Grandad.Malky Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 If got made us in his image (doesnt it say "In OUR image" in the bible?) then .... and IF hes /shes/its the god of all the universe, then will [B]evolution favour a human form [/b]throughout the universe? Will the only planets that are capable of supporting intelligent life be Earthlike? . Is that why in most sci-fi films the aliens have two arms, two legs and two eyes and invariably speak English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code13 Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 On the issue of whether Jesus would be sent to other planets, there is the question of whether they had "fallen" in the first place and required his him to save them. Christian writer CS Lewis, for example, had non-fallen inhabitants of Venus in his "Voyage to Venus". I have seen the statement of Jesus "I have other sheep who are not of this flock" interpreted as meaning he had missions to other planets to perform though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPAGE Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 On the issue of whether Jesus would be sent to other planets, there is the question of whether they had "fallen" in the first place and required his him to save them. Christian writer CS Lewis, for example, had non-fallen inhabitants of Venus in his "Voyage to Venus". I have seen the statement of Jesus "I have other sheep who are not of this flock" interpreted as meaning he had missions to other planets to perform though. If he can only travel at the speed of light then he is probably on some planet now kicking over the table of a bunch of Predators gambling in a temple. Reminds me of a good Simpsons quote by Rev Lovejoy, Let me tell you a brief story I once heard in a sermon. That story involved a visitor, a visitor who descended from the heavens. He came and brought joy to the lives of many. Teaching the importance of love and healing the sick and the wounded. He died, but he was raised up again, for a time, before he ascended back to the heavens from whence he came. His name was, E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, I loved that little guy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olemorris Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 All this God business does my head in. How did he come to be? Did he just materialise out of the void? My theory is that the ancients, like us, knew of no explanation for their existence, so they assumed a supreme being must have made them and the world upon which they existed. As this was elaborated upon, the bible came to be written. I should think all of the Earth's religions came about in the same way. The universe is probably teaming with billions of gods, each supposedly the only true god. Quite ridiculous. Nice perspective Ragtag - one I mostly agree with. However unlike "the ancients" who of course tried to fathom how they came into existence, and can be excused for seeing the invisible hand of God behind it all, we have more of an idea about that these days and have pretty good evidence based explanations of most things. These explanations of our day to day world, which have been a battle-ground between religions and science over the centuries, have seen religions re-adjust and make more and more awkward defences of their postions - culminating in the latest Christian perspective "intelligent design", or a retreat into fundamentalism. Either position is, as you say in reference to a universe teeming with Gods, quite ridiculous. It probably stems from an innate, evolutionarily reasonable but rationally bankrupt position of human beings simply wanting to believe in something bigger and better than themselves who has a master plan and will take care of them when they die. There are loads more reasons for "belief" of course, but no room here to extrapolate .... Why, I wonder constantly, don't folk just get it .. any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crayfish Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 I thought that the greatest evolutionary creature was the cockroach as it can survive for days without its head and also a nuclear explosion and massive radiation. Perhaps 'God' would be a giant cockroach rather than an alien, man, spider, spiderman... etc etc.? I'm reading an interesting book at the moment (Life's Grandeur by Stephen Jay Gould) that as one of its key themes presents the concept that humans, and indeed multicellular organisms, are a curious and probably transient branch of life parochially inclined to arrogance, yet fragile and limited when compared to the dominant unicellular stem. God is purely a product of our psychology and egotism, but if he/she were to be redesigned in a more objective light then we would, admittedly only marginally more sensibly, be worshipping the holy flagellum and the miracles of binary fission and horizontal gene transfer. The book goes on to summarise the various criteria by which microbes may be dominant - in short, they have the largest numbers, the greatest biomass, the highest diversity (genetically, the many unicellular kingdoms show a far greater range of differences than the multicellular kingdoms of plants, fungi, animals and protists). NB: estimated phylogenetic tree of life from a comparison of similarity in RNA genes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Phylogenetic_tree.svg - note the minor tip position of the animalia compared to the bulk of bacterial and archaeal groups. In more qualitative terms, consider that whatever we do (including mass nuclear bombardment), while we risk wiping ourselves and many of the forms that we consider 'higher' off the face of the planet, microbes living kilometres deep into the rock and ocean would barely notice. I think cockroaches and plants would probably keep going too so perhaps not the most persuasive measure. However, in a more self-interested mark of importance, it is estimated that around 10-20% of average human/mammalian dry body weight is comprised of commensal bacteria that are not congenital, but without which we would be unable to thrive, if survive at all. In other words, they could live on without us but without them we'd be in trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olemorris Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 I'm reading an interesting book at the moment (Life's Grandeur by Stephen Jay Gould) Brilliant book -when you've finished try some Richard Dawkins - The Blind Watcmaker is pretty good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarSparkle Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Brilliant book -when you've finished try some Richard Dawkins - The Blind Watcmaker is pretty good That says so much about you if you're an admirer of Dawkins.... StarSparkle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragtag Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 It probably stems from an innate, evolutionarily reasonable but rationally bankrupt position of human beings simply wanting to believe in something bigger and better than themselves who has a master plan and will take care of them when they die. There are loads more reasons for "belief" of course, but no room here to extrapolate .... Why, I wonder constantly, don't folk just get it .. any ideas? I agree entirely olemorris and I think your paragraph above goes a long way towards answering your last question. Apart from that, I think many people just don't think deeply enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggletail Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Personally, I would look at it from the perspective that God created the Universe, God IS the Universe - and so everything in the Universe ultimately comes from God and is part of God. And everything in the Universe is thus connected to everything else. StarSparkle Wonderful stuff I used to describe myself as a Pantheist, and probably still would if I ever got into that sort of discussion anymore Pantheism, Pantheist: From the Greek words "pan" (all) and "theos" (God). God is all. The belief that every existing entity (humans, animals, etc.) together, is a part of God. The entire universe is divine I've felt like that for years (that's why I don't eat animals - I see beauty/significance in them) Good luck with your studies! Draggle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*_ash_* Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 i think i believe in god, i think that were we are is hell and that when we die we go to heaven, we stay there a while but then we are sent back for some reason, maybe we cant stay there for long or for some other reason, and probably when babies and small children are taken from us maybe its to punish us in some way either for something we have done or for something we did in a past life what we are now having to pay for in this life, A great thread jabbers, I've enjoyed reading it, and all the posts. This clipping that I have cut out, is one of the main reasons that I detached myself from any form of religion or God theory, that I was brought up with. I find this attitude toward life quite worrying. But that is only my opinion. I think that this is as close to being brainwashed as it gets, and these sort of bad thoughts, outweigh the good things that Gods and religious teachings bring.... for example, I don't need 10 commandments to tell me what is right or what is wrong.. EDIT, actually having read my post for typos, realise it's a bit off topic, and will probably get slated, sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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