The question is either one of probability or of theology.
Probability
From a perspective of mathematical probability the answer is that there are alien life forms. Why?
Some cosmologists guess there are 200 billion galaxies in the universe.
Each galaxy is guessed to have between 1 billion and 8 billion stars.
The guess for the Milky Way Galaxy is 300 billion stars.
From this number it is estimated that there might be 5 million planets where life could evolve in the Milky Way Galaxy.
If the Milky Way Galaxy is representative of galaxies then the number of planets in the universe where life could evolve might be 5 million times 200 billion or
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 million billion).
Mathematical probability is the idea that there must be other worlds like Earth out of such a large number.
However, applying probability to there being life on other planets is just as unreasonable as the probability thinking of something 10 million billion times that some of those thoughts will be reality. Some of our thoughts are about reality but it is not our thoughts that make things real. It is just as reasonable to assume the probability of planets with other life forms is zero as it is to assume there are many.
But mathematical probability is not what the belief of alien life forms is about. It is about the belief that life is generated from non living elements or the evolution of life through spontaneous generation. The belief coupled with 10 million billion Earth like planets in the universes changes a probability of alien life to an absolute certainty of millions of planets with life. This is the answer from combining biology and cosmology.
Theology
Christian theology has a different method of determining the possibility of alien life.
The cosmos, the universe, all the galaxies, Earth, and life are created by God the Creator.
Divine revelation is about the nature of the Divine Creator as revealed through the divine plan of redemption and His relationship to creation and specifically to mankind. This is all that God has revealed.
However, for the Divine Creator who can speak, “"let there be,”" and the material cosmos comes into existence, there can be no limitation placed upon His creative acts by any beliefs or ideas of man. Mankind may speculate that God has another planet where He reveals His nature to creature like men or, on the other hand, life forms completely foreign to humans. Such speculation might imagine there is not just one other planet but millions of planets. Such has not been revealed.
Conclusion
If someday there is contact with life forms from another planet the dilemma will not change. Is the answer to their origins explained by spontaneous generation and evolution or by the Christian theology of creation? Christians in this day and age would benefit from considering if the Divine Creator is myth or is He just the God of Israel or the God of the Earth or God of the Cosmos.
Probability
From a perspective of mathematical probability the answer is that there are alien life forms. Why?
Some cosmologists guess there are 200 billion galaxies in the universe.
Each galaxy is guessed to have between 1 billion and 8 billion stars.
The guess for the Milky Way Galaxy is 300 billion stars.
From this number it is estimated that there might be 5 million planets where life could evolve in the Milky Way Galaxy.
If the Milky Way Galaxy is representative of galaxies then the number of planets in the universe where life could evolve might be 5 million times 200 billion or
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 million billion).
Mathematical probability is the idea that there must be other worlds like Earth out of such a large number.
However, applying probability to there being life on other planets is just as unreasonable as the probability thinking of something 10 million billion times that some of those thoughts will be reality. Some of our thoughts are about reality but it is not our thoughts that make things real. It is just as reasonable to assume the probability of planets with other life forms is zero as it is to assume there are many.
But mathematical probability is not what the belief of alien life forms is about. It is about the belief that life is generated from non living elements or the evolution of life through spontaneous generation. The belief coupled with 10 million billion Earth like planets in the universes changes a probability of alien life to an absolute certainty of millions of planets with life. This is the answer from combining biology and cosmology.
Theology
Christian theology has a different method of determining the possibility of alien life.
The cosmos, the universe, all the galaxies, Earth, and life are created by God the Creator.
Divine revelation is about the nature of the Divine Creator as revealed through the divine plan of redemption and His relationship to creation and specifically to mankind. This is all that God has revealed.
However, for the Divine Creator who can speak, “"let there be,”" and the material cosmos comes into existence, there can be no limitation placed upon His creative acts by any beliefs or ideas of man. Mankind may speculate that God has another planet where He reveals His nature to creature like men or, on the other hand, life forms completely foreign to humans. Such speculation might imagine there is not just one other planet but millions of planets. Such has not been revealed.
Conclusion
If someday there is contact with life forms from another planet the dilemma will not change. Is the answer to their origins explained by spontaneous generation and evolution or by the Christian theology of creation? Christians in this day and age would benefit from considering if the Divine Creator is myth or is He just the God of Israel or the God of the Earth or God of the Cosmos.
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