Aliens?

[glen smith]

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.

[Steve Hollander]

Anything is possible with God, but I think it's pretty obvious that we are alone in the universe. Or there would have been signs and evidence of other life forms. If it all works based on evolution, than there would be many aliens and all kinds of species popping up. Thanks Glen.

[glen smith]

Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
Fermi paradox or Fermi–Hart paradox
An excellent article with variant positions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

Note In 2013 the SETI projects have been listening for 50 years.
Half of the searchable universe has been scanned.
So far, nothing.
In another 50 years all the sky will have been scanned.
The federal government has ceased to fund SETI projects.

While the search for planets is producing more and more results, the possible existence of intelligent life or any kind of life remains pure “belief” and speculation based on an assumed probability by the numbers. This is hypothetical thinking without any evidence – just mere speculation or belief statements. To make logical statements using probability¹, rationalization², or psychology³ as the arguments for there being intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, does not advance the likelihood of such statements being true. Yet, pseudo intellectuals call this science, and the Christian belief in the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus is labeled a myth.

Footnotes:
1. Probability – twenty percent of the suns in the Milky Way Galaxy have planets in the habitable zone which means there are over two billion such planets.
2. Rationalization - It is only reasonable that we are not the only intelligent life in the universe.
3. Psychology – It is medieval, or earth-centric to think humans are the only intelligent life.

3 March 2014 gbs
----------------
Stephen Hawkins is one cosmologist who expressed his views as facts but are mere beliefs (In that he is guilty of each of the footnotes above).
The fact that he did not recognize the presuppositions of his own thinking processes exemplifies the limitation with human thought even among the intellectually acclaimed.
Such observations ought to make us skeptics in all the categories of knowledge -
skeptics of both the experts and ourselves.

There is a necessity in the divine purpose:
(1) in revelation (God doing the revealing)
(2) and in His desire for those who come to him to do so with humbleness.
Humbleness of heart and mind is not optional, but a necessity if one is to come to God.

The little child analogy in Matthew 18:3-4 (also Mark 18; Luke 18) are very much about how we allow ourselves to think, to reason, to speculate, and to believe that we know what we do not know.
As posted elsewhere, we do not know what we do not know - and sadly, many do not want to know what they do not know so they do not think of themselves as a little child. Being humble begins with not having to know what we do not know and recognizing we do not really ever know - except in Christ we are known.

[Lou Newton]

Glen wrote:

Probability
From a perspective of mathematical probability the answer is that there are alien life forms.

One can claim to reason that if there was a universe with trillions of objects like our moon, then life on other moons would be probable.

The problem with this so called reasoning is this: our moon does not have the requirements to support intelligent life. If there were trillions of these moons there would not be life on any of them. Numbers do not bring forth life. The parameters for life brings forth life. A trillion trillion moons would still not bring forth life.

It matters little how many galaxies and stars exist in our universe, numbers do not bring forth life. It has been found that there are over 200 parameters necessary for life to exist on the earth. If one reads a study like "Rare Earth" they will see life should not even have taken place on the earth. Life is a miracle and it is a miracle that there is even one planet that has life, let alone others.

No life can take place on any star in any part of our galaxy that is crowded with other stars. Stars supernova and would stop any life from starting on any star system in that area. When stars have many stars around them, life can not get started because of at least one nearby star would supernova an stop any chance of life.

So the star has to be a almost empty region of the galaxy. That eliminates the whole center and the arms where almost all of the stars of our galaxy are. So any star that would have life would have to be in an empty region and also at the right distance from the center of the galaxy. That leaves very few to consider.

But even those stars in the empty region and at the right distance from the center also can not be a red dwarf. 90% of stars are red dwarfs. But and planet in the habitable zone of a red dwarf would be tidally locked to that star and one side would be really hot and the other really cold, and so no life.

No blue giant or red giant can have life because they have lives that are too short. No white dwarf, neutron star or black hole can have life for many reasons. That leaves only yellow dwarfs like our sun. But those are very rare. But even yellow dwarfs can not have life because they do not have the heavy elements necessary for life. It has been found that only a third generation yellow dwarf can have enough heavy elements to support life. Our sun is very very rare. We have not been able to find even one star like our sun that has the amount of heavy elements like it has. These are needed to life to take place.

But most star systems have more than one star. Most have two or even four stars. Life can only take place in a star system with one star. This is strong evidence that the universe was created by the God of the Bible. For The Bible declares that there is One and Only On God. It also declares that the natural is sign of the spiritual and this fact that life can only take place in a system with only one star declares that one can only have spiritual life by trusting in ONE God. Single star systems are very very rare.

But even if there was another star like our sun in an empty region and at the right distance from the center, it would have to have a rocky planet close to the size of the earth and in the habitable zone of that star. But that is not enough, that star would also need to have a group of gas giants further out with strong gravity to attack the comets that come into the system to protect that rocky planet.

But even that is not enough, that rocky planet would need to have one and only one moon that was very large in comparison to that planet. The earth is the only planet in our system with one and only one moon. Most planets far out have many moons and the ones in the center have none because the gas giants have attracted all of the objects that would become moons. Mars is further out and so you might think it would have a large moon, but it only has two tiny moons and so no life. The fact that our earth has one and only one really large moon is simply a miracle and not probable.

But I have only mentioned a few parameters necessary for life and 200 have been found so far. Not only is there not enough stars for life to have taken place, the universe is not old enough for life to have take place by random chance. Scientists know this and ignore this fact hoping to find a way it could have take place sooner.

God can not do anything - He can not lie, or be unfaithful, or be unjust, or unmerciful.

God created the universe to reveal to us how powerful, wise, and limitless He is. He also reveals to us how rare life is. Natural life is very rare as a sign that spiritual life is very rare. Natural life is a rare miracle just as spiritual life is a rare miracle.

But Jesus died ONCE FOR ALL. That would indicate that the earth is the only place that has intelligent life, or mankind. Jesus was born of a woman to reveal to man the nature of God and to reveal to mankind how He loves us, and to shed His blood for our sin.

One common belief of most cults is that life exists on other planets.

[Lou Newton]

Here is a discovery about the absence of just one element that is necessary for mankind.

Science Alien hunters just got some seriously bad news

Mike Wehner,BGR News 12 hours ago


Oftentimes the debate over whether or not we’re alone in the universe boils down to a simple question: How could we be? I mean, with the incredible vastness of the universe and the countless galaxies, stars, planets, and moons out there, it seems like assuming we’re the only ones here would be pretty naive, right? Unfortunately for those who would use this point to debate in favor of extraterrestrial life, not all worlds are created equal, and new research suggests that one of the elements crucial to life as we know it might be incredibly rare.

The element in question is phosphorus (P). It’s a vital part of a compound that allows cells to manage energy, and without it we simply wouldn’t exist. Now, astronomers from Cardiff University are suggesting that a lack of phosphorus might be what ultimately hinders our hopes of finding alien life, leaving even the most ideal planet candidates without the necessary ingredients for life to exist.


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“Astronomers have just started to pay attention to the cosmic origins of phosphorus and found quite a few surprises,” Cardiff University’s Dr Jane Greaves explains. “In particular, P is created in supernovae — the explosions of massive stars — but the amounts seen so far don’t match our computer models. I wondered what the implications were for life on other planets if unpredictable amounts of P are spat out into space and later used in the construction of new planets.”

The astronomers studied the Crab Nebula, which is what remains of a supernova explosion, to determine how much phosphorus and iron was present there. Unfortunately, the amount of phosphorus detected was a lot less than in previous observations of another supernova remnant, meaning that the amount of the crucial element produced by a supernova could vary widely. For a planet to gather enough phosphorus to support life might require even more luck than scientists had already assumed.

The research is still in a preliminary stage, and the scientist caution that their first round of results are only a couple of weeks old. Going forward, the researchers will need to survey more and more supernova material to build an accurate model of just how much phosphorus is out there in the cosmos.