seasons and days and year. When mentioning the purpose of giving light, it is to give light to the earth, not to other planets.

Genesis 1:14-19, “¹⁴And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Mankind

Second, let’s look at another concept in Genesis, the creation of mankind.

Genesis 1 shows that God made mankind, male and female, in his image and did not create others (fish, birds, animals, plants) in his image. Other extra-terrestrial intelligence is eerily missing.

Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

In the second account of God’s creation in Genesis 2 we see some other clues about man’s purpose. In verse 18 we read, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." This doesn’t mean that it’s not good for man to be alone in the universe, thus supporting other life forms out there. If this were so, why have we not found them yet, since God didn’t want us to be alone? But, if we look at the text, it points to a helper suitable for him, which we find out later is his wife Eve. Verse 22 says, “Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib ^[j] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”

Then after the fall and the curse we see Adam name his wife Eve recognizing both biology and the curse.

Genesis 3:20, “²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”

Paul reinforces that as he talks about death coming to all mankind through Adam, and life and redemption through Christ.

Romans 5:12,14, “¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— … ¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.”

Eve was the mother of all the living, the gift of life comes through Jesus Christ, only to those who are made in God’s image and are under the curse of the first man.

Final, Conclusion

Further support comes in various places, one unique scripture dealing with this supports the idea that the earth is unique among God’s creation, limiting the argument for intelligent life on other planets.

Isaiah 45:12 and 18, “¹² It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. … ¹⁸ For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

God here is affirming that He is sovereign and everything is done for his purpose, he is putting King Cyrus in his place and reminding him that God did all this, and God put King Cyrus in authority for His purposes. Here God reminds us that the earth is special and he put man on it, “he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited”. He does not say this anywhere about any other planet or heavenly body.

In the end, this is an argument from silence, which has some weakness built in. However, we can conclude with some confidence that God made the earth special, God made man in his own image, the “mother of all living”, and he made the earth to be inhabited. Thus, we should not expect to find intelligent life in outer space.