Over the years I’ve touched on a variety of subjects on this site, ranging from general bible studies to transhumanism, but UFOs (now often termed UAPs for Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) and extraterrestrials has been a topic I haven’t delved into much. Although, it’s a topic I’m very much interested in. The last time I mentioned it was in my article A Prophetic Review: 2019 where I went over what I believed to have been the most prophetic events of 2019.
Included on that list was a section on UFOs and how I believed it should be approached from a biblical worldview. As you read this article, I’m not aware of your presuppositions concerning this topic; you may think it’s not worth our attention or that it’s a fascinating subject that deserves more time. Whatever your opinion may be, it’s a subject that’s often relegated to the “fringe” in the church community and likely isn’t even considered an important subject to discuss or bring up. However, I believe this topic as well as many others (such as apologetics and end times prophecy) is a topic the church must be a part of.
The world is not only entertaining this subject but we’re already seeing it being discussed in mainstream news such as CNN and Fox News. This is no longer a subject that “conspiracy theorists” with tin foiled hats are talking about (as is so often portrayed in entertainment) but is being discussed as a very real and very tangible phenomenon and to some, a threat. I believe that as believers we must be able to offer the world a way to view this biblically lest they be deceived.
2019 was no doubt a year that saw an increase in UFO sightings all over the US, however, 2020 (an “amazing” year as it is) has already seen its fair share of UFO news. Just check out the below headlines for yourself to see how easily it’s entered mainstream dialogue and what people are thinking.
- Aliens definitely exist and they could be living among us on Earth, says Britain’s first astronaut
- Here’s Why The Pentagon Officially Released UFO Video Footage
- There Are At Least 36 Intelligent Alien Civilizations In Our Galaxy, Say Scientists
To add to this, the Pentagon UFO unit is now stating they have more information on UFOs they plan to release in the future. This is no longer a matter of if UFOs exist or not. Their existence is confirmed and whatever comes out now will be further confirmation that cements our understanding concerning this phenomena. The question for the believer is how should we handle this? As the church, we better learn how to tackle this issue fast before the culture runs away with it and provides their own answers.
No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon UFO Unit Will Make Some Findings Public
From the New York Times: Despite Pentagon statements that it disbanded a once-covert program to investigate unidentified flying objects, the effort remains underway — renamed and tucked inside the Office of Naval Intelligence, where officials continue to study mystifying encounters between military pilots and unidentified aerial vehicles.
Pentagon officials will not discuss the program, which is not classified but deals with classified matters. Yet it appeared last month in a Senate committee report outlining spending on the nation’s intelligence agencies for the coming year. The report said the program, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force, was “to standardize collection and reporting” on sightings of unexplained aerial vehicles, and was to report at least some of its findings to the public within 180 days after passage of the intelligence authorization act.
While retired officials involved with the effort — including Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader — hope the program will seek evidence of vehicles from other worlds, its main focus is on discovering whether another nation, especially any potential adversary, is using breakout aviation technology that could threaten the United States.
For more than a decade, the Pentagon program has been conducting classified briefings for congressional committees, aerospace company executives and other government officials, according to interviews with program participants and unclassified briefing documents.
In some cases, earthly explanations have been found for previously unexplained incidents. Even lacking a plausible terrestrial explanation does not make an extraterrestrial one the most likely, astrophysicists say. Mr. Reid, the former Democratic senator from Nevada who pushed for funding the earlier U.F.O. program when he was the majority leader, said he believed that crashes of objects of unknown origin may have occurred and that retrieved materials should be studied.
“After looking into this, I came to the conclusion that there were reports — some were substantive, some not so substantive — that there were actual materials that the government and the private sector had in their possession,” Mr. Reid said in an interview. No crash artifacts have been publicly produced for independent verification. Some retrieved objects, such as unusual metallic fragments, were later identified from laboratory studies as man-made.
Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who worked as a subcontractor and then a consultant for the Pentagon U.F.O. program since 2007, said that, in some cases, examination of the materials had so far failed to determine their source and led him to conclude, “We couldn’t make it ourselves.”
Mr. Davis, who now works for Aerospace Corporation, a defense contractor, said he gave a classified briefing to a Defense Department agency as recently as March about retrievals from “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.” Mr. Davis said he also gave classified briefings on retrievals of unexplained objects to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 21, 2019, and to staff members of the Senate Intelligence Committee two days later. Read More
Prophetic Implications
This phenomenon is no doubt real but the question for the Christian is how should we approach this? Biblically of course! Although the bible does not speak on extra-terrestrial life on other planets in a galaxy far far away, here are some basic truths from God’s word we can use to apply to this subject:
- When Adam fell, all of creation was affected (Genesis 3:17-19, Romans 8:19-23)
- After Adam’s fall death and sin entered the world (Romans 5:12-19)
- Jesus came to the earth in the form of man (a human being) to redeem humans (Philippians 2:7-8)
- Our true enemies in this life are supernatural in nature (Ephesians 6:12)
- Fallen angels have had a part in the earth’s past and may come again (Genesis 6:1-2, Daniel 2:43, Matthew 24:37-40)
- One day Jesus will take all believers off of the earth (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, I Thessalonians 4:13-18)
- Christ died once and for all (Romans 6:7-10, Hebrews 7:27, Hebrews 9:26-28, Hebrews 10:10)
So what does this mean for the average Christian? Why should we care if people want to believe aliens exist? Based on the above passages, we can see there’s some difficulty with the existence of flesh and blood aliens from a biblical worldview. Wouldn’t flesh and blood aliens also be affected by the fall and need to be saved as well? However that would contradict Philippians 2:7-8, Romans 6:7-10, Hebrews 7:27, Hebrews 9:26-28, and Hebrews 10:10. No where in the bible do we see mention of Jesus incarnating on various planets into other alien races to redeem them.
Something we must also consider is that we’re in the end times. This time period is categorized by deception and it will increase and blow up in the tribulation (Matthew 24:4-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). My opinion is that – and many also share this thought process – after the rapture of the church, a type of “mass alien abduction” explanation may be given to explain away the sudden disappearance of millions of people from the face of the earth.
- Are there such things as aliens or UFOs? – GotQuestions
- Could an alien deception be part of the end times? – GotQuestions
- The Extra-Dimensional Properties Of UFOs – Reasons for Jesus
Many have claimed also that by the name of Jesus, alleged alien abductions were stopped. Why would flesh and blood beings from another galaxy be afraid of what many in the world deem to be a dead Jewish teacher? That may be due to the fact that what the world is experiencing isn’t an extraterrestrial phenomenon but an inter-dimensional one.
Meaning, these beings aren’t from a distance galaxy but are capable of traveling through different dimensions leading us to conclude they are spiritual in nature. Does that ring a bell? It should according to what we read in Ephesians 6:12. As we see news of UFO sightings increase as well as the normalization of the existence of UFOs into society, we should think “why”? Why now?
To me and many others, this is an indication of the nearness of the rapture. And for that, it’s a cause for rejoicing! Until we breathe our final breath here or the Lord comes for his own, let’s continue to occupy and redeem the time. Let’s continue to share the gospel that’s radically changed us with those around us.
Now more than ever the world is looking to the stars in an attempt to find intelligent life beyond earth, all the while ignoring the supreme intelligent being who created the vast universe. Let’s use this to point people to God’s existence and the truth of the gospel.
Sources
- No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon’s U.F.O. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public (July 23rd, 2020) – The New York Times
- There Are At Least 36 Intelligent Alien Civilizations In Our Galaxy, Say Scientists (June 15th, 2020) – Forbes
- Here’s Why The Pentagon Officially Released UFO Video Footage (April 27th, 2020) – Forbes
- Aliens definitely exist and they could be living among us on Earth, says Britain’s first astronaut (January 6th, 2020) – CNN