- I began writing this blog post about a week ago. In light of the bombings in Paris, I was tempted to scrap this piece and offer a simple reflection, asking all of us to pray for the victims of the bombing and for the victims of the brutal violence that has been happening in the Middle East for some time now. After some prayer, I decided to go ahead with my original post, but wanted to offer this short note to invite all of us to embrace a moment of prayer today for the victims of the Paris bombings and all victims of violence around the world. A core question of this blog post is, “What does it mean to be human?” May we learn from these acts of violence and address the social structures of violence and hate so we can, in time, embrace a world of peace, justice, and charity.
Is life unique to Earth? Whenever I am asked this question, I experience a moment of hesitation. The hesitation isn’t because I don’t know how I want to answer the question. Quite to the contrary, I know exactly how I want to answer this question. The hesitation comes because I know that what people ask and what they mean to ask are often two, fundamentally different questions. The question, “Is life unique to Earth,” in the scientific sense, implies an exploration for any type of organic life that is not found on our planet, whether it be microbial life or something as complex as animal life. The question, “Is life unique to Earth,” in the theological sense, can mean what is implied in the scientific sense, but often implies a deeper question: Will we find life made in God’s image and likeness outside of our Earth? At one level, with what we currently know of the universe, the honest answers to both approaches to the question are, “I don’t know” and “time will tell.” However, it is becoming more and more evident that one sense of the question is racing toward a “yes,” while the other sense of the question remains an elusive mystery. Nevertheless, I would like to explore a third question that currently can be embraced with a wholehearted “YES” from both science and theology in the hopes of shedding some light on our initial question of the uniqueness of life on earth. Our third question is this: Is the Universe “Alive”?
To delve into this question, I would like to dial my personal clock back to the 1996-1997 school year and a course entitled Astronomy 205 – The Solar System. It was a wonderful exploration of our galactic backyard by Dr. Randy Olson from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. As we explored planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and our sun, I was most fascinated by the moons of our Solar System. To use a musical analogy, the planets always seemed like a classical symphony orchestra: Well proportioned with logical orbits (for the most part), and seemed, even in their differences, to fall into nice, identifiable classes when looking at the inner solar system (small, rocky objects) in contrast to the outer solar system (large, gas giants).
If the planets are a symphony orchestra, then moons are like quirky, odd, little Seattle grunge bands. Each moon seems so radically unique, revealing great differences from their celestial “cousins” in our Solar System. I was first drawn into the quirky world of moons when studying Jupiter’s moon Io. This tortured little ball of sulfur is constantly turning itself inside-out due to the gravitational forces exerted upon it by Jupiter and the neighboring moons. This volcanic moon would make a good, but terrifying metaphor for Scripture’s references to Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ (Mark 9:48) Okay, perhaps that was a little over dramatic, but the point of emphasis I would like to make is that studying Io showed me that bodies of our Solar System apart from the Earth were not boring hunks of junk just floating around in space. They were dynamic, volatile, fascinating, and, in a real way, “alive” with activity.
From a perpetually erupting sulfur volcano to what appears to be a massive snowball, let’s move on to one of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus. When I taught high school astronomy, I would joke with my students that this moon appears to be a skier’s dream come true with its white, snowy appearance and a gravitational force that is 1.1% of Earth’s gravity, taking “catching some serious air” on a ski jump to a whole new level (don’t worry, I realize that skiing on Enceladus would not be possible for reasons that go far beyond a lack of snow). All kidding aside, Enceladus’ surface is ice. What is fascinating about this icy surface is that it is full of cracks, implying some type of internal activity creating these cracks. Furthermore, there are areas of mist that are shooting out through some of these cracks, clearly revealing a liquid layer of its interior that is being forced out by something (most likely a massive water level that is heated by the gravitational forces of Saturn and the moon Dione). If there is water, heated water under the surface of icy Enceladus, could their also be simple forms of biological life, similar to what we find in the deepest recesses of our own ocean? This is a question NASA is exploring. To do so, they flew the Cassini prob through some of the escaping mist on Enceladus, trying to understand what may be beneath the moon’s icy crust.
Of the many moons I could have reflected upon, I chose these two for a specific reason. On Io, we see a world that is “alive” and quite active, but not able to support organic life as we know it on Earth. To say that Io is “dead” is a clear misnomer. Io is quite alive with its volcanism and presents to us a fascinating moon to study and, through that study, can help us better understand our own planet. Enceladus, on the other hand, is also alive with geological activity and water spouts, but it also teases out the real possibility of simple life forms that may exist under its icy crust or perhaps even microbial life that is jettisoned out amid the moon’s escaping mist. This potential, twofold reality of a moon that is not only alive, but may also contain simple life teases out the scientific sense of the question, “Is their life outside of the Earth?” Nevertheless, nobody is even hinting at the possibility of anything approaching the uniqueness of human life in this exploration of Enceladus, but the question of basic life is a real possibility and is creating a lot of excitement for many in the science community. Another moon that has caught the imagination of many in astronomy with the speculation of life existing under an icy crust is the moon Europa. Check out the video below for more details.
One may ask, “If we do find simple life on other planets (or moons), how would this effect the Christian view of creation?” Though I would not consider myself an expert on this theological exploration, my initial reaction would be that the only impact it would have would be a positive one. Scripture already affirms that all things that have been made give glory to God by their very existence, a truth that can even embrace the sulfur volcanos of Io. In light of this, would Christianity be shaken to its core if simple life were discovered elsewhere? My answer would be a confident, “No, it wouldn’t shake Christianity.” If anything, it would enrich our understanding of what it means for God to be Creator. I have reflected on this passage from the Prophet Daniel in past posts, but I find it applicable to this reflection to emphasize that the discovery of simple life would add one more voice to the Hymn of Creation.
Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever.
You heavens, bless the Lord, praise…
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,…
All you powers, bless the Lord;…
Sun and moon, bless the Lord;…
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;…
Every shower and dew, bless the Lord; …
All you winds, bless the Lord;…
Fire and heat, bless the Lord;…
Cold and chill, bless the Lord;…
Dew and rain, bless the Lord;…
Frost and chill, bless the Lord;…
Hoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord;…
Nights and days, bless the Lord;…
Light and darkness, bless the Lord;…
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;…
Let the earth bless the Lord,…
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;…
Everything growing on earth, bless the Lord;…
You springs, bless the Lord;…
Seas and rivers, bless the Lord;…
You sea monsters and all water creatures, bless the Lord;…
All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;…
All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;…
All you mortals, bless the Lord;…
O Israel, bless the Lord;…
Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord;…
Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord;…
Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord;…
Holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. (Daniel 3:50-90)
Saturn’s Moon TitanI hope it is easy to see that simple life found outside of our planet does not posse any issues theologically for our understanding of God and creation. However, let’s now look at the question of whether or not we will find life that is made is God’s image and likeness outside of our planet? This question is a bit more dicy and needs to be handled with greater care. First of all, would the discovery of “intelligent life” on other planets bring into question the Biblical understanding of the uniqueness of the human person? The difficulties in answering this question go far beyond the biological aspect of life and into questions of essence, being, soul, and what it means to be made in God’s image and likeness. For example, let’s say, hypothetically, we did find life that had the potential of being understood as consistent with human life on our earth. How would this discovery impact our understanding of Original Sin? How would this discovery impact our view of monogenesis of the human person and ensoulment? Would we be able to identify self-reflective thought that went beyond animal instinct and includes a sense of morality and ethics? Would this life have their own sense of religion and how would this relate to the understanding of religion on our planet? As one can see, these kind of questions are not able to be answered by discovering chemical markers that hint of biological life upon a distant earth in the “habitable zone” of their sun. These kind of questions can only be answered through a “close encounter” with another life.
I intentionally use this image of encounter with another life to tease out one last question for this reflection, “Do we understand what life made in God’s image and likeness means on this planet?” The atheist reading this post may lodge an understandable protest, “Most of your questions about exploring human life has little to do with science and more to do with religion!” I would agree, in part, with this assessment. The theological exploration of how we define life does have aspects that include science, but also deal with that which goes beyond science. And herein lies the problem: How much of our understanding of the human person is “purely scientific” and how much of it is “purely spiritual or religious”? Let’s face it, the concept of the human person was around long before the modern sciences were even dreamt of in the human mind. Yet, the sciences have definitely contributed to a deeper understanding of the human person. However, when trying to define, “What makes a human a human,” do we focus just upon a biological understanding, a spiritual understanding, or do we affirm a third way, the way of Thomas Aquinas, in which we are “body/soul,” meaning a unique, inseparable union of matter and spirit? Should science, philosophy, or theology be removed from developing the definition of the human person? Absolutely not! Though differences may exist among people about the role of religion in our world, it would be intellectually dishonest not to include the rich textures religion has contributed, both for good and for ill, to our understanding of the human person just as it would be a grave mistake to reject what science has contributed, both for good and for ill, to our understanding of the human person. Therefore, before we even contemplate an encounter with another type of life that may possess the distinction of being made in God’s image and likeness, let us first understand human life and dignity on this “little rock,” inviting faith and science into a fruitful dialogue that not only seeks to define the human person, but also embraces the rich exploration of what it means to “be human.” In this pursuit, we need to prepare for the future by taking a sober look at our broken past, understanding how we have failed to uphold human dignity in our world so as not to repeat previous errors, ensuring that a future encounter with another potential life, including encounters between lives on this planet, are marked with respect and dignity, not violence and hatred.
Do I think we will encounter life made in God’s image and likeness in other areas of the universe? To be honest, I don’t know. I do feel confident that, barring something miraculous, an encounter of this nature isn’t going to happen in my lifetime. Even if biological markers were found on other planets, even if powerful telescopes could “spy” on organic life on other planets, would this discovery be able to quickly ascend to the theological density of life made in God’s image and likeness? Without a real, “human” encounter with that which is discovered, no, it wouldn’t be able to be verified. Nevertheless, let’s also avoid the trap of trying to place limits upon God’s creative act. After all, we do believe and hope that, God willing, we will experience life apart from this earth in the Kingdom of Heaven, encountering those who have gone before us in love and have joined the Communion of Saints and the Heavenly Hosts. Though this is not a reality that can be measured by science, we affirm its existence. If we can affirm this state of being with God (while also affirming the “other” state of being in the afterlife as well), let us not fear the mysteries we will discover beyond our common home in the material world. Whether it be something hidden beneath a great ice sheet on a moon or something that is in a far off galaxy that we can’t even comprehend at this point, let us trust that the God who loved us into existence gave us the desire to explore such things because He desires us to encounter such things, helping us to better understand ourselves and deepen our love of Him. And in that exploration, may we always remember that before we try to find life made in God’s image and likeness outside of our common home in a distant “galactic neighborhood,” let us first embrace what it means to be truly human, in the best sense of what this means, in our own neighborhoods.
If nothing else, I pray this reflection has revealed that defining life in any state is very difficult, let alone human life. The University of Arizona has put together a fascinating series of lectures exploring the question of life. Here is Br. Guy’s contribution to this series of lectures. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9zRK-OHgfw
